Winery Tour: Tempo Vino Winery

Normally when you picture a winery, you envision a palatial estate in the country.  But the world is changing.  The world of a boutique winery means a smaller foot print and smaller batches of wine.  This smaller size means that you can set up in an area where you might never have expected a winery to exist.  Seven years ago Alex and Irene Mantakounis did just that.  They started Tempo Vino Winery in downtown Kalamazoo, completely detached from grape vines. 

The smaller size of the winery does not mean smaller opportunity.  You can pick up wine at the winery as well as a few places in the area but this is only a portion of what is offered at the winery.  You see, at Tempo Vino the customer has the opportunity to make the wine to suit their tastes. 

 In the tasting room you are able to taste the wines. From here you can either purchase a bottle or two or take the bigger step and customize an entire batch. The best part of this, the winery does all the dirty work, all the customer needs worry about is finding the flavor notes they want. 

The extend the personal touch further by providing private wine tasting and making parties. 

  

 The concept seems fairly simple but this is where a nano brewery and a boutique winery seperate. In a brewery there tends to be a huge amount of equipment and time spent up front. When you look at a winery, the amount of equipment may be less but the time waiting for maturity can be months longer. 

As part of the flavor profile of the wines it is possible to upgrade to actual cask conditioning. 

Time for a pint...