TEMECULA – Wine lovers can create their own vino at a fraction of the usual cost of becoming a vintner under a new program announced last week by a hybrid production, packaging and marketing company.

The "Buy the Barrel" program allows winemakers to avoid having to grow and crush grapes. Instead, they choose from nine available red wine varieties that they can purchase and mix into their own proprietary libation to start a business or create a private label, said Patrick Bartlett, Temecula Valley Winery Management executive director.

"For many with a vision for launching a label, conventional methods of starting a winery are too time-consuming and cost prohibitive," Bartlett noted.

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[ Chatton and Associates ] is a lot less expensive than running a vineyard, it’s not cheap – the generic wines cost about $4,500 to $5,000 a barrel, he said.

Budding winemakers can chose from nine varieties – cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, grenache, zinfandel, mourvedre, cinsault and petite sirah – and work with TVWM staff to blend the flavors into a proprietary wine that can be produced and sold at The Collective, a two-story tasting lounge in Old Town Temecula that specializes in handmade boutique wines.

The company also has a 33,000-square-foot Virtual Vineyard to Vendor facility on Diaz Road in Temecula that allows small winemakers and growers to create and market their own wines.