Home winemaking is as integral a part of a traditional Italian household as Sunday pasta, and Felice Gentile demonstrated the entire process, beginning with hand-choosing the raw material just off the train at California Grape Company on Fort Street in Detroit.

Despite the red-white-and-blue name, the California Grape Company is run by Italians and generally services Italians, with nearly eighty percent of their customers at this time of year being from that particular old country, and all the popular Italian grape varietals, including sangiovese, moscato and delicato, available in the caseload.

Felice ends up with syrah grapes, and if last year’s batch is any indication, will wind up with a full-bodied red wine with plenty of body---a perfect accompaniment to Sunday’s pasta.