A Delicato tradition

Leonard Rego takes a swig of mostly syrah grape juice Monday afternoon at Delicato Winery in Manteca. Rego bought 25 gallons of grape juice at $2.95 a gallon to make homemade wine. Delicato sells grape juice every year for about a week. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

A Delicato tradition

Winery offers locals fresh juice for homemade concoctions

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 6:37 AM PDT

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If it's late September, it must be time to buy some grape juice at Delicato Vineyards.

Of course, you can buy wine like you can at many area wineries, but at Delicato, it's also time to buy some pure grape juice — red or white.

"Call it tradition; call it a public service," said enthusiastic tasting room manager Richard Foote, who also calls himself the "juice jockey."

"You don't want to get rid of tradition," he said.

For 10 days, customers bring their plastic containers, ranging from one to 30 gallons, and fill them with a hose for $2.95 per gallon. Most of the grape juice is for customers to make their own wine, but it can also be used for some plain old Vitamin C.

Foote's been busy selling the grape juice the entire 19 years he's been at Delicato, and one customer told him he's been coming for the juice for 40 years.

Delicato will continue to peddle its grape juice from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day through Monday, Foote said.

"We usually get over 1,000 people over a 10-day period," he added.

And not all of them are nearby residents. One family drives nearly 200 miles in their horse trailer from Red Bluff every year to pick up their grape juice, Foote said.

Delicato Vineyards at a glance

Maria Rego, left, watches as her husband Leonardo pours grape juice into 5-gallon jugs Monday afternoon at Delicato Winery in Manteca. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Location: 12001 S. Highway 99, Manteca. Going south, take the French Camp Road exit from Highway 99 and take the western frontage road to the winery.
Phone: 239-1215.
Wines: Shiraz, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot grigio, white zinfandel.
Source: Delicato Vineyards.

Guiomar Cardoso came with her Portuguese brother and parents on Monday from the rural Merced County town of Winton. The group purchased 30 gallons of red wine and another 30 of white wine. She's been coming to Delicato for 12 years to get her grape juice.

Cardoso's family makes wine and celebrate their winemaking by drinking it and using it with garlic to cook linguica.

"We kill pigs and make wine," Cardoso said with a smile.

Foote said many of the winery's customers who buy grape juice each year are either Portuguese or Romanian because wine-drinking is an important part of their cultures.

Another Portuguese couple, Maria and Leonardo Rego from Tracy, showed up to buy 20 gallons of red wine and five more of white. They drink some as straight grape juice, but they mostly make their own wine. It's much better than buying a bottle of wine, Maria Rego said.

The red grape juice is 86 percent syrah just starting to ferment, Foote said. It has a strong sugary taste. The white juice isn't so sugary. It has a yellowish tinge, making it look a little more like beer than wine. Some people add water or club soda to the grape juice to give it a zestier flavor, Foote said.

If you're going to drink it as straight grape juice, you have about a week before it ferments unless you put it in a plastic container and freeze it, he said.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

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