Wines by Design

We’re in the business of helping you make wine! Whether you’re just starting out, or if you’re already an experienced vintner, we can help. Stop by for some instruction and help with your first batch or stop by for some supplies. We’ll be here!

Quality, without the cost

Wines By Design has been in business since 2006. While some things have changed, our love of quality wine production hasn’t! Whether you enjoy red or white, dry to sweet, we have something for everyone!

Let the wine making begin.

Welcome to Wines By Design!

We are a full service, on-premises wine making facility and wine-making kit supplier, located in Rochester NY. If you’re interested in making your own wine, come on in and we can help! We have hosted families, small groups, wedding parties and corporate team building events.

Or, if you are already an experienced vintner and are simply looking for supplies, we can help with that too. While our primary focus is wine-kits, check in with us, if we don’t have it in stock, we can probably get it for you!

For more detail on how your time will be spent making your very own wine, please see: our process.

Recipe: Best Skillet Steak

The key to this mouthwatering steak is the flipping technique. While it requires more attention than a traditional method, the results are more than worth it!

Goes great with LE23 Bobal Cab Sauv.

2024 Wine Tasting Competition

The WBD Wine Tasting Competition is returning!

We had a great time at last year’s Wine Tasting event!

You’ve worked hard perfecting your wines here at Wines By Design and once again, you have a chance to show it off. Enter your personally made (Wines By Design) wine.

Coming soon: (Saturday, April 13 from 12p – 4p to be exact)

The store will be closed for “normal” business, the day is devoted to the event!

We will have 3 entry categories: Red, White, and Dessert/Fruit. Your wine will be moved into numbered bottles and you will be the judge in the blind tasting. The highest scored wines will be the winner in each category and the highest scoring of those will be named Best of Show. Best of Show wins a $100 gift certificate at WBD and the other two winners will each receive a $50 gift certificate to WBD.

You are allowed to submit up to 1 bottle per person (or 2 per couple).

To enter, turn in your bottles at the store before Friday, April 12 (contest closing time is 6p).

Note: This is limited to wine made in the Wines By Design store (from our kits). This does not include wine made from fresh juice.

For the day of the event: there will be a $5 fee for those not contributing a bottle of their finest vino. (Contest entrants are free!)

Special bonus: All attendees will receive an Owners discount of 15% off all wine kits during the event. (Is limited to current stock on hand and excludes the “limited edition” wine kits.)

A quick recap (TL;DR):

  1. Drop off up to 1 bottle per person by Friday, April 12 at 6p.
  2. Join us for wine judging on April 13 beginning at 12p.
  3. See how your wines stack up against all the WBD competition!

WBD will provide palate-cleansing crackers, appetizers, snacks, and more!

Juice Sale 2023

Juice Sale 2023

Once again, Wines By Design is having a Fresh Juice Sale!

For those of you who are home vintners (or even those who want to start): We’re having our annual Fresh Juice sale. Once again, we have a very nice selection of whites and reds (see Our 2023 Juice Sale list below).

Our address is 3392 Buffalo Rd, Rochester, NY 14624. We will be taking orders here throughout the month of September.

We are planning on the Italian American Community Center located on Manitou Road for the delivery location. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the IACC for this year’s delivery.

We are currently planning on Friday, October 20, 2023, as the delivery date.

Juice will be delivered in 5 gallon plastic pails and be available for ONE DAY ONLY. Juice MUST be picked up on the day the truck arrives. We CANNOT hold any juice beyond that day. Your receipt will be necessary for you to obtain your juice. Any unclaimed juice will be forfeited and your money will be refunded.

Please note: Our supplier adds sulfites to the fresh juice. This may effect fermentation if you choose to use wild yeast only .

Note: Wines By Design acts as a shipping agent only and is not responsible for the quality of the juice.

Reminder: You can keep up to date with what’s happening at Wines By Design by signing up for our newsletter on our Contact page.

 

Our 2023 Juice list:

 

Whites:
    • Chardonnay
    • Moscato
    • Pinot Grigio
    • Riesling

 

Reds:
    • Alicante
    • Barbera
    • Cabernet Franc
    • Cabernet-Sauvignon
    • Lambrusco
    • Malbec
    • Merlot
    • Montepulciano
    • Nebbiolo-(Barolo)
    • Pinot Noir
    • Ruby Cabernet
    • Sangiovese
    • Shiraz
    • Zinfandel (Red)

2023 Wine Tasting Competition Results

Another one in the books!

The WBD Wine Tasting Competition (2023) is complete!

We would like to start off by thanking everyone who contributed their wines to this year’s wine-tasting event. There was a great selection of wines this year and they were all delicious!

One of the best parts of this event (for us) is not the great wine, not the laughs, not the wonderful folks we get to meet, but it’s the fact that we don’t have to judge! Thanks to all of you who attended, it was YOUR job to judge!

We had three categories this year: Red, White, and Dessert/Fruit. As a quick reminder, each category wins a $50 gift certificate to WBD, with the winner with the highest number of votes receiving an additional $50 gift certificate. 

OK… we know why you’re REALLY here… you want to know the winners.  So, without further ado:

 

2023 WBD Wine Tasting winners ($50 gift certificates)

  • Red: Carm Allesandra – Carménère
  • White: Marianna Obrien – RQ Sauvignon Blanc (La Cueca)
  • Fruit/Sweet: Luke Bernier – Fortified Coffee Port

 

2023 WBD Wine Tasting overall winner ($50 gift certificate)

  • Overall: Marianna Obrien – RQ Sauvignon Blanc (La Cueca)

 

Congratulations to all!

We haven’t posted this before, but a number of you have asked for it, so here’s a list of this year’s entries!

2023 Wine Tasting Entries

Style Entry Name Wine
Red R1 Mark Pietrantoni Bordeaux
Red R2 Vickee Allesandra Toscana
Red R3 Gina & Pat Capozzi Primo Rosso
Red R4 Cathy Pestle Selection Amarone
Red R5 Kyle & Shaili Zess LE Pinot Noir Shiraz
Red R6 John Speckgoore (Kinesella) EP Malbec
Red R7 Bob Rejewski Eclipse Old Vine Zinfandel
Red R8 Jim & Kim Vangelder (Caliri) Passport Cab Shiraz Montepulciano
Red R9 Carm Allesandra Carménère
Red R10 Tif & Jay Chateau Du Pays
Red R11 Jim & Jill Kinsella PR Bordeaux
Red R12 Rick Kurtelawicz (Maher) Amarone
Red R13 Peter & Gloriella Burns Nero D' Avola
Red R14 Cittadino LE Cape Blend
Red R15 Mary Meng. (CE-2) Primo Rosso
Red R16 John & Jan Blodetts Vineco Nebbiolo
Red R17 Arcarese. (Maher Grp) Wine Makers Trio
Red R18 Rick Flanagan Amarone
Red R19 Bob Rejewski Eclipse Nocturnal
Red R20 Mark Pietrantoni Barbaresco
Red R21 Doug Caliri LE Nerello
Red R22 Tif & Jay Montepulciano
Red R23 Mark Maher Malbec
Red R24 Heather Bean Bordeaux
Red R25 Cittadino Amarone
Red R26 Steve Elensky LE Black Cab
White W1 Marianne O'Brien RQ Sauvignon Blanc (La Cueca)
White W2 WBD Dry Riesling
White W3 Lauren & Paul Lysiak Liebfraümilch
White W4 Natalie Gerber Sauvignon Blanc
White W5 Cece & Dan Crawford EP Pinot Noir Rosé
White W6 Tim & Diane Peter Cru Select Gewürztraminer
White W7 WBD RQ Semillion / Sauvignon Blanc
White W8 Carina Terry (CE-2) Traminer Riesling
White W9 Tiffany Burgen EP Chardonnay
White W10 WBD Bourbon Chardonnay
White W11 Terry Fisher EP Pinot Noir Rosé
Fruit/Dessert FD1 Steve Elensky Strawberry
Fruit/Dessert FD2 K & S Zess Pomegranate Zinfandel
Fruit/Dessert FD3 WBD TM Hurricane
Fruit/Dessert FD4 Steve Elensky White Pear
Fruit/Dessert FD5 Dave & Tammy Green Apple Riesling
Fruit/Dessert FD6 Bob Rejewski White Chocolate Port
Fruit/Dessert FD7 Cittadino Vanilla Bourbon
Fruit/Dessert FD8 Luke Bernier Fortified Coffee Port
Fruit/Dessert FD9 Dave & Tammy Fortified Black Forest
Fruit/Dessert FD10 Lysiak Fortified Vanilla Bourbon
Fruit/Dessert FD11 Rejewski Fortified Black Currant
Fruit/Dessert FD12 Elensky Fortified Vanilla Bourbon
Style Entry Wine

Information

Address:
1424 Buffalo Road
Rochester, NY 14624
Contact Us:
585.235.1090
 
Business Hours:
Tue – Fri: 3:30p – 7:30p
Sat: 9:00a – 2:00p
Sun & Mon: CLOSED

 

Continuing Education

Looking for something to do? Got four nights free? How about joining one of classes, we’ll show you how to make your very own delicious wine!

Wedding

Why not share your special day with all your guests? Let them take home part of your special day, a bottle of your very own wedding vintage.

A Night at Home

What’s better than a night by the fire, some artisan cheese and a bottle of terrific wine you’ve made yourself?

We heard many great things about you, so we decided to check you out for ourselves.

(BTW: They were right!)

DH

We cannot say enough good things about Wines By Design. The quality of the wine is better than most bottles of wine you can buy at the store, plus you get to tell your friends and family you made it on your own!

Krista Hudson