FRUIT OF THEIR LABOR; BURBANK STORE PROVIDES WINEMAKERS A WORKSHOP.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

It had been a couple of weeks since Rich Bison checked on his pet project. So on a recent afternoon during his lunch break, the Santa Clarita resident popped into Wine Country to investigate.

There it was, a six-gallon jug of port sitting on a wooden shelf surrounded by dozens of other six gallon containers. Still a few weeks away from bottling, but quite a distance from its embryonic stage when it was merely a bladder of grape juice.

``We're going to have one hell of a party,'' Bison joked to his friend, Frank Turner, who was also brewing his own wine.

Personal winemaking might be something people have long tinkered with at home, but few retail stores offer the process on their premises, said Pat Bentley, who co-owns the new Burbank business, Wine Country, with her husband, Peter Bentley.

Touted as one of the few stores of its kind in the U.S., Wine Country features one-stop shopping for wine connoisseurs or people who just enjoy drinking it.

One of the frequent misconceptions is that you can just walk into Wine Country, where boxes of grape juice line the aisles, and buy a bottle of wine.

At this store, you've got to make it. Or buy stuff to make it.

``We don't even sell bottled wine,'' she said, laughing.

Sporting her daily apron, Bentley said customers solicit her help during the winemaking process, except when they must sprinkle the yeast into the mix, which turns the sugar into alcohol. That is the only part the customer must do as required by law, she said. That way, her business does not need a liquor license or a license from the U.S. bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

While the juice matures into wine, the customers often come back to check on their jugs, she said.

``Some people talk to their wine or give the glass jugs a hug. They get so excited that they made it. It's really cute,'' Bentley said.

That's what brought Bison back into the store on Thursday.

It's his first attempt at personal winemaking so he thought he'd make it memorable. The wine kit he purchased is a millennium wine, which will peak right around Jan. 1, 2000. So the 30 bottles that will be gleaned from the six-gallon jug will make splendid New Year's gifts and party favors, he said.

Aside from the sheer novelty of making your own wine from a kit, bottling it, corking it and labeling it - Bentley offers a wall of label packets for everything from chianti to cider - it's just something interesting to talk to people about, Bison said.

``Plus, this is something you can't just buy in a store. You made this yourself,'' Turner added.

A third friend of theirs strolled through the rows of bottles. Doyle Holm, who didn't assist them in making the wine, but won't mind helping them drink it, checked out Bentley's supply of corks. ``They're good for fishing,'' he said.

Customer Jason Alba agreed that custom-made wine is a great conversational topic - especially when your story includes spilling a third of chardonnay all over your pants, avoiding the apron completely.

But the experience was worth the dry cleaning bill, he said.

``There's just something about ownership. You have friends over and get out some bottles of wine and say, Yeah. I made this. It's really kind of fun,'' he said.

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Photo: Lori Saldana, left, learns how to fill bottles with the cabernet she made at Wine Country, as shop owner Patricia Bentley demonstrates.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Daily News