CHESAPEAKE, Virginia (AP) -- There are no rolling hills at Carafe Winemakers.No rows of vine-ripened grapes ready to be transformed into sophisticated wines -- none of the typical pastoral landscapes and none of the historic wine cellars found at most wineries.But the micro-winery's retail storefront still gives wine-lovers a unique experience by allowing visitors to choose their own custom blend and complement it with their own label.And while it doesn't offer the natural beauty of a rural vineyard, "it has the charm of letting you get your hands in the process," said John Goss, who along with his wife, Kathy, were among the first to bottle their custom wine at Carafe's first U.S. location. "It's just fascinating that you get to mix grapes from all over the globe."Micro-wineries have dominated the Canadian province of Ontario, boasting nearly 640 different storefronts and sales of $100 million in 2004. But the idea of creating custom wines from the bare bones of yeast and grape juice has only recently made its way south."All over the U.S. there is a growing interest in wine, and consumption of wine is increasing," said Carafe's president Stewart Petrie.Carafe started in Canada with brew-your-own beer stores called Brew Kettle. Its first winemaking store opened in 1993 in Ontario, where it now has 13 blend-your-own wine stores. The Virginia store is Carafe's only U.S. location.Other companies with blend-your-own locations in Ontario and the U.S. are Vintner's Cellar (stores in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas); and Wine Not (stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Texas).At Crushpad, a San Francisco blend-your-own store, customer involvement ranges from those who get their fingers purple sorting through grapes and adding the yeast, to people as far away as Sweden who design their custom wines over the Internet.Fermenting and filteringOccasionally traditional wineries or regional harvest festivals will have blend-your-own sessions -- sometimes referred to as "u-vint." But many blend-your-own stores are far from the bucolic landscapes associated with places like Napa Valley, California, or New York's Finger Lakes.The Carafe is tucked in a strip mall in Chesapeake, next to a vinyl sign maker. Crushpad is located in what was once an industrial district in San Francisco."We make no illusion," said Bob Miller, proprietor of the Chesapeake store. "We're not a farm winery, nor do we want to be. But from the point of having the grapes picked and crushed, we are doing the exact same thing that a winery is doing."Shelves of bottle-openers, wine bottles and other accessories line the white walls in front of the store's tasting bar. Visitors can taste the wines they are interested in creating to decide whether they fancy a Chardonnay from Australian grapes or a Chilean Merlot.Customers can choose from 30 wines that are immediately available to create, browsing through descriptions of wines with hints of black cherry, toasted oak or grapefruit. Proprietors Robert and Cynthia Miller stand inside the storage and fermentation area at Carafe Winemakers. But it is the back of the store where the wine creations really begin.Once a wine is chosen, visitors fill a plastic container with water, grape juice, yeast and other chemicals needed to make sure the wine begins fermenting.The complex concoction sits on the shelf in the back of the store for about six weeks. That allows the wine to ferment.Like all wines, it then goes through other filtering processes before it may be consumed. When it is ready, visitors can return to bottle, cork and label the wine.Customer prideFor an average price of $175, visitors can take home 30 bottles of their own wine, which can be customized for sweetness or other flavors. Visitors can bring their own bottles or buy the bottles for $25. Customers can also buy non-customized wine by the bottle for around $8.Miller said the novice would enjoy coming out and making wine to learn what goes into it and how it is made. Wine connoisseurs can try different varieties or make wines that they may not otherwise be able to afford, such as a Barolo or Amarone, which can go for as much as $60 a bottle."What they are buying at Carafe is wine meant to drink," Miller said. "They're buying their everyday wine that they are going to come home from work and have it with dinner, or have when friends are over."For Miller, it all comes down to the customers' pride of walking out with bottles of wine they made themselves.The customers' labels range from Al's Fine Wines and Kathy's Best Sauvignon Blanc to Shenanigan Chardonnay and Compass Rose Cabernet bottled by Pirate Pete and First Mate Missy.But the wine isn't quite at its peak when it leaves the store. It's drinkable, Miller said, but the wines benefit from aging about a month or so. Once the 30-day period has passed, the wine should be consumed within two years.Still, Miller is quickly learning about "trunk-agers." Those are the customers who age their wine from the time the bottles go in the trunk until the time they get home.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.