Wine lovers, if the budget won't run to "A Year in Provence," try an afternoon in Kailua.

At Oeno Winemaking, Ann Matsunami and a group of friends will bottle their chardonnay next month. It's one in a series of wines they've created using kits from select vineyards around the world.

To date, the friends' make-your-own-wine venture has created valpolicella, super Tuscan, rosso grande, pinot noir and pinot grigio. They chose the wines after "serious research" (otherwise known as tasting) at Oeno Winemaking.

"It started as just a fun thing to try out, but through the process, turned out to be a wonderful way to socialize," Matsunami said. "... You have to work together to put all the bottles together, but you get to drink and eat and talk at the same time."

Oeno Winemaking owner Greg Minarik and his wife Lindsay started the business last September. They have a selection of more than 50 kits for making red, white, fruit and specialty wines, including some that won medals at the 2007 Winemaker International Amateur Competition. They also sell beer-making kits (for home use only).

"Business has been good, we're getting a lot of repeat customers," said Greg. "That really speaks for the wine."

Each kit or barrel creates 28 to 31 bottles of wine. The cost ranges from $300 to $430 per barrel; $10 to $14 per bottle.

The four-step process — tasting, mixing, designing your label and bottling (note: no foot action) — is user-friendly.

Matsunami reckons that by the time the festive season comes around, their wine will be ready for drinking as well as for gifts.

But just in case, she recently opened a bottle of the first batch, bottled a few months ago. "We're doing our best to restrain ourselves, to let the wine age," she confessed.

Bottom line: "We're very pleased with our selection," Matsunami said.