CANTON, Ohio - Gervasi Vineyard, usually a haven for a relaxing night with a glass of wine and stroll around its grounds, is launching hand-sanitizer production in its distillery.

As a way to help in dealing with coronavirus concerns, The Still House, Gervasi's distillery, has most of the equipment and ingredients, including grain alcohol, the vineyard said in a release.

Andrew Codispoti, director of winemaking and distilling, is spearheading the project.

“Gervasi Vineyard wants to help. We want to be a part of the solution,” he said in a release.

Gervasi, which recently marked 10 years in business, aims to follow the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration's formula, he said. Key ingredients include ethanol - which Gervasi will make - glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and purified water.

The production shift follows recent moves from Cleveland Whiskey aligning itself with the Cleveland Clinic and BKO Distillery making and giving away free hand sanitizer in Medina.

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Gervasi is working with Chicago-based Berlin Packaging to buy food-grade bottles that are designed for barbeque sauce, with screw caps.

“Due to the high demand for hand sanitizer, the traditional bottles were too difficult to source,” Codispoti said. “It’s not ideal for administering hand sanitizer, but we felt it was more important to get the product in circulation.”

Gervasi said area companies also are assisting in the effort, with Swartz Farm in Stark County donating corn to make ethanol, and Hartville Elevator offering its services for testing, milling and delivery.

The boutique distillery was designed to be a low-volume producer for craft spirits. Initial production will generate almost 800 bottles for local distribution, which will be distributed to front-line medical facilities and the public, Gervasi said. The goal is to produce an additional 2,500 bottles for distribution within three weeks.

Huron, Ohio-based Label Aid, which does labels for Gervasi's wine bottles, is going to print and donate labels for the sanitizer. Bottling and label application will be done by hand.

“It is an all-hands-on labor operation, one piece at a time,” Codispoti said. “It is encouraging to know that every person that applies a label is doing their part to help their neighbors.”

Gervasi is not making new batches of wine but is selling bottles.

“Our supply is plentiful right now,” said Gervasi Marketing Director Nichole Cardinale.