Creating a community. That’s what Ed Maass and Dina Mondavi want to do when they open Folio Enoteca & Winery as part of Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, which is scheduled to open by mid-December.

Maass and Mondavi are planning something completely new: a working winery in 80 square feet. It will include 18 wine barrels on a custom-designed rack and four stainless steel fermenting tanks. Two of the wine barrels will have clear caps and back lighting, making it possible to peer into the barrels. The idea is to show the fermentation process and the barrel aging process, Maass said. Depending on the time of year, samples of just-crushed grape juice will be available to sip. Also available for tasting will be aged wine from the barrel and the completed wine.

Mondavi is creative director and founder of the business; Maass is partner and director of customer relations.

Tony Coltrin, Folio’s director of winemaking, has been heavily involved in designing the winery — “we had to make sure it was possible to put a winery in such a tiny space,” Maass said — and Coltrin and his staff will make wine on site and in view of customers. Two wines will be made, sauvignon blanc and a Bordeaux-style red, and both will be from the Michael Mondavi family vineyards in Pope Valley. After the grapes are harvested, they will be crushed at the Folio facility in Napa and the juice will be brought back to the winery for fermenting and barrel aging. The wine also will be bottled at Folio.

The white wine is expected to be available after aging for a year and the red would be available in two years. If Coltrin and his staff decide to make a rosé, it would be ready for sale in six months. Some of the grapes harvested this year will be in the barrels when Folio Enoteca & Winery opens.

“The public will experience winemaking and will have the opportunity to understand the process. It will be all in one place,” Maass said. “From tank samples and barrel samples to finished wine, the process happens over time.”

For Mondavi, the small winery experience is “very fulfilling” and a part of her family’s dream — “to share the process of winemaking” and as her father, Michael, said, “to take the mystery out of making wine, but not the magic.”

For Dina Mondavi, Folio Enoteca & Winery represents a family endeavor. The grapes will be from her family’s Pope Valley property, the olive oils from her parents’ property in the Stags Leap District and the honey will be from her brother, who is a beekeeper.

The “winery under glass” will be part of a larger space at the Oxbow Public Market that will include an artisan cafe, with fresh food designed to go with Folio wines.

 Maass and Mondavi had to determine what would make their cafe different from others.

The difference: Chef Sarah Scott, who worked at Robert Mondavi Winery for many years, will “forage” food from 24 other vendors throughout the Oxbow Public Market, including the 10 permanent farmers market booths, and then serve it in the cafe. The menu will change with the seasons and with what’s available at the market.

A third part of the small shop, a total of 800 square feet, will be for selling Folio-brand wines, wine and kitchen accessories, olive oil and honey.

It’s clear that both Maass and Mondavi also are excited about Folio and the Oxbow projects. Mondavi said, “When the opportunity to be a part of the Oxbow Public Market presented itself, there was no question that we would have a presence. With (St. Helenan) Steve Carlin behind this exciting project, we’re convinced it will be a big success and a boon to downtown Napa.”

Folio Enoteca & Winery is part of Folio Fine Wine Partners, which was founded in 2004 by the Michael Mondavi family. It is an importer, fine wine agency and producer of wines from the world’s premiere and emerging wine regions. It also provides sales, marketing and public relations services to wine brands from California, Argentina, Italy, Austria, Spain and New Zealand.

17 tenants for Napa’s Oxbow Public Market

The latest “best guess” for the opening of the Oxbow Public Market is mid-December. The annex, housing the Model Bakery and Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, is expected to open by the end of November.

So far, said Tom Fuller, who is handling public relations for the market, 17 tenants have been announced for the space. When it is full, 25 vendors will be under the one roof in the 40,000-square-feet space. Additionally, 10 permanent farmers market stalls will be on the outside, underneath an awning.

Those who have announced they will be part of the Oxbow Public Market include:

• Anette’s Chocolate Factory

• The Fatted Calf, an artisan charcuterie and butcher

• Fete, essentials for at-home entertainment

• Five Dot Ranch, Northern California natural beef

• Folio Enoteca & Winery

• Heritage Culinary Artifacts, culinary antiques

• Kitchen Library, culinary collectibles and Steven Rothfeld photographs

• The Model Bakery

• The Olive Press

• The Oxbow Cheese Merchant

• The Oxbow Wine Merchant and Wine Bar

• Pica-Pica, Venezuelan foods

• Roli Roti, grilled meats and poultry

• Taylor’s Automatic Refresher

• Three Twins Organic Ice Cream

• Tillerman Tea

• Whole Spice

St. Helena’s Steve Carlin is founder and CEO of the Oxbow Public Market. Other owners are Bart Rhoades and Robb Mann.