Some people find dreams too complicated, but inventor Darrell Grant knows exactly what his meant. He even credits one for his patented wine-bottle carrier.

“I had a dream to use some foam instead of the whole thing being inflatable,” said Grant, who along with his business partner Ron McFee of La Mesa began putting together the Wine Bearer prototype in 2007.

Grant, who works for San Pasqual Winery on La Mesa Boulevard, said the idea for his quickly inflatable and easy-to-pack wine holder came during a trip to Italy, when his friend bought a case of Chianti for a 150 Euros and then spent 350 Euros to ship it home.

His carrier has room for two bottles. But the first version didn’t come without trial-and-error, especially in the area of inflation methods.

“Originally, we had a gun with a C02 cartridge, but the airlines didn’t like that,” said Grant, a North Park resident.

Next up? A commercial that showed the Wine Bearer being dropped out of a two-story window. It demonstrated the type of abuse it can take.

“It’s like my friend said: ‘If you open it and it didn’t work, then you don’t use the video,’ ” Grant said. “But I’m pretty sure it’ll work.”