Wednesdays with the Winemaker: Where are your grapes?

Some of you asked: "What happened to last week's installment of Wednesdays with the Winemaker?" Well, first: thanks for noticing its absence. We are thrilled that you are keeping up with our little, but growing, blog! Secondly, let me apologize. I was moving last week, and you know how that goes...

This week's blog from Marek was written by Marek. This is an article that he wrote for the Winemaker's Column for the Spring 2011 edition of Wine Press magazine. This article address the number first question we at Chatham Hill are always asked: "Where are your grapes?" As always, leave any questions or comments for Marek below, so he may address them in a future blog.


As those familiar with the North Carolina wine landscape may know, Chatham Hill is a “vineyardless” winery which simply means that we do not grow our own grapes for our wines. It is through our long-term partnerships with growers that we work with during the growing season and at harvest that enable us to have our grapes delivered to our winery.

We are often asked why Chatham Hill’s founders determined this model of operation and what impact has this had on sourcing our grapes since our inception in 1999.
First let's look at the myth common among wine consumers: most wineries make wines from grapes they grow themselves. Although that perception is relentlessly cultivated by many wineries with vineyards, the real percentage of wineries using grapes primarily from their own vineyards is relatively small. Even more revealing, most so-called cult wines, as well as many higher end, super-premium wines (over $100/bottle), are made from grapes from vineyards that the winemakers do not operate or control. If one travels to any of the large wine regions, one would see acres upon acres of vineyards without a winery in sight. These grapes are grown and then sold to wineries throughout the region and this has been done for hundreds of years. Although it is challenging to grow magnificent grapes, it is equally, if not more challenging, to make great wines from grapes you do not grow yourself. This model of operation affords a winery flexibility in numerous areas.

Establishing a vineyard is a complex, elaborate, extended and risky process. Selection of the site, unless you are limited to the land you already own, is a big challenge. In addition to consideration of the composition and drainage of the soil, one must also consider rainfall, temperature profiles of the seasons as well as day-to-night differentials; the population of grape-loving deer and birds; and also the susceptibility of local vegetation to hosting vine-killing microbes and insects, to name a few. All of these issues are within the realm of knowledge and expertise of the wine grape grower and farmer. One only has to look at any larger winery that grows its own grapes to see that the growing and winemaking are overseen by two different people, the Vineyard Manager and the Winemaker, and are often run as two independent business operations. The winery sources grapes from the vineyard which is very similar to how Chatham Hill and its grower partners operate.

Another clear advantage is that under this model of operation, a winery can add new varieties to production relatively quickly and inexpensively which is not the case if a winery has to rely on the grapes growing in their own vineyard.

What is extremely important, as in any business relationship, is communication and similar commitment to the end result, enjoyable, sellable and even award-winning wines. Another requirement to this type of partnership is the commitment the winery and grower have to one another. That is, Chatham Hill commits to our growers that they can rely on us to continue to purchase their grapes as they commit to us to provide us grapes each year. This commitment cannot be over stressed and is what has allowed Chatham Hill to produce wine with consistency.

Back in 1997, my former partners and I considered starting a commercial winery. None of us had any training or experience, with the exception of my thirty years of home winemaking. We quickly realized that with limited capital and the challenges that establishing a vineyard would impose, a much better option would be a winery first. We decided to start by working with small but well established — i.e. older — vineyards in the western part of the state.

Perhaps later when an opportunity arose, we could add the grape growing component. Thus sourcing of high quality North Carolina grapes and making the best wine became one of my main objectives and passions.

It took me two long years, after two short harvests, to “experiment” (I am, afterall, a scientist by education) with making wines using six different grape varieties acquired from five vineyards located in what later became the Yadkin Valley appellation. Limited to 200 gallons per year — which our alcohol laws allow residents to make without a license — and equipped with several carboys, a 50-gallon stainless steel tank, two secondhand barrels and very simple crush equipment, I started my experiment. My goal was to determine which vineyards I could buy grapes to produce high quality, award-winning wines. As it turned out, just about all of the wines I made in those two years showed very good potential for developing into a commercial quality product. This gave us assurance that we could build a winery business relying on other folks' North Carolina grapes. By the 1999 harvest, after long and exhausting months of setting up the operation, I was ready to receive our first grapes for commercial production at Chatham Hill Winery.

And here is where the journey began.