Wayvine Winery & Vineyard in Nottingham, in the southernmost part of Chester County, has been around for more than 10 years.
The Wilson brothers, Zachary and James, planted 3,000 vines on a piece of their family’s 260-acre farm in 2010. That total has risen to more than 14,000 vines and 18 varieties, and they say they have no plan to stop. Actually, the only thing that has stopped them from planting the past few years is a proliferation of the spotted lanternfly, which has been one of the reasons they are directing some of the proceeds from a recent collaboration with Di Bruno Bros. and given it to researching the invasive pests.
Both attended Penn State, which has taken on a lot of the work in trying to slow the spread of the lanternfly.
Wayvine grows a number of vinifera that any drinker would recognize, from Chardonnay to Merlot to Cabernet Sauvignon. What they also grow is Carmine, a grape that remains fairly rare across the mid-Atlantic but the brothers say they believe could become one of the signature grapes for the region. Time will tell, but it’s becoming one of Wayvine’s signature grapes.
The tasting room, at 4374 Forge Road, opened in 2013, and the number of wines made there continues to increase. It’s also found in select local restaurants.
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Below is the latest in the “6 Questions” series of interviews with winemakers and owners of East Coast wineries, which looks behind at what has been a turbulent year and, with optimism, looks ahead. Thanks to James Wilson for not only taking these questions on but providing in-depth answers to all of them.
Q, For those who don’t know anything about the winery, what can you tell them about the vibe and the type of experience you have tried to build there? Is there food available? Events?
A, Wayvine is still a hidden gem in the Chester County countryside. We typically have live music Friday-Sunday with food trucks usually once or twice every weekend. We always have fresh-baked bread from La Baguette Magique out of West Chester and cheeses available from the Farm at Doe Run and Birchrun Hills. Along with that, we have a local beer selection with close to 50 different beers representing at least 8-10 different breweries and cider makers. When you come to Wayvine we want you to not only have plenty to choose from but to know you will be receiving the best wines, cocktails, beers and snacks that we can offer.
Q, How has the past 14 months been there and has it prompted any changes that you expect to continue long after the pandemic?
A, The last 14 months have had many ups and downs. We went from only hosting up to 40 people on our busy days to expanding across our lawns next to the vineyard and getting an event tent which now we are able to host closer to 100 people safely. Our on-premise sales to restaurants is almost non-existent compared to before but we are starting to see a resurgence.
Zachary and James Wilson, who run Wayvine Winery & Vineyard in Nottingham, Chester County.
We created an online store through the pandemic that helped with sales and those regulars that I talked about were a driving force for us staying afloat. We seem to be just hitting our stride at Wayvine, being 10 years into this operation. Finally, people from Philadelphia to D.C. are making the trip each weekend to see what’s going on at our farm.
Q, What prompted the original planting of the vineyard and how did you decide on the grapes that you planted? And if I can stay in the vineyard, how has that vineyard evolved in terms or replantings or new plantings since the original vines went into the ground?
A, Originally my brother Zachary got the idea to plant grapevines when he was 19 years old and I was 16. Rather than doing a test plot he dove in and planted 4 acres of vinifera. Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and within our Chardonnay the mystery grape/Carmine popped up. From there we have chosen to stick with vinifera varietals and now grow 13 different varietals specifically focusing on dry wines: Riesling, Gruner Veltliner, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Barbera, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmine. All 13 varietals are found in our original 10-acre plot. This is the land my family owned and that was the main driving force for the site. Since then we have expanded our vineyards into our 260-acre farm. On the best hill on our farm, possibly the best in Chester County, we double-downed with 8 more acres of vines with Carmine, Barbera, Cabernet Franc and Merlot on the southern exposure side, and Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir on the north side. We will continue to expand, which we definitely plan to, and have no real end in sight.
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We have learned what our site offers over the last 10 years and have no problem growing vinifera here. Not only that the quality of the grapes we are producing is turning heads from all around our area with massive amounts of inquiries to get our grapes. Unfortunately for them my brother and I turn all our fruit into wine, never purchasing outside fruit to keep this operation estate-made.
Q, Which leads me to ask I saw the mention of the lanternflies and how you haven’t planted in, what, 4 years? How bad has it gotten and what gives you optimism that things will get better?
A, We chose not to plant to see what would happen with them. Though they have been very bad out our way we have been able to manage and finally this year began planting again. Four years is a big hiatus when you planted every year up until that point. I do think the worst of the lanternfly is to come this year or next but we will hope to manage them like we have been able to up until this point. We did do a collaboration with Di Bruno Brothers on a rosé that was intended to bring awareness to the spotted lanternfly and help fund some research out of Penn State where my brother and I went to school.
A promotional shot of Wayvine Winery's second collaboration this year with DiBruno Bros., a rose.
Q, Obviously, I wrote about the collaborations with DiBruno. What was that experience like and are there more planned? I guess the idea of diverting some of the proceeds toward fighting the lanternfly made sense, based on the experience you’ve had with them.
A, DiBruno is amazing and our relationship with them will continue with many more exciting things. Collaborations in general are something we plan on doing a lot more in 2021. With the way the last year and a half have been it’s more important than ever to lift each other up, and I can’t find a better way to do it than to experiment with other like-minded people!
Q, How long have you been producing pet-nat and what do you like about making and drinking them? And how is Carmine to work with, both in the vineyard and in the cellar? How much of it are you growing?
A, Pét-Nat is a fun wine. We made our first batch in 2019 with Carmine Rosé and Riesling to make two separate wines. This past year we made small batches of Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, Pinot Grigio and Carmine Rosé. We will continue to grow the sparkling portfolio and offer even more options and quantity of our pet bats next year. Pét-Nats fits our brand of truly representing what our Pennsylvania soils can produce.
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Carmine is going to be a staple on the East Coast and, hopefully, we are the reason for it. We started with an accidental planting of 120 vines of Carmine that showed up in that first 1,200 vines of Chardonnay we planted. We called it the mystery grape and made one of our first wines out of those grapes. After narrowing it down we discovered the mystery grape was Carmine. This inky dark grape proved to us straight from the beginning that we could make beautiful full-bodied dry wines and definitely gave us the confidence from the beginning to continue making wines like that. From those 120 vines, we took cuttings from them and planted 2,000 vines on the best hill on our farm.
Wayvine Winery & Vineyard in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, welcomes guests Thursdays through Sundays.
They grow absolutely beautifully and every year provide some of the best fruit we have. The varietal is Cabernet Sauvignon crossed with Carignon, which is then crossed with Merlot. The vines grow very similar to merlot with dark full berries. Carmine is our best-selling wine as a strict varietal wine but also is the leading force in our new red blend. The red blend is a twist on a Bordeaux, with Carmine leading the way with about 61%, then 23% Merlot and 16% Cab Franc. We also always make a large batch of rosé with this grape doing a full cluster press with no real extra skin contact. The rosé comes out of the berry with a nice light color to it. Carmine is a wonderful grape to work with and will be a grape the East Coast is known for. My brother and I will continue to plant more and spread the word as we have done up until this point.
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The Link LonkMay 30, 2021 at 01:31AM
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‘Mystery grape’ that has found an audience is just one of the appealing storylines of this Chester County win - pennlive.com
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