The VINOSANCTUM Almanac Wine is life, have FUN with it.
The blog of Chateau MerrillAnne winery
The VINOSANCTUM Almanac Wine is life, have FUN with it.
The blog of Chateau MerrillAnne winery
Building a winery in 6 easy steps
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
Planting a commercial sized vineyard by hand, well its insanity. Never one to let trivial things like that stop him, Kenny had family, friends and wife Emily meet on a beautiful April morning in 2010 to plant 1400 of the first vines at Chateau MerrillAnne. What a day!
"Wait, you're going to build what?....out of that?"
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
A wine tasting "room" can be anything, located anywhere. It can be in a brickfront store on Main street, a tent beside a river in Kalamazoo or in this case, an old corn crib in a field in Orange, Virginia.
Make some wine!
"Plant some grapes" they said. "It will be fun" they said
Make some wine!
Our first vintage was in 2012, with 5 wines created by three of Virginias most respected Vintners, Karim Baki, Michael Shaps and Ben Jordan. Bottling was finished by February of 2014. With a lineup of two whites, two reds and a rose' we were now ready to open our new tasting room.
Sell some wine!
Have fun with it!
Make some wine!
Although new Vintners ALWAYS focus on MAKING wine the most important factor in a wineries survivability is SELLING wine. To that end we opened our current tasting room, a converted corn crib, in March of 2014. Our rustic, laid back atmosphere quickly became our calling card. We also ship to 38 states and D.C.. In addition, Chateau MerrillAnne is also available in a number of local restaurants.
Have fun with it!
Have fun with it!
Have fun with it!
There is an old saying that goes "You can make a small fortune in wine, if you start with a large fortune." While we built Chateau MerrillAnne with just 2 credit cards and tons of sweat we are grateful to have found our fortune in the fun we have had, the challenges we have met and the friends we have made. We are thankful we are just as passionate about wine now as we were the day we opened.
Start a blog!
Have fun with it!
Have fun with it!
And here we are! Vinosanctum IS the voice of everyone at Chateau MerrillAnne. While each work is the opinion of that individual we have a place here, in Vinosanctum, where we can ALL share our stories, opinions and sense of humor. We hope you enjoy it. We hope you get some insight into this crazy vocation of ours. And we hope you laugh. Sit down, have a glass of wine and join us for a few minutes.
Featured Article
Community by Kenny White
Com·mu·ni·ty, plural: communities, often attributive: a unified body of individuals.
Have you ever watched a movie or read a book that described an incredible community event and wished that you lived in a place like that? After closing the tasting room last Thursday Emily and I hopped in the car and made the 13 minute drive to the town of Orange. A summer music series called "Music in the park" was starting at 6, and as we had been trying to get to one of these events all summer, we didn't want to miss it.
Upon arriving at Taylor Park in the center of town we were greeted by the sounds of a happy crowd. There is an uplifting feeling you get from the resonance of laughter and friendly conversation, and we were feeling it. This was a free event, so without needing to buy tickets or stand in lines we walked into the park where we were flanked by the wonderful aroma of food from food trucks and the sight of happy, smiling faces. Besides the food trucks there were several other vendors set up including a brewery, but most importantly for us, our friends from Woodbrook Farm Winery. Needless to say this was our first stop. After chatting with Noel and Vaughan for a few minutes we bought one of their excellent Viogniers and set off, looking for a place to set up our chairs. The band was getting ready to play on the makeshift stage and people were set up in a large semi circle facing them. The bands name was 'Rivanna' and as they played I listened to the music and enjoyed watching Emily bounce in her chair while singing along.
The music was good, the wine was great and there was a smile on every face. Even the police officer who would occasionally walk thru the crowd looked happy as she scanned the crowd from side to side. Whenever the band played an upbeat song a group of about a half dozen women, and one brave man, would hop up and dance in the open space between the seated spectators and the musicians. They were having the best time and were as entertaining as the music itself. To our left a young girl, maybe 6 years old, would get up and dance as well. She would contantly beckon for someone sitting behind me. On about her 5th or 6th time up, she finally got her man to join her as her Dad came up and danced with her. He was a trooper as he spun her around, Gene Kelly would have been proud.
As I sat there taking it all in it occurred to me how impossible an event like this would have been 50 years ago. Electric guitars and amplifiers in the middle of town? Food vendors? And wine and beer consumption in the open? Local wine and beer no less. It occurred to me how sometimes progress is so slow you don't even see it happening. But here we were, having a community moment so full of Americanna it should have been a Norman Rockwell painting. It reminded me of how important it is that every single citizen feel included and safe enough to participate in these types of community building events. Because that is what a community truly is.
Needless to say, we had an awesome time. We cannot believe how lucky we are to live in the place we do. Events like this are happening every single week in Virginia. We have world class wine, beer and cider being produced RIGHT HERE. Music, art, fresh produce, locally produced meats...we have a literal bounty in our very laps. Get out and enjoy it folks, it's not a movie, it's not a book, it's VIRGINIA!