Wine series: Great Grapes

Local winery owners have a passion for grapes, more

LEBANON, Va. – Making wine may seem like fun.
And, certainly, there appears to be a perpetual smile on the face of new winery owner Vincent Gilmer of Lebanon, Va.
This fall, the 50-year-old Gilmer, a preparations manager for Alpha Natural Resources, opened the tasting room at Vincent’s Vineyard and Winery. The gift shop on East Main Street sells cheese and crackers, wine accessories, chocolate – and, of course, bottles of wine.
Vincent’s Vineyard began in 2001, when Gilmer and his wife, Betsy, planted grapes near Big Cedar Creek.
That new crop replaced the family’s generations-old tradition of growing tobacco.
For a few years, the Gilmers’ grapes supplied stock to wineries across Southwest Virginia, including the Rural Retreat Winery of Wythe County; MountainRose Vineyards in Wise County; and the Abingdon Vineyard & Winery in Washington County.
Along the way, the Gilmers bottled 800 cases of their own wine, including hundreds of bottles of the variety that started it all – “Make Me Blush.”
That flavor actually began as Vincent Gilmer’s homemade recipe. At first, he simply called it “Vincent’s Blush.”
Creating the winery has been a labor of love, Vincent Gilmer said.
“One thing we really rely on and are really blessed with is the volunteer help of family and friends,” said Betsy Gilmer, a nurse case manager. “It’s a lot of work, but we like it. And it’ll be a retirement job.”

BY THE RIVER
Down at Alvarado, Janet Nordin and Bob Carlson don’t act like they’re retired.
But that’s what they thought they were going to do – well, kind of – several years ago when they moved to Alvarado in Washington County, Va. This couple of retired AT&T executives found their dream home. Then they faced a happy problem: They had so much land they didn’t know what to do.
So they grew grapes.
In 2001, the married couple popped the cork on Washington’s County’s first farm winery – Abingdon Vineyard & Winery – near the headwaters of South Holston Lake.
Today, Janet’s brother, Rick Nordin, and Rick’s wife, Cheryl Nordin, help as hosts at the two-story winery building, located about halfway between Abingdon and Damascus, just a few miles from U.S. Highway 58. The rustic site has so many shade trees that it looks like a jungle.
“The location,” Nordin said, “is somewhat unique.”
Yearly, from March to December, visitors wander into the facility to snack on cheese and crackers, shop for gifts in the lobby or sip samples of various vino at picnic tables facing Louse Creek. Some ride bikes, getting here from the nearby Virginia Creeper Trail.
The couple keeps busy.

‘LIFELONG DREAM’
Kevin Corey does, too.
Visiting his vineyard and winery, Corey Ippolito, on the outskirts of Blountville, Tenn., seems like taking a trip to Italy – with the majestic winery building outlined by rolling hills covered in symmetrically-perfect rows of grape vines.
“That’s what we gear the property to, the buildings – that look,” said Corey, who moved to Sullivan County from Syracuse, N.Y., about a decade ago.
Corey, 53, is a building contractor. But, like the Gilmers or Bob Carlson and Janet Nordin, Corey got into the wine- making business simply because he had more land than he needed.
And he ended up growing grapes.
Next, he tried to find something to do with them.
Initially, Corey thought he had a local buyer. But that didn’t pan out. So Corey ended up on the road, carting his grapes south to a winery at Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Later, he said, “We brought a consultant in. And he said what we needed to do is develop an area for weddings and then put a winery in.”
Today, Corey’s business includes the vineyard, a winery, meeting room, wedding venue and a bed-and-breakfast that he operates with his wife, Nancy.
None of this was part of a long-range plan. “What I’ve done, all my life, is to build things to sell them,” Corey said.
Even so, Corey added, “Most people look at this place and think it’s our lifelong dream.”

IF YOU GO: CHEERS FOR WINE & BEER
Abingdon Winery & Vineyards: 20530 Alvarado Road, Abingdon, VA 24211. (276) 623-1255. http://www.abingdonwinery.com
Blue Mountain Brewery: 9519 Critzers Shop Road, Afton, VA 22920. (540) 456-8020. http://www.bluemountainbrewery.com.
Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill: 1470 S. Main St., Suite 120, Blacksburg, VA 24060. (540) 953-2855. http://www.bullandbones.com
Corey Ippolito Winery: 533 Rogers Oakdale Pvt. Drive, Blountville, TN 37617. (423) 323-1241. http://www.civines.com.
Depot Street Brewery: 904 Depot St., Jonesborough, TN 37659. (423) 753-7628. http://www.depotstreetbrewing.com.
Vincent’s Vineyards: 2313 E. Main St., Lebanon, VA 24266. (276) 889-2505. http://www.vincentsvineyard.com.
Wolf Hills Brewing Co.: 475 Palmer St., Abingdon, VA 24210. http://www.wolfhillsbrewing.com.