Chapter 12 – The Enoteca
Captain America: We finally got the approvals to open The Enoteca in November 2007. Our initial visit to the township planning board had been May 19, 2004, right in the middle of our first planting. I remember it because it was my dad’s birthday. We showed up thinking that they would kiss us on both cheeks, thank us for coming to their township and starting a winery and give us everything we asked for. It did not quite work out that way. I’m guessing they saw a city guy and his friends who had been farmers for all of 5 days coming to their township to make intoxicating beverages. And I was woefully unprepared for their questions. They roughed us up pretty bad. I could almost hear my dad’s voice in my head as I walked out telling me I had that schooling coming to me for being cocky and unprepared. He was right, we deserved it - well most of it at least. But the day finally came when we were finally able to open our doors to the public.
The Enoteca is a wine bar in the Italian style of wine bars. We have wine of course. But we also have cheese, gelato, biscotti, chocolates – all things that make a glass of wine better. It is a place where you can have a glass of wine with a friend and look out the windows at the vines. It is a place you can bring Grandma and the kids and hang out together as a family. You can even sit in the courtyard by yourself and listen to the rustling of the leaves in the vineyard and soak in the sun. We really just created a place that we would want to come and hang out which is a darn good thing because we are almost always there….
Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vineyard. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Part II- Jumping in with Both Feet
Part II – Jumping in with Both Feet.
Chapter 5: We Find the Farm…
Captain America: As we looked all over South Jersey for properties, Dave and Shannon kept taking us by this property for sale near their house. It was a beautiful 16 acre property with a small farm house, a pole barn and pasture land that had been used for cattle and horses. In fact this property was surrounded by farms and pastures. There were horses and cows, corn fields and soy fields. There was even a rodeo around the corner. Where in the world WERE we?
A lovely fellow by the name of Don Kohler was the real estate agent for the seller. The negotiation lasted for most of 2003 as we continued to look for properties. I kept in touch with Don who promised that I would never hear from him that the property had been sold – he would always give me one last bite at the apple. I knew Don as a tall skinny fella. He was actually a large barrel- chested fella who was dying of a very painful form of cancer. Thanks to Don, we were finally able to reach a deal to buy the property. Don was going from bad to worse but still managed to help my mom buy a house in Woodstown to be close to the farm. Mom, a hospice worker at the time, helped him die. I was a pall bearer at his funeral. He said that helping us buy the farm to start a winery is one of the achievements of his life he was most proud of. I poured him his last glass of wine under a tree in front of what would be the first field we would plant.
So like I said, with the money my dad left and with a little help from mom, Jules and I bought the farm in October of 2003. We quickly realized that we could not maintain the farm while living in Queen Village so, over the winter, we left the city for good and moved to the farm. I was still working in Philly, by this time for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. So rather than a 15 minute Vespa ride to work I was now doing an hour and fifteen minutes through country lanes and major highways, over rivers and through several states. Dave was at J.P. Morgan in Wilmington doing his own miserable commute. He and Shannon still were living only six minutes away from the farm. By this time, Jules had, mercifully, taken over the winemaking and Shannon had begun to oversee the administration of the farm, the first task of which, was to plant.
Chapter 5: We Find the Farm…
Captain America: As we looked all over South Jersey for properties, Dave and Shannon kept taking us by this property for sale near their house. It was a beautiful 16 acre property with a small farm house, a pole barn and pasture land that had been used for cattle and horses. In fact this property was surrounded by farms and pastures. There were horses and cows, corn fields and soy fields. There was even a rodeo around the corner. Where in the world WERE we?
A lovely fellow by the name of Don Kohler was the real estate agent for the seller. The negotiation lasted for most of 2003 as we continued to look for properties. I kept in touch with Don who promised that I would never hear from him that the property had been sold – he would always give me one last bite at the apple. I knew Don as a tall skinny fella. He was actually a large barrel- chested fella who was dying of a very painful form of cancer. Thanks to Don, we were finally able to reach a deal to buy the property. Don was going from bad to worse but still managed to help my mom buy a house in Woodstown to be close to the farm. Mom, a hospice worker at the time, helped him die. I was a pall bearer at his funeral. He said that helping us buy the farm to start a winery is one of the achievements of his life he was most proud of. I poured him his last glass of wine under a tree in front of what would be the first field we would plant.
So like I said, with the money my dad left and with a little help from mom, Jules and I bought the farm in October of 2003. We quickly realized that we could not maintain the farm while living in Queen Village so, over the winter, we left the city for good and moved to the farm. I was still working in Philly, by this time for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. So rather than a 15 minute Vespa ride to work I was now doing an hour and fifteen minutes through country lanes and major highways, over rivers and through several states. Dave was at J.P. Morgan in Wilmington doing his own miserable commute. He and Shannon still were living only six minutes away from the farm. By this time, Jules had, mercifully, taken over the winemaking and Shannon had begun to oversee the administration of the farm, the first task of which, was to plant.
Chapter 3: Planting the Test Vineyard
Chapter 3: Planting the Test Vineyard…
Captain America: So in went the vines – 10 cabernet sauvignon and 10 merlot plants. I took two of them home to Queen Village and planted them on our postage stamp of a back patio and grew them over the trellis we had just built. As far as I know, the vines are still there.
Dave and I then started making wine in my basement in Queen Village with one of those wine kits that come in a box: cabernet sauvignon juice, a carboy, several color coded packets of stuff ( I assume one of which was yeast) and some oak chips. The instructions told you which colored packet to add when.
I should add at this point that our respective wives thought we were crazy. It turns out our pal Rob did too. He ultimately decided he could not match the obsessive, and frequently misguided, zeal that Dave and I had for this adventure. Dave and I were undeterred. The wine we made was absolute crap. The vines grew but were getting chomped by bugs and corroded by fungus. Dave dedicated himself to figuring out how to get these vines to grow. I began to write a business plan. We all had more kids. Dave and Shannon had Montana and Jules and I had Jake.
Captain America: So in went the vines – 10 cabernet sauvignon and 10 merlot plants. I took two of them home to Queen Village and planted them on our postage stamp of a back patio and grew them over the trellis we had just built. As far as I know, the vines are still there.
Dave and I then started making wine in my basement in Queen Village with one of those wine kits that come in a box: cabernet sauvignon juice, a carboy, several color coded packets of stuff ( I assume one of which was yeast) and some oak chips. The instructions told you which colored packet to add when.
I should add at this point that our respective wives thought we were crazy. It turns out our pal Rob did too. He ultimately decided he could not match the obsessive, and frequently misguided, zeal that Dave and I had for this adventure. Dave and I were undeterred. The wine we made was absolute crap. The vines grew but were getting chomped by bugs and corroded by fungus. Dave dedicated himself to figuring out how to get these vines to grow. I began to write a business plan. We all had more kids. Dave and Shannon had Montana and Jules and I had Jake.
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