Greene County family works to uncork business success from farm

Jamie Thistleth waite shies away from calling himself a pioneer, but what else can you call someone who tries his hand at something that's never been done before in Greene County?

Growing up on a 210-acre farm two miles north of Jefferson that's been in his family since 1892, Thistlethwaite and four generations of ancestors before him are used to growing the traditional crops of southwestern Pennsylvania - wheat, oats, corn, dairy and beef cattle, hogs and sheep. That's why his decision to grow wine grapes on the farm and turn them into wine is a jump into agricultural terra incognito.

 
"As far as I can tell, we're the first commercial winery in the county to grow our own grapes," he said.

(Note: Shields Demesne Winery, which opened in Spraggs last year, bottles and sells melomel, a honey-based wine made with grapes and juice bought elsewhere.)

Before trying his hand with viticulture, the science of grape production and oenology, the science of wine-making, Thistlethwaite (pronounced Thistle-wait) worked in the utilities construction industry after leaving the farm at age 25 in 1994 for Annapolis, Md.

"I stumbled into the field of horizontal drilling after meeting a sales rep for this new computer-driven construction tool that could drill underneath and across roads, ponds and parking lots to put in conduits," he said. "The rep put me in touch with a businessman who purchased the equipment and hired me to operate it. Eventually, I learned the trade so well I started my own utilities construction business."

Things took a turn in a new direction in 1998 when Thistlethwaite's grandfather, Dick, decided to turn the farm over to his son, Richard, a retired Pennsylvania state trooper and still-working farmer.

As soon as the deed transfer was underway, Thistlethwaite's father decided to get his affairs in order and make a will. However, both his father and grandfather wanted to find out how the youngest Thistlethwaite might carry the farm into the future.

"I love the place," he said. "It's so beautiful and peaceful, and the farmhouse was here even before my great-great grandfather, Eli Thistlethwaite, purchased the property."

Thistlethwaite put his mind to working on a proposal and came up with the grape-growing, winemaking idea. He said he had an easier time convincing his father about the feasibility of the idea because he sent him out to other vineyards and wineries in the region where he saw firsthand that others were already making a go of it. His grandfather was a harder sell, but he also eventually accepted the idea.

Initially, Thistlethwaite laid out close to $100,000 in start-up costs that included the purchase of a tractor, sprayer, deer fencing, posts, grape vines and trellising. Because the farm's soil is largely made up of very heavy clay, which retains a lot of moisture, he also had to prepare the vineyard by laying drainage pipes in every other row of grapes. This beginning phase of his operation was largely financed through the sale of his utility construction business.

"A lot of friends and family were anxious about the project because it's so alien to the traditional farm practices of our area," Thistlethwaite said. "Fortunately, I get to live on the property, which helps out financially. If I had to purchase the land for a vineyard, the venture would have been virtually impossible."

Thistlethwaite planted his first 600 vines in a one-acre plot in 2000. They included four varietals - Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Vidal and Vignoles. To learn how to grow the grapes and turn them into wine, he toured wineries in Pennsylvania and the Niagara region of Canada. He also volunteered to work at the Christian Klay Winery in Chalk Hill, where he said he obtained "an abundance of knowledge."

In 2002, he also went to work at the Sugar Creek Winery in Defiance, Mo., a state with a long history of growing wine grapes and a climate similar to Pennsylvania's. While he worked there for four years and eventually became the winery's cellar master, he also came back home to Greene County in the spring to plant new vines and in the fall to get the vineyard ready for its winter hibernation.

"I spent eight years of my life learning the ropes by working for people already in the business," he said.

To finance the winemaking segment of the business, Thistlethwaite borrowed money using the house as collateral. In 2006, he purchased a couple 50-and-106-gallon stainless steel tanks and five 58-gallon oak barrels from the nearby Keystone Cooperage, along with the requisite bottles and corks. However, his biggest financial outlay was for the construction of the winery and tasting room, even though he and his family did a lot of the construction work themselves.

Originally, he intended to install the tasting room in the farm barn. However, when his grandmother, Betty, heard that he also planned to bulldoze the family stable, she stepped in to insist that he somehow preserve it. She got her wish when Thistlethwaite decided to turn the stable, not the barn, into the tasting room.

After a lot of renovation and reconstruction, the tasting room is now a testimony to their labor of love. Two of its walls, its flooring and its sleek, long bar are made from cherry wood harvested on the property. After felling the trees, Thistlethwaite and his father brought in a portable saw mill, then dried the lumber for three years before using it for construction of the tasting room.

Currently, the vineyard has grown to 5-1/2-acres with the planting of additional grape varieties. For the past eight years, Thistlethwaite has been honing his winemaking skills, making small batches of wine on a trial basis.

"I've been getting very ripe fruit with high sugar content, partially because I drop a lot of grapes so the vines can maximize flavor," he said.

Last year, the 2007 harvest produced 900 cases of wine, all of which was made from grapes grown on the property. Thistlethwaite trucked the freshly picked grapes to the Christian W. Klay Winery in Chalk Hill for crushing, then brought the juice back to the farm for fermenting and aging. When the wine was properly aged, he took the finished product back to Christian Klay for bottling.

"In the next couple of years, I intend to purchase additional equipment so that everything can be done on site," he said.

The current business operating as Thistlethwaite Vineyards is a family-run enterprise. Thistlethwaite's fianc?e, Duann Vanderslice, handles the business end of the enterprise. Because she's also a nuclear pharmacist, she also handles the chemistry behind the winemaking operation.

"If it wasn't for Duann, I don't think we could have survived the onslaught of paperwork that comes with getting a winery license," Thistlethwaite said.

The design for the bottling label was also a family effort, aided by Thistlethwaite's friend, Dan Reinhart, who helped with the computer software needed to print the labels, and Duann's niece, Tonya Miller, an advertising and design student who worked on the label layout and format.

Since obtaining the winery license in February 2008, Thistlethwaite's mother, Annette, has been running the tasting room with assistance from his two nieces, Nicole, 17, and Kathryn, 19.

From the get go, his father has been involved in every aspect of the enterprise - from the vineyard to the winery and tasting room.

The family no longer raises alternate crops except for a couple of beef cattle for their own consumption and the planting of a large kitchen garden.

Currently, Thistlethwaite Vineyards is offering 10 different wines for sale, all of which are available in the tasting room for sampling.

To price his wines, the wine-maker researched what other comparable wineries were charging and came up with a price point he feels is fair both to himself and his customers.

Recently, Thistlethwaite entered two of his wines - a 2007 Colonial red, made from a blend of Leon Millot and Foch, and a 2007 Colonial white, made from a blend of Vignoles and Seyval, in the 2009 Pennsylvania Farm Show. He won a bronze medal for the Colonial red.

"I feel quite proud of the award because I know of wine people who've entered the competition for a decade and haven't yet won anything," he said.

In the future, Thistlethwaite plans to build a large pond and gazebo on the property to enhance patron visitation. A grandstand for blues, jazz and bluegrass concerts is also in the planning stage, as is the planting of another 15 acres of vineyard.

During warmer weather, patrons can picnic on the property, hike through the farm's 50 acres of woodlands and tour the winery and vineyards.

"Throughout this whole process, I learned that, if you have the energy and passion for an idea, you can make it come to fruition," Thistlethwaite said. "I was also fortunate to have the support of family who encouraged me to pursue my goal."