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Vintage crops

Former tobacco growers have a ready market for their grapes: Wineries

Friday, Dec. 22, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Reid Silverman⁄The Gazette ‘‘I wanted to be able to work the land, to help preserve our agricultural heritage,” says James Horstkamp (left), president of the Southern Maryland Winegrowers Cooperative, of his decision to start growing grapes. At right is another grower, Steve Purvins, at Purvins’ Lawton Hall Farm in St. Mary’s County. Some Southern Maryland tobacco growers switched to grape-growing after the state’s 1998 tobacco buyout.

The Maryland Cooperative Extension Service wants to spread the concept of grape-growing to more farmers and potential farmers in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. Last month, the extension service held a workshop in Hughesville. Experts in viticulture and agriculture from throughout Maryland educated participants about considerations, site selection and varieties of wine grapes that grow well in the area.

The demand is there. Maryland’s wineries must import grapes from Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia and California, said Joe Fiola, a viticulture and small-fruit expert.

‘‘We produce much less than half of the grapes needed for the state,” Fiola said.

In fiscal 2006, Maryland winemakers produced 191,859 gallons — about 968,333 bottles — up 18.6 percent from 2005, according to the Maryland Wineries Association. Annual sales are estimated at $10.6 million, up from $9.0 million in 2005.

In its first year, operating a vineyard typically costs more than $50,000, which does not include land acquisition costs, Fiola said. It takes about seven to 10 years for a vineyard to be in full production.

Todd Connick said he used to grow tobacco on his 130-acre farm in Hughesville. Now he uses one of those acres to try out grapes. If all goes well, he plans to plant more grapevines to expand into a vineyard, he said. His plantings include chambourcin and seyval vines.

‘‘I was just looking for another alternative” to tobacco farming, Connick said. ‘‘[It] seemed like a good choice.”

The tobacco buyout pays participating farmers $1 per pound for 10 years based on the farm’s average production in crop years 1996, 1997 and 1998, according to the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission’s Web site.

Connick said he already had most of the equipment needed to start growing grapes, but needed to buy the vines, fencing, posts, wire and sprays to protect the grapes from insects and fungi. Previously owning most of the equipment made the grape experiment cost-effective, he said.

The workshop helped in ‘‘making sure I have the right soil and laying out the vines properly,” he said.

The workshop ‘‘tells you what varieties to grow in this area, what’s the best cash crop,” said Diane Verbos, who tends Connick’s vines. ‘‘And then you have to weigh the costs.”

Looking to grow

Connick and Verbos said they hope grape-growing and winemaking expand in Maryland.

‘‘It’s small right now, and it’s growing like crazy,” Connick said. ‘‘Hopefully it’ll catch on.”

James Horstkamp of Chaptico, president of the Southern Maryland Winegrowers Cooperative, said he would plant his first 800 grapevines in April. He said he is starting with just an acre of his large farm to get the hang of it.

‘‘I got into grape-growing under the grant administered by the Tri-County Council” for Southern Maryland, Horstkamp said. ‘‘I wanted to be able to work the land, to help preserve our agricultural heritage.”

A new winery may soon be coming to Southern Maryland, said Kevin Atticks of the Association of Maryland Wineries: the Port of Leonardtown in the old state highway building in Leonardtown.

‘‘The purpose of its formation is to encourage the growth of grapes and the grape industry in Southern Maryland,” Atticks said.

Town officials were looking for a tourist-based industry, he said, and the winery will include a large public park, plus a tasting room. He said the winery will have a half-acre of grapes grown on site and will also use grapes from other growers in the area.

Horstkamp estimated there would be more than 20 acres of vines planted for 2007 in Southern Maryland, which he called ‘‘just the beginning of a steep upward curve.”

‘‘The winery can be instrumental in encouraging and enabling growers,” Horstkamp said. ‘‘It encourages growers by providing the physical market and enables them to grow because the winery acts as a partner.”

Winery officials will work with growers by visiting the farms, diagnosing problems and recommending times for the grapes to be harvested, he said.

Friday’s Creek Winery on a former tobacco farm in Owings is a family-owned and -operated business started by Frank Cleary Sr.; his partners are sons Frank Jr. and Rich and nephew Tim.

Rich Cleary makes the wines sold in the old tobacco barn. The family planted a few acres on the property and the vines did well, so they planted more.

The family has a 10-acre vineyard on the Patuxent River about 2 miles down the road from the winery and 3 acres of vines planted on the property. Friday’s Creek opened in August, but the family had been working on converting the barn since March.

The vineyards grow 12 to 15 different types of red and white grapes, Cleary said, and some grapes are purchased from other states, including California, Virginia and New York. Among the varieties of reds grown are chambourcin and cabernet franc.

Seyval and vidal are on the list of whites grown at the vineyard. Merlot, syrah and cabernet sauvignon are wine grapes purchased and sold at the winery.

Fun — and profitable

Ken Korando and his wife, Ann, started making wine as a hobby about five years ago.

Ann Korando said her husband is an accomplished cook, and they both like a good bottle of wine with their meal, so it was a natural fit. They started making wine and had friends over to sample their handiwork. The wines were well-received.

After a year or so of research, they opened Solomons Island Winery in Lusby in July 2004.

‘‘It was the encouragement of friends and me,” Ann Korando said. ‘‘He knew about the business and had done his research on it. He found it could not only be a fun business, but also a profitable business.”

The winery has a 10-acre farm that produces some of the grapes needed for production, Ken Korando said. .

‘‘By the end of next year we’ll need the production of about 20 acres,” he said.

Cleary said Maryland wines sell well, but he hasn’t tried to sell much out of state or even elsewhere in Maryland. Most of Friday’s Creek’s sales are from the winery.

Local restaurants and liquor stores in the area carry a variety of wines made in Calvert, the only Southern Maryland county with wineries in full operation.

Horstkamp said grape growers will never equal the number of tobacco farmers who once thrived in Southern Maryland, but he believes it will catch on.

Like tobacco, wine ‘‘is a high-yield, which, although labor-intensive, can produce high-dollar volume per acre,” he said.