Wine-making for the masses

Chris Pearmund had a new idea of how to run winery so he's going to make a go of it.

Pearmund, of the Winery at LaGrange near Haymarket, has opened a do-it-yourself winery in Fauquier County.

"It's a very, very different, very cool new philosophy of winery operations," Pearmund said of the Vint Hill Craft Winery, where people can learn to make their own barrel of wine for $6,000.

For the price of tuition, people who buy a barrel get 25 cases of wine, or 300 bottles, and a great deal of understanding about how to make wine.

"Our primary involvement here is to almost use this as a wine making school,"said the 48-year-old father of two. "We're going to teach you the questions, teach you the answers, teach you the decisions, teach you the vocabulary of wine making, teach you the nuances as if you were going to a cooking class in a restaurant and spend time there learning how to be a chef."

The classes will take a six- to 12-month commitment of two to three nights a month for a couple of hours each night, said Pearmund who also owns Pearmund Cellars in Fauquier County.

The Vint Hill Craft Winery on Lineweaver Road is the first of its kind on this side of the country with only one other that is similar in California, said Pearmund, who describes himself as a consultant helping to develop wineries and the wine industry across Virginia.

"We're opening a winery here that has a very different protocol to it, a very different experi-ence to it. We're offering something that nobody else on the east coast can offer,"

Pearmund opened the Winery at LaGrange in 2006 and has helped open a dozen wineries across the com-monwealth and North Carolina over the last 10 years.

His goal is to add to the "quality and quantity" of Virginia's 180 wineries.

People will be coming from as far away as Texas, Georgia and Maryland to take the classes with help from winemaker D.J. Leffin.

"Most people are within an hour's drive," said Pearmund who has been involved in the wine industry for the last 25 years.

So far the Pearmund and his partners, at the winery who are looking for about 60 customers a year, have sold about 40 barrels to a broad range of customers.

The program has attracted groups of friends, corporate customers and restaurant owners who are interested in making custom wines for their restaurants.

"We're very happy with what we've got to date," he said. "For our busi-ness plan and what we're doing, I think we are successful already. The concept is very, very solid, and I think you'll be seeing more of these wineries in the future."

People also come to the winery to taste and purchase wines made exclusively with Virginia grapes.

"This Vint Hill Craft Winery has two different sets of customers— one who comes here to drink wine and buy a bottle and take it home with them and the other that comes here to make a bar-rel,"Pearmund said.

Two of Pearmund's students, Kirk Wiles and his mother Jane Wiles, will be making wine come harvest time.

They planted grape vines on their family farm off Yates Ford Road in Fairfax County about 18 months ago.

The plants are doing well, Kirk Wiles said.

Jane and Kirk Wiles met Pearmund about two years ago and decided to take the classes at the new craft winery.

"We're happy to have some of the last agricultural land in the county," Kirk Wiles said. "I'm a business guy and trying to do something appropriate and we want to turn it into a winery."

Jane Wiles said she wants to continue a long tradition of winemaking in the commonwealth which started in earnest when Thomas Jefferson brought plants from France and planted the vines at Monticello.

"Our wineries are part of that cultural environment from way back," she said. "I'm very excited to be a part of that."

Jane Wiles said she is not concerned about starting a new business in an iffy economy.

People will always buy wine, she said.

"I think that wine is inspiring in good times and in bad times," Jane Wiles said.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.