Writer to Winemaker By Karen L. Chandler

How can a short drive to Clover Hill Winery in Breinigsville become a journey from writer to winemaker?

When Anewalt’s vice president, Lori Anewalt, asked me to join her at Clover Hill’s first ever Basic Winemaking (Enology) Class, I thought, “Hm. That sounds way too complicated.”

Even though the hot and dry weeks of summer are no friend to landscapers, Lori was happy to head to the winery to support her Clover Hill family and celebrate a bountiful grape harvest. As Lori knows, unlike other crops, grapes love a hot and sunny summer, and when they’re happy, the vines can last up to 40 years.

Lori said, “I had the best childhood, growing up in the vineyard picking grapes alongside of my parents and grandparents and making wine at age 13. Now who gets to do that??”

No stranger to a glass of wine, the actual process behind one of my favorite beverages remained a mystery to me until Clover Hill’s head winemaker, John Skrip III, Lori’s brother, taught our seventeen-member class all the basics. And as he said, “to make a good bottle of wine, you’ve got to drink a lot of wine.” Now that sounded like a plan!

Our afternoon started with a bumpy trailer ride to that hot and sunny vineyard where John explained how the best grapes are chosen for a quality wine product. But no relaxing stroll in the vineyard for us. John handed out clippers and bins so we could harvest enough Cayuga grapes to begin our own winemaking process. Starting right then, everyone started growing a new appreciation for all that wine we’ve been taking for granted!

With the harvested grapes ready to go, I know a few of us were hoping for a Lucy and Ethel moment and some real-life grape stomping. Even though John described the fancy stainless steel press that these days gently coaxes the juice from the grapes, we went semi-old school and hand pressed our grapes in zip lock bags. All those grapes and then all that juice filled a jug for each of us to use as the base of our own wine products.

Chemistry class ensued at this point as we learned from John, assistant winemaker, John IV (JB), and distiller, Dan Bennett, a bit about the yeast we would use to start the fermenting process. We checked out yeast under a microscope and weighed out the exact amount (no pressure there!) of yeast we’d need to mix with water to start turning our grape juice magically into wine. John gets an A+ in this chemistry class for not going too far over our heads, but still helping us understand how all this magic happens! And as he said, “if you make a good starter, the rest of your job is easy-peasy.”

Our juice and starter were poured into the five-gallon glass carbuoy Clover Hill provided with our class, along with the airlock and bung, and bundled up for us to take home to continue our instructions to make about twenty bottles of wine!

“Winemaking 101 was just what I needed on a Sunday afternoon,” Lori said. “I was amazed to listen to my brother! He creatively wove together harvesting the fruit to the finished product. Sign me up for Winemaking 102!”

As a grand finale of our class, Clover Hill’s Kari Skrip spoiled us with food treats and we all enjoyed a beautiful glass of Clover Hill sparkling Cayuga and a special visit by Lori, Kari, and John’s mom, Pat Skrip, the founder of Clover Hill with her husband, John, in 1985. 

John III says, “come and check out 31 years of winemaking experience in an easy and fun class,” and stay tuned to schedule your own winemaking experience.

True inspiration for our own wine to come! Cheers!

Click to learn more about Clover Hill Vineyards.

Have some fun these cold, winter months!

Clover Hill Vineyards and Winery will be hosting yet another winemaking class this winter, so keep an eye out for that information on their Facebook page! Follow their page at https://www.facebook.com/CloverHillWine

For more details email:  Spruceitup@Anewaltslandscape.com.