New River Winery Established In Lansing Bohemia Café And Art Gallery Becomes Official Retail And Tasting Outlet President of the New River Winery Haskell McGuire presents the First Bottle to Dr. Dan Strickland, Chairman of the Board and Chief Winemaker. Photos by Susan McDonald West Jefferson City Alderman Stephen Shoemaker signs the first dollar bill from sales of wine at Bohemia Café. By Susan McDonald Ashe County officially became Wine Country as of Friday, July 28, when the first winery in the county appropriately called the New River Winery, celebrated its ribbon cutting in Lansing. Chief winemaker and Chairman of the Board, Dr. Dan Strickland, infected others with his vision of growing grapes and building a winery. Bohemia Red and Bohemia White came to fruition after years of planning, closely followed by Back Porch Blueberry. The story began in 1994 when Dr. Strickland who had been making wine for 30 years, and his wife, Karen, began experimenting with growing cold weather grapes. The only way to make this winery happen was to interest others in the idea. Darlene Massey, Vice-President of New River Winery told how she “met up with Dan to learn how to grow grapes.” Dr. Strickland got others interested in wine making, and the team of future shareholders established a core group. There are now approximately 50 stockholders. New River Winery is a Sub-Chapter S corporation, incorporated in July 2005. The initial stock offering closed in October 2005, and a second was offered this year. On Saturday, July 22, Bohemia Café of West Jefferson hosted the “First Bottle Event.” The First Bottle was presented to Karen Strickland by Haskell McGuire, President and CEO of the New River Winery amid much excitement from the team that made it happen. President McGuire said that the mission of New River Winery is to promote agro tourism in Ashe County, with the goal being to produce wine made with grapes, berries and other produce grown exclusively in Ashe County. The Board of Directors were thanked, which included good friends who share a love of wine making. “Without your support, Dan’s dream never could have come true,” Karen said during the ceremony, as she accepted the First Bottle on Dr. Strickland’s behalf. On July 28th, the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the winery itself, located at 9318 Highway 194 N in Lansing. On August 11th, Bohemia officially began wine sales to the public, which was literally the Grand Opening of the New River Winery, since the building in Lansing is very small and not yet open for sales, tours or tastings, but is where the wine is actually created. Wine is $6 a glass for the Back Porch Blueberry, $5 a glass for Bohemia Red, and $4 a glass for the Bohemia White, a blended wine made with Riesling grapes. The bottle prices are $20 a bottle for the Back Porch Blueberry, and $14 a bottle for the white. Bottle sales for the Bohemia Red will be available after October 1 for $18 a bottle. Wine tastings are $3 and the price includes all three varieties. Currently, Bohemia is the only distributor of these wines, but future plans include marketing them elsewhere. When asked to describe the wine, McGuire reported simply, “It’s good!” The Bohemia White is described as light yellow and crystal clear with aromas of apple and citrus, off dry and refreshing. The Bohemia Red is a dry, dark red Italian style wine with a fruity scent and hints of plum, spices and tobacco. Back Porch Blueberry is a fruity, ruby-red colored wine, slightly sweet with hints of vanilla, caramel and toasted nuts. The Bohemia White and the Bohemia Red are considered New River Winery’s flagship wines, with the Back Porch Blueberry considered a special reserve. “It’s wonderful!” reported Gwen Ashley after tasting the Back Porch Blueberry. Guests who tasted the other wines offered no complaints and seemed to enjoy them. In fact, the Bohemia Red turned out to be so popular that it nearly sold out during the three week period of Bohemia’s silent opening. On August 11, Bohemia held its grand opening for wine sales and tastings. Excellent appetizers were provided by spouses of the shareholders for the public opening The event lasted for several hours and was well attended by approximately 300 persons as estimated by Haskell McGuire and the guest registry. Many state, county and city elected officials were in attendance and introduced by Joe Martin, Attorney and Secretary for the New River Winery. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx stated “with the decline of tobacco we need something new, and this new business shows how much can be accomplished by the sweat of their own brow... it takes ingenuity and hard work to get the job done.” Martin also reminded everyone that this is “perhaps the only winery that is organized this way, and we are very proud of it. There are no employees as yet, and all of the shareholders worked together as volunteers to make this happen.” Visionary Dr. Dan Strickland told about a cold March day when he and his wife were planting grass on their property, and decided to plant something else... grapes. “Like a grain of sand in an oyster, it became a pearl,” said Dr. Strickland. He continued, “Wine is liquid food. This is an agricultural industry.” His ideas don’t stop with the winery. He sees New River Winery as only the first winery, and imagines a High Country Wine Tour of other wineries. He explained it this way: “People come to visit several wineries, and to taste several wines, not just one.” Dr. Strickland compared wineries with antique shops. “Shoppers don’t come to an area to visit only one antique store. They want to come where there are lots of stores.” Derek Leek was recognized for designing the official logo for New River Winery. Amanda Gentry, member of the Board of Directors, Marketing Director and Treasurer was graciously thanked for her work in organizing all three events. It was also mentioned by Dr. Strickland as a point of interest that Gentry has a vineyard that is almost ready for production. Stephen Shoemaker, local artist and West Jefferson Alderman who was in attendance at Bohemia on both July 28 and August 11 had this to say about the new winery, “I am really excited about what’s going on. New River Winery is on the cutting edge of making Ashe County a wine mecca.” He continued, “I believe it will be successful.” Shoemaker also created the artwork for the wine labels, which is on display at Ashe County Arts Center. On August 11th, he presented the first bottle of Back Porch Blueberry to Johnny Burleson and Walter Clark on behalf of Dale Shepherd in honor of his brother Swansie Shepherd of Swansie’s Blueberry Farm, recognizing the Shepherd family’s contribution to the farm. The New River Winery also would like to recognize the long time farm manager, Ellen Woodie. The farm has been purchased by Burleson and Clark and renamed Old Orchard Creek Farm. During the ceremony on August 11, Dr. Holder of the Appalachian State University described the science of viticulture. His department is currently studying the best way to grow grapes here in the mountains. He said that the way everyone is contributing their time to establish this first winery in Ashe County is a “very mountain thing to do.” The owners of Bohemia and outlet managers for the New River Winery, Janet and Ken Brashear, are glad to be part of this effort. Janet said, “It’s exciting. We’re happy to be part of something that helps Ashe County and promotes Ashe County products.” The address of their website is www.BohemiaNC.com. Bohemia’s hours are Tuesday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Friday from 7:30 a.m. until later, and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until later. Wine tastings are offered after 11 a.m. Bohemia is closed on Sunday and Monday. They are located at 106 North Jefferson Avenue in West Jefferson. Dr. Strickland verbalized future plans for the new winery. The winery plans on moving to the Old Lansing School, and they will be leasing the building from Jim McGuire. There will be more room there for tours, tastings and sales. A restaurant that will serve the wine is planned, and a bed and breakfast is also envisioned. Dr. Strickland stated that it will probably be spring before the Lansing winery is moved, “the sooner the better,” but there are inspections to be made and ordinances to examine. Technically, the wine can be served in the facility in Lansing because licensing for wineries in North Carolina overrides local ordinances. When Dr. Strickland was asked how he felt about the opening of the New River Winery, he said he is “exhilarated because it is the culmination of a goal I’ve had since I came to the High Country. It takes a village to make a wine.” Darlene Massey, Vice-President of New River Winery said that one of their goals is to “make sure every visitor to the County leaves with a bottle of the wine,” but that for now they plan on “keeping the focus local in order to maintain the quality of the wines.” The New River Winery Board of Directors are: Dr. Dan Strickland, Chairman of the Board; Richard Kirrstetter, Vice-Chairman; Traylor Renfro, Secretary; Amanda Gentry, Darlene Massey, Joe Martin, Ken Brashear, Haskell McGuire and Joe Chamberlain. The New River Winery Corporate officers are: Haskell McGuire, President; Darlene Massey, Vice-President; Joe Martin, Attorney and Secretary; and Amanda Gentry, Treasurer and Marketing Director. The New River Winery is just beginning, with many plans for the future. Right now, they use whatever grapes or fruit they need to make good high quality wine. Not all of the grapes are grown here in the county, although all the wine is made here. The blueberries used in the Back Porch Blueberry are all grown in North Carolina and brought in by Old Orchard Creek Farm. New River Winery is not just making any wine, it is producing fine wine, and interested members of the community can be proud of its accomplishment. For more information about the New River Winery, go online at www.newriverwinery.com.