We came into farming without a history of it, without land, without money. But I had this shovel and a deep connection to family, food, where that food comes from, and work. As a kid, I was drawn outside. I was drawn toward the small garden and spindly peach tree. I was drawn toward the grape arbor that was planted by my great grandfather after he arrived here from Southern Italy. The Romano family and the Soranno family did not bring much here that was physical. They brought the love of family, the memory of food, and the know how to grow it and cook it. Years later, Joseph Farmer married into this family and my gift is to be part of it. My gift was also an endless supply of homemade bread, pizza on Fridays, big family gatherings, and a sense of belonging.
And there was wine. Red wine, that was usually served cold. It went well with every kind of food and every type of gathering.
I gravitated toward farming in my late teens in Vermont, taking summer jobs at a vegetable farm. Hooked for life. I learned the soil, the plants, the hand tools, the tractors, the steel in the field, and the people. Next was learning orchards and indulging in fruit while working. Then grapes
India and I met in 2000. She was raised up the mountain, in Virginia. She was no stranger to the values of family, food and work. We began our life together with no idea of how the future would look. Together we planted our first grapevines on borrowed land in 2002, the beginning of our grapevine nursery. It’s hard to convey the risks and challenges that we accepted in order to farm full time, with no safety net and only our sweat equity. Many days I look around and just can’t believe where we are at, what we did. Now our own kids have been raised with grapes dangling above their heads, like so many before them in our family since Paolo planted that one big vine over 100 years ago.
A farmer that I worked for in the late 90’s is partly to blame for all of this. Not only was he one of my greatest “bosses” ever and taught me so much, he also let me plant grapes in the back field to start my business. Then we rented some other land to farm and expand. For more than 20 years we have grown and sold grapevines to vineyards around the country for our nursery, Northeastern Vine Supply. In 2010 India and I were able to purchase and conserve an amazing piece of land along the Mettawee River, in West Pawlet, Vermont. Previously a dairy farm with a small sugar bush on the mountain, the house and barns were empty and the land rented out when I began writing letters to the owner to find out more.
This small valley in Vermont has always been known for dairy farms, maple syrup, and some of the finest slate in the world. Our roofs are made from slate, our floors are made from slate, our walkways are made from slate, and our soils are made from slate. The deep, gravelly and sandy soils are largely pieces of slate of varying sizes. The river here is clear, with black, grey and blue slate bedrock and gravel. That’s why we are here.
Our 180 acre farm is conserved, meaning the farm fields, river frontage, wetlands and forests will never be developed. Our vineyards, grapevine nursery, greenhouses, home and barns are nestled in a patchwork of small fields with ribbons of forest connecting larger parcels of big woods. We share this land and are lucky to be here. This land is bio-diverse. It is not just us who are alive because of this land. But we do get our food from here, fill our freezers from here and cut wood to keep ourselves warm from here. And we make our living from here.
Farming has been our only occupation. It has woven itself into every part of our lives. Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a seemingly overwhelming challenge.
We are so lucky to be able too farm this land, and to do it with so many amazing people over the years. We all work extremely hard, year round, with the vines. A small group of us handle every aspect of the vineyard including plowing and preparing new ground, propagating and planting every vine, putting in every trellis post, fixing and maintaining our tractors and equipment. These are the people who helped to grow this wine.
Jeremy Anastasi
Maureen Brown
Hernán Mayorga
Malaquias Ramos
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