Brookmere Winery – A Gift from Pennsylvania – Part I

From the moment we saw the old 1866 barn, Brenda and I knew we were in for a treat at Brookmere Winery in Belleville, Pennsylvania. Owners Cheryl and Ed Glick were happy to share some of the winery’s history and other interesting facts with us. The previous owners, Susan and Donald Chapman, planted the first three acres of vines on the 138-acre estate in 1981. The winery first opened in 1984 and has been an integral part of Route 655 ever since.

In 1995, Cheryl Glick began working for the Chapmans at the winery. In 1999, Ed joined the winery staff and began learning the winemaking process. When the Chapmans decided to sell the winery, the Glicks were there to buy it and carry on the fine Brookmere tradition. Today, the Glicks grow 10 acres of grapes that include French hybrid varieties like Chellois, Vidal, Seyval and Chambourcin. These represent between 35% and 40% of the grapes that make up the 13,000 gallons of wine that Brookmere produces each year. The remaining grapes come from other Pennsylvania growers. Most Brookmere wine is fermented in steel tanks, although some is aged in oak barrels. The bottling line can handle between 150 and 200 bottles per hour and the entire bottling process takes about three months out of the year.

The Glicks have the ability and desire to expand the vineyard and winery to 20,000 gallons per year. When I asked them about the impact of the current economic crisis on sales, they replied that there has been no impact. People consider wine a relatively cheap luxury and don’t give it up. It’s also a great gift that won’t break the budget. In fact, the Glicks told me that Christmas sales in 2008 were actually up from 2007. There are things Cheryl and Ed would like to see changed in Pennsylvania’s laws governing wine sales. Under current law, Brookmere can only sell its wine at five state-operated liquor stores within a small radius of the winery. They would like that number and that radius to expand. Also, they wish they could ship their wine to more states. They wouldn’t have a problem if the deals were reciprocal and out-of-state wineries could ship to Pennsylvania. According to Ed, “we’re not big enough to hurt them and they’re not big enough to hurt us.”