Winery welcomes the heat for sweeter grapes

UNION, WV (WVNS) – Old World Libations is a Farm Winery nestled in Union. The winery is run by a husband and wife who decided to settle down in the mountain state and open their business.

While many other farmers and crop growers seem to be struggling with this extreme heat, owner Scott Ernst says he cannot get enough.

The warm weather is perfect for sweetening his grapes, which makes for better wine.

“For us, what we are really looking for is a lot of rain in the spring, early summer. Once we get to about the middle point, we’ve reached a point called the ‘veraison’, which is when the grapes start turning a different color. At that point as much as we hate to say it, it’s kind of a good thing for us,” said Ernst.

The vineyard prides themselves on creating every part of their wine-making process from scratch. This includes creating labels, aging the wine, and running their business.

Ernst says the business this year has been excellent.

The heat not only creates sweet wine, it creates lasting customer relationships for Old World Libations.

“This summer has been great, every year it continues to grow. The word is getting out that we are here,” said Ernst.

If wine is not your thing, the vineyard also has an Annual Fall Cider Pressing coming up on October 26th and 27th , 2024.

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