Grape expectations

Northeastern Pennsylvania is known for its coal mining history and outdoor recreation opportunities. But a tasteful new chapter is being written into its biography.

Vineyards and wineries are fast becoming part of the landscape from the Delaware River west to the Susquehanna and beyond. Fertile soil, a decent climate and an entrepreneurial spirit have driven the business.

That was the case with Bill and Denise Karlotski who opened Pavlick Hill Vineyard recently. The Karlotskis’ actual vineyard occupies an acre of former farmland in Plymouth Township owned by Denise’s late grandparents, George and Catherine Pavlick. A retail salesroom opened in January along Route 118 in Lehman Township.

Pavlick Hill’s arrival brings to 15 the tally of wineries in a six-county region that includes Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties.

Bartolai Winery in Exeter Township opened last year, making it the first in Luzerne County. The granddaddy of them all is Preate Winery in Old Forge, Lackawanna County, which opened in 1986, becoming the area’s first commercial winery.

Greg Preate, who owns and operates the trailblazing winery in the heart of pizza country, said he believes three factors have caused a lonely business to become the chic thing to do: the home winemaking hobby, the economy, and the fashionable and healthy fad wine drinking has become.

“There are a ton of home winemakers in this area,” Preate said. “I’ve seen people turn their home winemaking hobby into a legal operation.” He warned, though, that people don’t realize what goes into running a winery and operations often fail before they begin or shortly thereafter.

“It’s not an easy business. You need a big fortune to make a small fortune in this business,” Preate said with a chuckle.

One home winemaker making the transition is Bill Karlotski, who teaches at Luzerne County Community College by day and picks grapes and sells wine by night.

He said his father’s property in Luzerne always had vines and he decided to tinker with making his own wine three decades ago. Three years ago, he planted cuttings from those vines on the Pavlick Farm to start his enterprise. He supplements that yield with grapes and juice from both out-of-area and local suppliers including Heller’s Orchards in Wapwallopen.

The Karlotskis met with several area winemakers, including Preate, when looking into whether to make a go of the enterprise. They came away inspired but knowing the risks.

“It’s a ma-and-pa business,” Denise said. In their limited time, Bill said the business “has probably exceeded our expectations.”

Preate said for those that do make it work, they’re entering the market at a good time.

But the same economy that leads to more drinkers is also likely to lead to more vintners.

“With this economy, people are looking to get into something new. They’ve lost their job and they’re looking for something to do,” Preate said. Enter winemaking.

Buoyed by reports that wine drinking has positive health benefits, movies like “Sideways” and “Bottle Shock” and lower prices, the industry has been booming. In Washington State alone, more than 400 new wineries have emerged over the past decade.

There are more than 100 wineries across Pennsylvania, and with approximately 14,000 acres of grapes, the Keystone State ranks fourth nationally in the amount of grapes grown and eighth in the production of wine.

According to a recent report issued by the Wine Market Council, a nonprofit industry association, “in 2008, overall table wine consumption and the adult per capita consumption of table wine set a new record high, and the 15th straight year of gains in total wine sales was logged. … Moreover, despite the economic downturn in this country, the expansion of the U.S. wine market over the past few years will help the wine industry to hold steady through difficult economic times.”

Gary Toczo, who along with wife Ellie opened Nimble Hill in Tunkhannock in 2007, said “in slow economic times we have found our business has not been affected by the downturn.” He added that the addition of other nearby wineries is a sign that the business is strong.

Ray Bartolai, who owns his namesake winery near Falls, said the more the merrier when it comes to competition.

“I believe it is a good thing. The more wineries there are in this region the more new people that are attracted to the wine and our area’s unique surroundings.”