Support your local vineyard
What's nouveau at Paradocx is a potable take on community-supported agriculture
By Roger Morris
May 27th, 2009
Wilmington News Journal
Until about 30 years ago, winemakers considered themselves the artistic equivalents of fine chefs. Someone else grew the raw materials, the chef or winemaker chose the produce that looked best and freshest, then each went to their respective laboratories (kitchens, wineries) to make a little magic.
But then winemakers became more interested in how the grapes were grown and increasingly put themselves in charge of the vineyards, directly or indirectly. It was during the harvest of 1982, I believe, that one of the principals at a new Napa Valley winery called Saintsbury told me, "The grapes were so good this year that you would have to screw up not to make good wine from them."
When I repeated this to Warren Winniarski at Stag's Leap Wine Cellar, he scoffed at the "naturalistic school of winemaking," as did many winemakers of his generation.
Today, it's hard to find a winegrower who doesn't consider herself a farmer first, and they all repeat some version of the cliché, "Great wine is made in the vineyards."
David Hoffman and his colleagues at Paradocx Vineyard in Landenberg, Pa., one of the best wineries in the Brandywine region, has taken the "farmer first" concept one step further by offering Paradocx' wine in a CSA format. CSA stands for "community-supported agriculture," a system under which families purchase a share of a farmer's harvest in advance. The farmer uses the money to buy seeds and supplies, and each week the CSA shareholders get a designated part of whatever vegetables and fruits are ready.
The Paradocx CSA produces wine made from its 30-acre vineyard on its 100-acre farm -- two cases (24 bottles) per share, plus discounts on other purchases and invitations to four "pickup parties" to claim the current half-case of wine. Membership in the Paradocx CSA ranges from $500-$600, depending on the kind of wine you want, and half-shares with limited benefits are available.
"We have not done that much to promote it," Hoffman says, "but have received some initial interest from just talking to visitors at our winery and tasting room." Although Hoffman says he doesn't know of any similar CSA's, at least one producer, Alfalfa Farm Winery in Massachusetts, has come up with the same idea.
The concept is similar to Bordeaux futures, by which you buy wine before it's ready, and winery clubs, with which you commit to regular shipments. Still, using a CSA format helps drive home the point that wine is farm produce -- and local farm produce, at that.
For more information, go to www.paradocx.com/csa.php. Check out the question, "Is Paradocx Vineyard CSA right for me?" and you'll get the idea that the Hoffmans and co-owners Harries may be farmers, but they still have day jobs as physicians.