A 38— Lancaster Faming, Saturday, October S, 1983
Brandywine Vineyards
(Continued from Page A 22)
spring and prevent frost damage
during the delicate bud stage.”
“We have to be honest, and say,
yes we are a Pennsylvania winery,
but probably our largest market is
the greater Wilmington area.
There is a large concentration of
affluent wine drinking people
there,” said McKeon.
McKeon began drawing up a
plan for the property, laying out
the vineyards and designing the
winery. Production estimates, and
costs were figured, and funding
was sought.
McKeon recalls, "When I first
started looking for a loan, I very
boldly picked up the phone and told
the bank officer I wanted to borrow
$1.2 million. They were very polite
and didn’t laugh, and then ex
plained if they lent that much
money to one person and he
defaulted it would take the bank
under.”
Back to the drawing board.
McKeon revised his plan, refining
it and cutting costs. Still no lenders
were willing to assume the risk.
Then he went to the ADC and asked
for help in finding a lender.
The old college try
“The development plan went
through 15 iterations,” explained
McKeon, “each time it went
through an iteration the funding
being sought was smaller and
hopefully more intelligently
planned. I went to 15 to 17 lending
institutions and was turned down
by them all, until I finally got
funding from the Agricultural
Business Division of American
Bank, in Reading. Amerian Bank
would only OK the loan if I could
get a Small Business Ad
ministration guarantee. The Small
Business Administration refused
two applications before OKing a
third proposal.”
When things seemed to be falling
together, other disruptive forces
began to come into play. The site
McKeon selected for the wineiy
was met with local opposition. The
Citizens To Stop Die Winery
organized.
Bob Mcßae a member of the
ADC explains, “Initially McKeon
had selected a site in New London
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129 Rocky Ridge Rd.. Quakertown, PA 18951
township. His building permit was
turned down because the site was
zoned strictly residential and the
winery didn’t fall into any other
special exception catergories.
“When McKeon moved the
proposed site to Franklin Town
ship he also met opposition from
residents of Franklin Township
who didn’t want the winery in the
township. Franklin Township is a
dry township and prohibits retail
sales of brewed and distilled
spirits. This is when the
Agricultural Development Council
got involved in township meetings.
“We (ADC) felt the winery was
an accessory use to an agricultural
operation, and we set about to find
out what we could do to prove
that.”
ADC acted as a resource linker
for McKeon. They contacted
Secretary of Agriculture Penrose
HalloweU, who personally wrote a
letter citing many agriculturally
related land and tax laws of the
Commonwealth that define
agricultural products in such a
manner as to include viticulture
and the products thereof. ADC did
some document digging as well,
turning up plenty of proof that the
winery was in fact an agricultural
accessory use.
The information was compiled
and presented by McKeon's at
torney to the zoning hearing board.
When the Citizens To Stop The
Winery could not present any proof
that the winery was a commercial
use the permit was granted.
Breaking new ground
The major problem confronting
McKeon was not all the small
obstacles he had to overcome, but
the novelty of establishing a
vineyard in southeast Penn
sylvania. McKeon not only had to
leam how to go about it himself he
had to educate everyone along the
way.
“The point is, if we were doing
this in California there would be no
shortage of bankers that would
understand the problem. They
might not agree with me, but they
would at least be able to grasp the
problem and work it. But here in
Pennsylvania it’s difficult. In fact,
several bankers openly said to me, ■
‘We don’t know that there is
I'M
NOT
L10N...
anything wrong with your
proposal, we just don’t know that
it’s any good.”
Taking root
When all the necessary approval
had been given, McKeon and Olsyn
were able break real ground. The
first five acres of grapes were
planted in May 1982. An additional
10 acres were planted this past
spring. Six varieties are presently
being grown. Olsyn plans to plant
an additional 10 acres each spring,
eventually the vineyard will have
65 acres in production. Con
struction of the winery began in
August 1982. The township granted
the winery a five year sanction
that permits them to produce wine
from grapes purchased in Penn
sylvania. In five years, they will be
required to produce 50 percent of
the raw material they manufac
ture.
Fruits of determination
Imparting a little local color to
his wine business, McKeon named
his winery “The Brandywincry.”
He started making wine in October
1982 and started selling the wine on
March 9, 1983. All the wine made
thus far is from juice purchased
from Erie County. Next year the
first grapes from the Brandywine
vineyard will be harvested.
Two-thirds of the wine produced
at the Brandywinery are white,
one-third is red, reflecting con
sumption trends. The wine
selection includes Aurore, Seyval
Blanc, Niagar, Catawba Rose,
Leon Millot, and for local flavor
Concord, Brandywine White, Hunt
Cup Red, and soon to be added
Brandywine Red.
By 1992, McKeon estimates the
vineyard and winery will be
producing and processing 250 tons
of their own grapes. These grapes
will yield some 260,000 bottles of
wines.
It’s never been easy to start a
vineyard in Pennsylvania. William
Fast track
to egg cost reduction
Penn failed three hundred years
ago in an attempt to start one. At
last McKeon and Olsyn have
Visitors to the winery are given a tour by McKeon. Wine is
fermented in large plastice vats, which are nuetral to the
wine.
NORTHEAST AGRI SYSTEMS. INC,
P.O. Box 187
Fitchville, CT 06334
Phone; (203)642-7529
Local Representative
DAVID NEWMAN
(717)299-9905
succeeded in establishing a
vineyard that the Brandywine
Valley has thirsted for for years.