‘A learning process the whole time’: Grapes & Ladders Vineyards & Winery blending into area viticulture scene

Published 8:00 am Sunday, October 2, 2022

The Jackson family — Glenn, Cindy and their son Gavin — made Ellijay a destination when they wanted to get away from the metro scene in Alpharetta. Soon they were looking for a place to buy and plant a vineyard.

“We’ve gone to Napa (Valley, California) and did the wine-tasting thing out there for several years, and enjoyed it,” said Glenn. “We caught the bug, and had nothing else to do on the weekends so we went to work at the Habersham Winery in the tasting room. We just went up there to taste, then talked to the tasting room manager and the next thing you know we’re there every Sunday.”

Cindy added, “That was back in the late ‘90s.”

“We kinda remembered that, and when I was getting close to retirement I kept saying I wanted to buy some land, and Cindy said great, but you gotta make money from it,” Glenn continued. “(She asked), ‘What are you gonna do with it?’ So this is what we came up with.”

The couple was asked how they created their distinctive name, Grapes & Ladders Vineyards & Winery.

“Gavin was little and we had a cabin in Coosawattee (River Resort) on the river, and we used to come up on weekends and unplug,” said Cindy. “We never set up an internet connection because we were only there a night or two, so we played board games. One night we were playing games and talking about naming it, and Gavin said, ‘Let’s just call it Grapes & Ladders’ because his favorite board game at the time was Chutes & Ladders. So that’s where it came from.”

In late August, the Jacksons had friends arrive at their vineyards off Highway 382 to help them with part of the annual harvest. Cindy said they were “exciting times,” yet Glenn called them “nerve-wracking.”

“It’s because you’re ready to see what you’ve got — ready to get it all in — and see how much did you grow this year, how’s it look?” he said.

Cindy finished the thought, “How did it change, whether we get a ‘make’ (wine) out of it? There’s a lot of exciting pieces that go along with harvest.”

Backgrounds and upgrades

Glenn started out in the information technology field, then in early 2000 went back to school to get a teaching certificate and began teaching. Cindy was also in IT as a senior manager of Georgia Pacific for around 20 years, and parlayed her skills in developing websites to publicize the winery online.

“We did a customer-manager relationship solution, websites, marketing tools, all that stuff, me and my team,” she detailed. “It was great. It was a good career, and I loved it, but we wanted to do this (wine making) full time. We opened the tasting room in October 2020, and then I retired. It was hard to do both.”

Now, the Jacksons have 10 acres, 2.5 acres planted in grapes with more than 1,000 vines. Some of the acreage is taken up by a pond, and there’s still room to expand.

“We continue to plant every spring,” Cindy said. “It’s just constantly trying to upgrade the vineyard and add more things, like more grape vines. Because we learn every year about the vines — some grow better in our vineyard and others don’t. We also started small with just one section of Chambourcin, now we have that and Merlot, Black Spanish, Zinfandel and Vidal Blanc. Chateau Meichtry (Family Vineyard & Winery) has capacity for fermentation and bottling, so we work with them to get that done.”

For some vineyards, a truck with trailer designed for bottling and labeling the wines goes from winery to winery. The rig puts the wine into bottles, and then caps and labels them.

“It’s really cool because wineries that are getting started don’t have to invest in the whole bottle, corking and labeling (process),” Cindy said. “You can just rent the truck for a day or a week and do your bottling there.”

The couple was asked about pairing the best grapes with our Georgia mountain environment.

“UGA does a lot of that,” Cindy said of the University of Georgia’s horticulture wing.

“You can also look around,” Glenn pointed out. “We checked on Gary Engel’s place, Engelheim (Vineyards), and obviously Chateau Meichtry and others to see what’s growing and what’s growing well. We planted several different varieties to see what we liked the best, and of that the Chambourcin was really good.”

Harvest looks good

A couple of weeks after the initial harvest, the Jacksons were asked how the sugar content of the grapes rated.

“It turned out good,” Cindy reported. “We were able to harvest about a ton of Merlot grapes; the sugar content was good and we’re going to make that into a rosé or what’s called a white Merlot. We also harvested Zinfandel, it’s a small spot that we have for that. It wasn’t a whole lot, because it’s a real hard grape to grow in our area.”

“The wineries in the area are really helpful to each other; they work well together,” Glenn pointed out. “You get a lot of mentoring. (Owner) Bobby McNeill (of Chateau Meichtry) is telling us all the time, ‘You guys are right where we were.’ That’s valuable information to get, because honestly, when people (ask) what made you get into this, it’s that I’m retiring and I just didn’t want to sit around — I wanted something to actually do and this was great for me.

“I understand you have to do things to take care of your vines, but then I find that grape vines are susceptible to this and you need to spray for that, and you need to do this. Don’t forget to net when the birds start showing up. So it’s a learning process the whole time. We did the vineyard before we got the winery going, and this is Cindy’s thing. She’s far more social than I am; I do that (the vineyard) and she does this.”

Cindy said Gavin, 19 and a student at Kennesaw State University, has been “instrumental in creating the vineyard and winery and getting it going.”

“He helped clear, plant and maintain the vineyard,” she said. “Now he’s in college full time and helps when he can. We are not sure of Gavin’s involvement in the future. He wants to get his engineering degree and see where that goes.”

Reviews from the Grapes & Ladders Facebook page

• Renee Martinez: “I was in the mood for a lovely glass of red wine, so of course, where do I go? Grapes and Ladders. I truly enjoyed the Cabernet Reserve; it was made even more enjoyable because of the conversations with Cindy and Sarah. Of course, I had to buy some so I can bring it home to Orlando.”

• Tommas Coppolino: “We just stopped by. Actually, we made a U-turn because it looked so tranquil. The owner and staff were super friendly, and the wine was great! We loved sitting out on the patio and enjoying a glass. I highly recommend a visit!”

• Karen Johnson: “Fabulous wines. Lovely view. We met some interesting folks and enjoyed tasting and buying wines! We visited early in and helped with one of their first harvests. Those people are so nice and hard-working.”

• Kelly Cheary: “I loved everything about it! I just moved backed from a couple of years working in California, and thought the wines and atmosphere were on par — if not better — than some of the wineries out west. Keep it up!”

• Scott Garris: “They have some good red wines. Very friendly staff as well. We will be going back again for sure.”

If you go

Grapes & Ladders Vineyards & Winery

2317 Highway 382 West, Ellijay

(678) 492-9861

Weekdays and Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30 to 6 p.m.

On the web

grapesandladderswinery.com

Instagram

grapesandladders

This story originally appeared in Apple Capital magazine.