Wine & Dine
Batton Hallow Winery
Dee Poling-Palmer, left, is the wine-tasting steward at Batton Hollow Winery. She prepares for a tasting with some guests that traveled from Michigan to visit the winery. Batton Hollow Winery is owned by couple Jim and Toni Kelley. Jim, the winemaker, has a degree in chemistry from WVU and a degree in winemaking from University of California-Davis. Batton Hollow Winery is located at 406 Woodstock Drive in Lost Creek, West Virginia.
Photo by Savanna Shriver
NCWV offers unique wineries
By Savanna Shriver North Central West Virginia offers at least three wineries where you can have some cozy fun.
The difficulties associated with growing wine grapes in the region are real— rainy summers create an atmosphere that’ s simply too wet to grow grapes in time for fall harvesting and winemaking. However, mix in a little West Virginia ingenuity and the will to succeed and you find that local vintners make it work by outsourcing grapes or juice, growing hybrid grape varieties and mixing in different types of fruit.
MonValley Vineyards in Marion County, Forks of the Cheat Winery in Monongalia County and Batton Hollow Winery in Harrison County are all family-owned wineries that have worked to perfect unique varieties of white, red and fruit wine.
MonValley Vineyards and its tasting room opened in White Hall in 2020. Winemaker and owner Steve Perrotti said he’ s been tasting wine since he was a child. His grandmother Antoinette— who immigrated from Italy— made wine in her basement. He made his first barrel of wine in 1984.
After years of making wine for his family and friends, he decided to open a vineyard, which had always been a dream for him. Because a good red wine takes three years to age, according to Perotti, he opened when he knew he would have a variety of wines for people to enjoy.
When he finally opened, he offered three dry, three semi-dry, three semisweet and three sweet wines.
His oldest daughter Roberta Mauller owns The Wine Cellar where MonValley Vineyards wines are sold. She also owns the Corkyard, which opened on January 19, just after Perrotti’ s birthday.
“ We will be serving charcuterie boards with a variety of meats, cheeses, veggies, etc.,” she said.
The two work closely together in the shop and in the winery.
“ We do work well together and have fun, but we did butt heads together in the beginning.... We both love talking with people and getting feedback from customers,” Mauller said.
Mauller has plans to expand the Corkyard to offer outdoor seating while Perrotti plans to expand the wine barn. He retired after working 40 years as a CPA and wants to increase the amount of wine he makes per year. Right now, Perrotti produces 1,000 to 1,200 gallons, but his goal is 3,000 gallons or 15,000 bottles per year.
MonValley Vineyards, the Corkyard and The Wine Cellar specialize in a variety of fruit, white and red wines.
Perrotti loves to try new things and they often experiment with different recipes
JUNE’ 25 � DESTINATIONS � 15