Wine & Dine
and flavors. They typically introduce a new wine monthly and when the weather starts to warm up, they will offer wine slushies. While their vineyard is located about a mile from the store, Perrotti buys grapes and grape juice from Italy, California and Chile.
Two customers, Sadie Currey and Jennifer Sanders, visited the newly open Corkyard. They each got a flight of four wines and shared a charcuterie board.
“ I love going to vineyards and someone told me about this one, so I decided to try it out.... It’ s really nice to have something local. Fairmont doesn’ t usually have a lot to do, so it’ s nice something like this opened,” Currey said.
A native of Pennsylvania, Perrotti attended graduate school at West Virginia University.
“ My wife and I, we just never left. I like West Virginia— the hills and climate.... It’ s a great state and I love it. My four kids can say that they’ re true West Virginians,” Perrotti said.
At Forks of Cheat Winery, just outside of Morgantown, Eric Deal has been in charge of the family-owned business since 1990. His father, Jerry Deal started the winery after he was caught stealing grapes. The woman he stole them from told him to plant them and he decided he wanted to make something good out of a bad decision.
So he planted about an acre of grapes and before long, they had too many. Jerry’ s wife, Susan, suggested the idea to start a winery. Jerry grew up on a cotton farm in Alabama, but he fell in love with a woman from West Virginia while attending WVU, and“ She wouldn’ t let me leave,” he said.
The Forks of Cheat Winery specializes in fruit wine, but offers around 20 wines in a variety of red, white and a traditional, barrel-aged port wine that is available in 300 locations across the state, in parts of Maryland and shipped to 39 states. They have won several awards and host the annual Wine and Jazz Festival.
They primarily grow French-hybrid grapes on their 6,000 to 8,000 grape vines but also buy grapes from around West Virginia. They also have 500 apple and pear trees, an acre of blueberries and between four and five acres of blackberries on their 12 acres.
“ We didn’ t go to school for this, so it’ s mostly trial and error, with a lot of error. But David( Sedney) is probably one of the finest fermenters that I’ ve ever seen. He could get anything started at any temperature,” Eric Deal said.
Winemaker David Sedney has been working with lifelong friend Eric Deal for 33 years. Deal said the two are always working on something. They have spent nights working in the winery and barn either crushing fruit or working on perfecting the fermentation process.
Eric Deal said they took inspiration from immigrants who came to the Appalachian region.
“ You made your kids go pick wild blackberries up on the strip mine or you know, you had an apple tree in your backyard
Cheat Winery
Dee Forks of Cheat Winery was started by Jerry Deal, left, but his son Eric Deal has been in charge of the family owned business since 1990. Forks of Cheat Winery offers a variety of around 20 wines, but specializes in fruit wine. At their winery and vineyard, just outside of Morgantown, they also have the Forks of Cheat Distillery.
Photo by Savanna Shriver
16 � DESTINATIONS � JUNE’ 25