of the
vineyard J
im Brandeberry (Eng ’61) is the perfect blend.
His customers call him Lil’ Olde Winemaker because the retired UT-graduate-turned-WrightState-University-engineering-dean-turned-winemaker has been building up a reputation in central Ohio for his unique mixture of talents. Brandeberry embodies a fusion of science and art that makes crafting the world’s most delicate drink seem effortless — or maybe that’s just his modesty at work.
“There is a bit of art to it,” Brandeberry says of his process of mixing grapes and berries and sugars to create a new wine. “But really — if it tastes good and you like it, it’s done.” He tends to credit the science more than the art in his work, however. And the engineering background, he says, gives him the ability to understand the importance of science in winemaking. How much oxygen will leak into the barrels? How much CO2 will leak out? How does the temperature of a room determine the speed with which the yeast will consume the sugar? “But you know, engineering is also a bit of art,” he says, finessing the blend. “It’s the art of looking at the resources you have available and solving problems. There are many ways you can do it, but picking out the best way to do it — that is engineering, and winemaking is sort of the same.” His best-selling wine, Blackberry, is a testament to this philosophy. Brandeberry never intended to make a blackberrybased wine. A few years ago, with hopes of starting work on a new red blend, he called in an order to a grape provider. They didn’t have anything he needed in the time frame he needed it — except blackberry. A short while later, Brandeberry had on hand the equivalent of six hundred gallons, waiting to be turned into something salable. Using his combination of art and science, and his wife as a backup taste tester, he had bottles on the shelves in time for the busy season — and he sold out.
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Toledo Alumni Magazine | Spring 2011
Today, with at least twenty rotating varietals, Blackberry continues to make up 25 percent of the sales from Brandeberry Winery, whose ten-acre vineyard and accompanying tasting room is located between Dayton and Springfield, Ohio. Though Brandeberry personally prefers the drier, more full-bodied qualities of his red wines, the majority of his current stock is made up of award-winning whites featuring locally grown grapes, and a collection of sweet cherry wines that range from the light and fruity to the light and fruity. “I like the ‘Caberlot.’ But the rest of them pay the bills,” he says, referencing a semi-dry mixture of merlot and cabernet sauvignon grown near Lake Erie. It, like much of the Brandeberry Winery experience, is a perfected blend of grapes, sugar, grapes, art, grapes and science. “The wine maker’s job is to make sure the yeast are happy so they do their job right,” he says. “And you need both science and art for that. If you approach it from just the art point of view and you ignore the science, you’re hard-pressed to make good wine.” Since Brandeberry understands how to combine the two, the only thing hard-pressed at his winery are the grapes. — Chris Ankney
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