Local vineyard matures with notes of tradition, innovation
The vineyards at Thistlethwaite Vineyard
The 208-acre farm in Jefferson has been in the Thistlethwaite family since 1892.
Natasha Heinz
Thistlethwaite Vineyard in Jefferson
Natasha Heinz/For the Observer-Reporter
Jamie Thistlethwaite pours wine in Thistlethwaite Vineyards’ tasting room.
For over a century, the Thistlethwaite family ran a small farm, typical to Western Pennsylvania, on their 210-acre property in Jefferson. Over the years, they had cattle, chicken, hogs and raised crops such as wheat, oat and corn.
“It was sustenance farming. We farmed to feed the family,” said Jamie Thistlethwaite, the self-proclaimed “crazy grandson” who came in 20 years ago and changed everything.
This year marks two decades since he established Thistlethwaite Vineyards, which now extends to over five of the farm’s acres.
“This is as much of a hobby as it is a profitable business for me in this first 20 years,” he said.
Thistlethwaite explained that, in the late 90s, his grandfather was ready to pass the farm on – but not without knowing what the family planned to do with it. Jamie’s father, Rick, explained he planned on leaving the property to his son who had been born and raised there.
“My grandfather wanted me to come back and have a little talk. At the time, I was living on the East Coast,” he explained, “I had been gone for around 8 years, so they were curious about the succession of it..He wanted to make sure we were going to keep the place together and we were going to farm. That was his deal.”
Wanting to get away from “anything that pooped” and aiming to have a product he could sell and help pay for the farm, Jamie came up with an idea that sounded a little weird for a family of tea drinkers: He would plant grapes to make wine.
Thistlethwaite said the idea baffled his grandfather, but he went with it. His father also agreed with the plan.
“Dad shrugged it off like it was no big deal, farming is farming is farming,” Thistlethwaite said.
With a lot of research about growing grapes in Pennsylvania and, more specifically, the western part of the commonwealth, as well as guidance from Penn State’s agricultural program, he found the right seeds and planted the first acre.
“Ok, let’s plant and see if we can keep them alive for 20 years,” he recalled.
Then, he planted four and a half more. And he did manage to keep them alive for 20 years – at least for most of them.
Thistlethwaite explained that, for the first three to five years, vines grow from the ground to the fruiting wire and only after that do grapes start growing. In the fifth year, they were ready for the first harvest.
Jamie was living in Missouri at the time, but Rick was taking care of the vines for his son. After some worrying about weeds, the first grapes were finally maturing, which excited the family.
“They were turning red, and my dad sent me a photo or called, I can’t remember … and he said, ‘Oh, they look great, grapes everywhere,'” Thistlethwaite said. “And then it was two days later and he said, ‘Oh, they’re all gone,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean they’re all gone?'”
Only the stems were left, he said, as if someone had picked all the berries. Well, it wasn’t someone but something.
“Losing that first crop was heartbreaking, but it let us know really quick we were in the migration path of black birds and starlings and we had to figure out what was the remedy for birds,” he explained.
That issue was quickly solved with nets, but growing vines in Western Pennsylvania has some other challenges such as mold due to humidity and a short growing season, especially with the possibility of May frost.
Still, Thistlethwaite Vineyards keeps flourishing and growing. It currently sells 14 different wines and has a tasting room. Moreover, the farm hosts events such as Wine Down Wednesdays, which take place weekly at 4 p.m. with drink specials and light snacks.
“If I was to pick a spot in Pennsylvania to grow grapes, it probably wouldn’t be here. If I was to pick a spot in the country to grow grapes, it probably wouldn’t be Pennsylvania,” he explained. “But this is where I was born and raised and this is our little plot of farmland and this is what we’re doing with it.”
The vineyard’s future is still up in the open, but there is more coming for its 20th year. They family is adding a new building and trying to get more events to happen at its property, trying to use the space more.
Thistlethwaite is the only vineyard in Greene County and Jamie said he would love to see other people growing grapes in the region, but understands it’s not an easy task.
“When I see people from Napa Valley and California and they talk to me about growing grapes, I kind of want to tell them, come out here to Western Pennsylvania, spend a season with me, I will show you pain and misery,” he said. “It’s a whole different world.”
But resilience is just what Western Pennsylvania farmers do, and for Jamie, it’s a way of keeping the family tradition alive as much as anything else.
“Me and my wife will hopefully turn a profit before we’re 80, we’ll see,” he said. “Fortunately, I figured this out when I was 30, so I got started earlier on than some.”
“So far, so good,” he continued. “We really like farming the grapes and I enjoy making wine and the county enjoys drinking the wine.”