Backyard Vineyards
Shelby County wines are worth a taste.
By Cory Bordonaro Photo courtesy of Arik Sokol
For the Love
Both Morgan Creek and Vizzini are set to host special events during the month of February. On Feb. 13, Morgan Creek will put on a wine and chocolate tasting from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Vizzini celebrates the month with a romantic Valentine’s dinner, also on Feb. 13. The four-course meal is $34.95, and wines will be $5 per glass or $17.95 per bottle.
High falutin’ wine drinkers may scoff at the notion of Alabamagrown wines. But according to Morgan Creek Vineyards Founder Charles Brammer Sr.,“When you restrict yourself to one kind of wine, you end up missing out on some things you may really like.”Leave any prejudice aside and take a long sip of three Shelby County familyowned- and-operated wineries.
Morgan Creek Vineyards
(877) 672-2053 • morgancreekwinery.com
Founder and owner Brammer was only the third winemaker on the Alabama scene when he began in 2000. His is the largest in the state, but there are now nine others because, as he says,“Everyone saw how much fun [he] was having.” Eight acres of on-site grapes combined with 300 tons of fruit from other growers allow Morgan Creek to produce 15,000 cases of wine per year. They make 45,000 gallons of blueberry, peach and muscadine varieties alone. Sweeter wines are their most popular, predominantly made with muscadine, the “super grape or cousin of the bunch grape,”says Brammer. Thanks to a talented team and his son, Charles Brammer Jr., his wines can be found in about 400 stores statewide.“We weren’t supposed to be this successful,” Brammer says.“My son doesn’t know when to stop. He tells me, ‘Dad, you either grow or die.’”
Vizzini Farms Winery
(205) 685-0655 • vizzinifarmswinery.com
Located just 30 miles south of Birmingham,Vizzini Farms Winery regularly produces 12 wines, making it the second-largest vineyard in the state. Tom Vizzina, sometimes clad in a merlot-colored “Got Wine?” sweatshirt, has been working his land with Chambourcin, Niagra and Viognier grape varietals for about six years.The three vines, combined with grapes and fruits from across the state and country, fill their 17 tanks with both sweet and traditional wines. In December, the family added a location in Pepper Place—the first winery in Jefferson County. Vizzini’s most popular offering is made from the Viognier grape and is called the “granddaughter of the chardonnay. It’s like Champagne without the bubbles,” Vizzina says.
Ozan Vineyard and Cellars
(205) 668-6926 • ozanwine.com
Even under an overcast winter sky, the three miles of grapes on Ozan’s property create a beautiful scape. The property cozies up with a section of the Heart of Dixie Railroad, also just about 30 miles south of Birmingham, making it a popular destination for their Wine Train experience. Burt Patrick and his father started the winery in 2001, formalizing the vineyard and cellar four years later. Unlike many Alabama wineries, the Patricks grow a native grape called the Red Norton.“French grapes are lost with a late frost,”Burt says,“but these [grapes] are on to that. They’re disease resistant.” Like the others, Ozan combines their fruit with others to compose a list of specialty wines. The Chilton County peach wine is one of the most popular. That said, sweet is not their only forté.“People have this expectation of Alabama wines being fruity, sweet and overloaded with sugar,”Patrick says. “If they’re not, there’s some sort of mental dilemma, a tearing down of a truth-ism. There’s some really good stuff made and exported here.”
