Jim Kirkpatrick is the winemaker for Kreutz Creek Vineyards. He started making wine from a kit that his wife, Carole, gave him for his birthday in 1989. (Carole truly believes that’s how the “monster” was created.) Since everyone liked the wines from the kits, Jim and Carole thought they would try their hands at growing grapes. They moved to another home with 3 acres of land in Wrightsville PA where they started a small vineyard. Their home was located 100 yards from Kreutz Creek hence, the vineyard was named.
Jim began to make wine from the grapes he grew. The wines were exceptionally good so the next step was to enter them into competitions. Jim’s wines did extremely well in the competitions as he began to win numerous awards. He won awards at local levels, national levels and even international levels. The good grapes, great wines and numerous awards gave Carole and Jim the “fever” and the dream began. They purchased 20 acres of land in West Grove PA and the dream started to become a reality. With the help from family and friends they have been able to live their dream.
Jim has a very deep belief that winemaking is a 365 day-a-year process. It starts for Kreutz Creek Vineyards on January 1st with pruning. It continues everyday until harvest and then the processing of the grapes. All wines are created in the vineyard and not in the cellar. The winemaker is more of a molder and friend of the grape that changes its physical characteristics into a work of art that can be seen, smelled and tasted.
The harvest of 2002 was their first commercial harvest. They processed 3900 gallons of wine and are making plans for increasing next year’s yield. They are also making wine for Folly Hill Vineyards and Paradocx Vineyard. These wines, as well as Kreutz Creek Vineyard’s, are available for tasting and may purchased at their winery in West Grove. They are in the process of getting an additional location.