Shelburne Vineyard

About Winery and Wines

It all started 35 years ago when Ken Albert planted grapes in his backyard while working as an engineer at IBM. Inspired by the new wine industry he discovered on trips for IBM to Quebec, he leased 3 acres of land from Shelburne farms and began his commercial vineyard venture believing that viticulture and winemaking could be a success in Vermont. Scott Prom a Shelburne neighbor (still working at his “day job” as a mechanical engineer) joined as a partner early on. Aided by decades of Ken’s backyard grape growing experience, Scott’s home winemaking experience and seminars at Cornell University, trade conferences, professional journals, and books, the first commercial vintage was released in 2000. When Ken, his wife Gail, his brother Bill, and Scott tasted the wine from the new cold-hardy Minnesotan hybrid Marquette, they made the decision to purchase the land that is now their customer friendly flagship site. Their LEED-designed winery, opened in Feb 2008 surrounded by Marquette vines now stands welcoming the public seven days a week. Sam Coppola, an attorney by profession, joined the partnership in 2013. The operation now includes of 17 acres of grapes, mostly the super hardy Minnesota hybrids, with a small planting of Riesling and Vidal Blanc. Augmented by a talented young staff led by winemaker Ethan Joseph, and tasting room managers Samuel Rheaume and Lazarus White, the winery is producing reds, whites, rosés’ and ice wines, many of which have earned “Best in Category” gold medals in International competitions, and is now venturing into sparkling, orange, and naturally fermented styles of wine.