"Winemaking is as much a creative art as it is an exacting science."
- Bill Stack
Bill Stack, an Atlanta attorney, started learning the art and science
of winemaking when he began experimenting with apple wines at his
Tiger orchard many years ago.
Both he and John Ezzard studied winemaking casually, but in 1998, they decided to get serious about making wine from the four-year-old grapes at the Ezzard farm, using a makeshift apple press and storing the first barrels in Bill's basement.
The results were extraordinary, so in 1999, the Stack and Ezzard families pooled their talents and resources to open a winery in the historic creamery building on the Ezzard farm.
Bill and John studied traditional European small-winery fermentation
and blending methods they observed in France. After crushing the
grapes, they ferment them in open-top tanks, punching down the
grapeskin "caps" with wooden paddles. After pressing, they
transfer the wine to oak barrels for aging.
They taste each barrel individually before selecting the final blends for bottling. The Ezzards and the Stacks take pride in their personally crafted wines, which reflect the character of the land from which the grapes come.