“A New Meaning to Retirement … S.C. Grown & Made!”
April 1st, 2008: In 2000, Jim and Ann Irvin married and settled into what they thought would be “retired” life out on John’s Island. Jim, a builder, and Ann, a retired teacher, thought fishing, gardening and other activities would keep them happily entertained for the rest of their life. Fortunately, for Charleston locals and the thriving tourist industry, that wasn’t the case. After a few months, they discussed ideas of things they could do together and came up with several before deciding to open Irvin-House Vineyards, located on Wadmalaw Island. They now own and operate Charleston’s only vineyard, thus giving locals something fun to do and adding one more thing to an already long list of reasons why people like to visit the Lowcountry.
Once they made their decision to open a winery, their work was more than cut out for them. First, and most importantly, how do you make wine? They did their homework and went to Clemson, UGA and other places on the east coast and learned about grapes and wine making. What kind of grapes should they use? That was an easy one, use grapes that grow here. The only grape that can be grown in South Carolina is the muscadine grape. It is sweet and juicy and usually associated with a very sweet wine. The Irvin’s set about taking a locally grown product and tweaking it to appeal to the masses. They purchased farm land, converted existing farmhouses into the winery and planted their first grapevine in 2001. After a much shorter growth period than originally anticipated, Irvin-House Vineyards began distributing their wine in 2003.
The winery is now fully operational and produces 5 brands of wine. In the beginning, they were producing 2,000 cases of wine and this year expect to produce 5-6,000 cases of wine. The Irvin’s, never ones to settle on just one thing, have now started producing Firefly Vodka (a mixture of Irvin Wine and Vodka) and continue to move into other arenas. The winery is open Thursday- Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and there are free wine tours conducted by John every Saturday. Visit their website at www.charlestonwine.com; they what everyone to learn about SC “grown & made.”
Submitted by Darby Hand, Keyway Committee