The Farm
In 2021, the Rose-Chertok family left behind an unglamorous garage winery in Massachusetts for a gorgeous, 19th century orchard in Shoreham. A tiny town in Vermont’s Champlain Valley region, Shoreham is nestled between the Adirondacks to the West, the Green Mountains to the East, and perched alongside the shoreline of Lake Champlain. Something like 1,000 people live in this wee little hamlet, and it is every bit the cute rural community you’re picturing. We’ve got the white-steepled church, the historic inn, a bunch of farms, and basically nothing else. Here on the farm, we have apple trees to rehabilitate, a farm ecosystem to rebuild, and we’re still establishing vineyards but we are steadily growing this into a self-reliant, polyculture farm business with big dreams.
Most of our farm is situated on an east-facing hill dominated by the heavy clay soils that typify the Champlain Valley. The iconic Vergennes clay, along with thick deposits of slate, is a real challenge to work, but for all the trouble it causes, it does wonders for flavor development. The region’s pre-prohibition reputation for excellence in apple growing is owed partly to the soil and partly to the advantageous climate we enjoy. Here in what you might call the ‘banana belt’ of Vermont, we are in the rain shadow of the Adirondacks and benefit from a more moderate temperature thanks to the presence of Lake Champlain less than a mile down the road. Our farm is a patchwork of old orchards and new vineyards all stitched together in an increasingly diverse quilt of farmy goodness.
The farm is closed to the public for now but we do hope in the future you will join us for live music and a glass of wine starting in the late Summer or early Fall of 2026.
