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News & Events

Harmony Hill Winery Expands Underground

December 7th, 2006

BETHEL - It's hard to imagine this place is called Harmony Hill. With an enormous hole in the ground and piles of dirt and broken limestone being surrounded by a crane, tractors and semis, the noises fell together in a symphony that might open to less than rave reviews.

But by next spring the hole will be filled and covered by a stage, a parking lot or a patio and landscaping will disguise it ever being there. More importantly, the owners, Bill and Patti Skvarla, will be able to continue answering affirmatively to the question posed on the back of Bill's baseball cap during construction day Nov. 29 - "Got wine?"

The Skvarla's opened Harmony Hill Vineyard and Estate Winery to the public in the summer of 2005 and after just two seasons they are on their second addition.

"We started with a small barn and had the intentions of being a small winery," Bill said. "It just keeps getting busier and busier and busier." After each season the Skvarla's have upped their production by 50 to 60 percent and the wine keeps selling out. "We aren't carrying anything over to the next season," Bill said.

The first addition put more storage space onto the winery itself after closing for the season in 2005. This year's project is a bit more ambitious. "I really never thought it would turn into all of this," said Patti, looking at a section of tree that had to be cut down the day prior to allow semis to get on the property.

The Skvarla's chose this time to go underground for more storage with a 32-foot wine cave that will hold up to 48 barrels and their bottled supply. The idea started when the couple took a trip to the Napa Valley. Having known that the two were wine makers, representatives at the Robert Mondavi Winery took the Skvarla's to have a special tasting by candlelight in the winery's underground cellar.

"We were absolutely fascinated and enthralled by the process of storing wine underground like that," Bill said.

What they found was that a wine cave would offer the right temperatures and high humidity without having to use the energy they now use in the winery. Further, the cave would keep less wine from evaporating over time and obviously give them the additional space they needed.

The Skvarla's took their interest to the wine makers conference that had originally taken them to California. Representatives from companies all over the country were in attendance to solicit their products.

Concerned that they would have trouble getting a product that is most popular in California to Ohio, the couple was surprised to find that the caves were being produced just a couple hours from home and by a rather non-traditional source. BridgeTek, part of Con/Span, out of Dayton, is involved in the design and development of concrete bridge system technologies, but is also using that technology to place their precast concrete underground.

"We have just had such luck," Patti said. "Everything that has happened around here has been just serendipitous."

Another moment of serendipity came about when a guest of the winery from Amelia inquired about the construction and ended up taking on the task of designing a front door for the cave because of his woodworking skills.

Although the Skvarla's are knee deep in mud and still facing the challenge of this endeavor, they also are thinking about the future. The next thing to tackle is an separate indoor tasting room that would allow the winery to stay open throughout the winter months.

Next year, although the winery will still only be open during the summer season, it will have more hours. The Skvarla's will add Friday night tastings to the Saturday afternoons they had this season. "We had so many young couples coming up here and you could tell that they were looking for something a little more romantic," Bill said. "We just want to be able to offer up something new for them."

While the guest list grows as fast as the need for more wine, the Skvarla's are still doing it on their own and enjoying every part of it. "We're just having a hoot of a time," Bill said. "This summer has just been great for us. It's hard work, but it's fun."

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