Carlo and Dominique DeVito turned their love of touring wineries into their very own successful endeavor nine years ago when they moved from New Jersey with their twin boys to open the Hudson-Chatham Winery. The couple, who are founding members of the Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail, still find time to write and publish books while running the award-winning winery, which has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator among other publications. Meet the DeVitos and their team on Saturday, August 8 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. when they’ll hold their 8th annual Sangria Festival on the Winery’s grounds in Ghent, NY. I grew up outside Philly and Carlo grew up in New Jersey and Connecticut, but we met while we were both working in publishing in New York City, then got married and moved to NJ. We enjoyed taking trips to wineries and visiting wine-making regions – we’re both from European families, where wine was a tradition in our households growing up – and decided that we wanted to start our own. We began looking for a site in New York State, where there were interesting things happening in grape growing and wine making. We chose Columbia County because of its rural heritage and its proximity to Albany, Hudson and the Berkshires. Hudson-Chatham Winery is located on the site of the former Brisklea Dairy Farm; we live in the 1790s farmhouse. We bought the property in 2006, and it went so well that we moved to Ghent full time in 2008. Besides running the winery, I’m a freelance writer and publisher of primarily pet books. Carlo has his own publishing company, Warren Street Books, where he works with other companies on projects, and also is the author of two wine blogs.
We have a great team here who love to share information about wine. Steve Casscles is our winemaker; he grows grapes at his vineyard in Athens, NY, which we were using at first. Now we grow our own fruit – there are 4 and a half acres out of the 14-acre property planted – and we make all of our wines on the property. I love the combination of the rural land and the urban sophistication here. I used to think that the Hudson River painters were exaggerating, but the skies really are that amazing. I love the explosion of craft beverage producers here; there are going to be nine in Columbia County by end of the year. We were the first winery, and now there are three. There’s a lot of experimentation here and a lot of support. We grow hybrid grapes and it’s fun for us to turn people on to those kind of grapes and wine because you’re not going to find them everywhere. We carry local cheeses, spreads and other products in our store, and we’re very much interested in supporting other local food producers. At the festival this Saturday, we’ll offer five different sangrias, including two new ones this year: a dry rose sangria with peaches and grapes, and a Blueberry rosemary white sangria. There is no admission fee, instead there is a la carte pricing for any wine and food you’d like. Bring a chair and enjoy the view; there will be live flamenco and jazz music.
