Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards brimming with success

Video of Fulkerson Winery

In two generations, the Hazlitt family has gone from tying up vines and selling grapes to having a popular winery that fairly bursts at the seams on weekends.

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Leigh Hazlitt Triner is the chief financial officer for Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards winery in Hector.

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards' Leigh Hazlitt Triner remembers pouring wine in the single tasting room when she was 14 years old. Now she is the chief financial officer for a company that employs almost 50 people and makes 40,000 cases of wine each year.

Winemaker Mike Sutterby says the company has gone from "having six employees to having six just in the tasting room today."

That's a far cry from having friends and neighbors "helping" Jerry Hazlitt check his homemade wine in the packing house. There have been Hazlitts on the land above Seneca Lake since 1852 -- hence the name of the winery. Elaine Thomas was working as a dental assistant in Elmira when Jerry Hazlitt and his brother, Jim, came into the office in November of 1958. Jim had to return to Cornell for class, so he was taken care of first and Jerry had to come back.

He kept coming back, and the couple married in 1960. With that, Elaine became part of the energetic clan that grew grapes for large producers such as Taylor and Great Western.

"I never heard of Hector before I met Jerry," Elaine says. "We always used to go to Keuka Lake."

Jim also married in 1960, and the two couples shared a tenant house for four years. Eventually, each couple established separate homes and businesses.

Jerry's most sought-after wine actually was developed before the winery.

Elaine remembers that Red Cat came about because they couldn't sell the Catawba grapes.

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Greg Triner clears weeds around vines in one of Hazlitt 1852 Vineyardsą pinot noir planting areas.

"Jerry always made wine for us anyway," Elaine remembers. "This year (1982 or 1983) he made more than he ever did. Everyone couldn't wait for him to go out to the packing house and help him check his wines."

Elaine remembers her sons, Phil and Doug, as teens got some of Jerry's wine to share with their friends "just like Jim and Jerry used to with their father, James', wine."

The "HHJ" that can be seen on a bottle bobbing in the hot tub on the Red Cat label stands for "Hazlitt Horny Juice" and is reminiscent of those exuberant youthful days.

Elaine credits Dave Bagley of Poplar Ridge Vineyards with telling Jerry to start his own winery.

"We used to go down and help Dave bottle before we even started our own winery," she says.

When Taylor and Great Western stopped buying large quantities of local grapes in the 1980s, the Hazlitts had to turn elsewhere.

"That's why we started the winery," Elaine says. "There was no home for the grapes."

At that time, they had Riesling, chardonnay, seyval, vidal, Cayuga, L'Ambertille and baco noir grapes.

"And of course, we had Catawba," Elaine adds, which became a prime ingredient in Hazlitt's best-selling Red Cat.

"I can't believe that it will be 19 years for the winery this year," she says.

The winery was founded in 1984, with Jerry as its first winemaker. The current winemaker, Mike Sutterby, came to Hazlitt seven years ago.

Mike's mom, Caryl, pulled him into the wine business. She was the tasting room manager at Glenora in the early 1990s. When there was an opening in the wine cellar at Glenora, Caryl called her son, told him about the job and said if he wanted Sunday dinner, he needed to stop by, Mike says.

Mike worked under Glenora winemaker Dave Munksgard. "I knew wine; I did not know the wine industry," Mike recalls. When assistant winemaker Tim Miller left, Dave asked Mike if he wanted the position. Mike realized how much the business really meant to him during a Glenora event in 1991.

"When I was working there on the weekend at the first Leaves and Lobster (festival), the sun was going down and the leaves were just perfect. I'm on top of one of the tanks and I said, 'Yeah, I could do this for a while.' "

He spent a year at Fox Run Vineyards and another year at Chateau Lafayette Reneau before joining the Hazlitt family in 1996. Mike worked with Doug Hazlitt for a few years and then took over the winemaker job in 1998.

Remembering the Hazlitt roots is one of Mike's goals. "We must never forget who we are and who started this place," he says, referring to Jerry Hazlitt, who died in October 2002.

Part of that remembrance is making sure that people feel welcome by providing a friendly, inviting atmosphere. Mike's second goal: "To improve the quality of all wines, not just Red Cat or viniferas."

Today, Elaine serves as president of the company. Leigh is chief financial officer and Doug oversees the winemaking and back-of-house work, including the production line and the vineyard work.

Mike compliments the Hazlitts on their business sense.

"Doug has been really good with the distribution of the wines. We wouldn't be where we are today without Doug's and Leigh's contributions," he says.

Leigh, a graduate of Cornell, worked for a couple of years in Ohio before Elaine asked her to come back and help with the books. Leigh worked with an accountant to transfer the records from Elaine's paper ledgers to a modern computer system. Leigh and her husband, Greg Triner, married four years ago.

"I brought him from Ohio, and he loved it from day one," Leigh says. "He loves being outside working in the vineyards."

The winery's tremendous growth has the Hazlitts considering where to go next. Leigh is concerned that the business regulations will become more challenging if the winery grows much more. Right now, the winery has almost 50 employees; above that number, they will have to operate the business differently, Leigh says.

In addition to a change in business regulations, expanding the winery also may affect the atmosphere of the place. Right now, Mike says, "We're a big little winery; that's a nice thing."

Wine Guy's picks from Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards

- White Stag (nonvintage): a semi-sweet blend of Ravat and Cayuga that has classic Ravat flavors, including apricot, for a great summer sipper.

Hazlitt winemaker Mike Sutterby's picks

- 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon: a pretty big, smokey wine with lots of raspberry fruit and oak tastes.

If you go ...

Phone: 607/546-WINE (9463) or 888/750-0494.

Web site, e-mail: www.hazlitt1852.com, info@hazlitt1852.com.

Winery hours: Open year-round except Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Winter hours (November through May): 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Summer hours (June through October): 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

For comments or questions, Jeff Richards can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: jrichards@stargazette.com.