Berryville Vineyards was planted, and is owned and operated by Eric Pool. He
grew up in the small town of Berryville, Illinois (History of Berryville).
He was raised helping his dad on the farm cultivating corn and beans. After
graduating as valedictorian of his high school class at East Richland in
1993, he entered his college years at the University of Illinois.
After spending time in Champaign, Eric decided the city wasn’t for him and
returned to rural Richland County. He knew he wanted to farm, but he didn’t
know just what yet.
After much prayer and meditation, in the spring previous to his graduation,
Eric decided to plant a vineyard. His father owned a parcel of land just
three miles north of Berryville, which was ideally suited for grape
cultivation.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a
concentration in Entrepreneurship from University of Illinois in 1998, Eric devoted himself
full-time to nurturing his vines.
Eric is a self-taught winemaker. He has studied many
books on viticulture and enology. He learned cultivating the grape is the
most critical and important step in fine wine production. He made wine in
his basement with the first few crops, honing his winemaking skills. In
2000, Eric put on his lumberjack hat and began harvesting trees around the
vineyard to build a winery. The 2002 vintage was the first crop commercially
crafted in the winery and was released for sale in the fall of 2003 at our
annual Harvestfest.
The vineyard is ten acres. It is comprised of over twenty
varieties of wine grapes. Our primary grape is Vignoles followed by
Cynthiana, Traminette, and Chambourcin. Other varieties include Vidal,
Diamond, DeChaunac, Seyval, Chardonnel, St. Vincent,
Aurora, and Rougeon. We also grow other berries besides the grape. We craft
wine from our very own raspberries, blackberries, and gooseberries.
