Document text
January 13, 19:14s9.
rnatkottnelf Vollmer, Louisa Lama Rebmond
v"ollmer, johahnes Rebmond Vollmer (white)
Valhalla, N. C.
Vineyardista
Adyleen G. kerrick, writer
-ary 1iortarop, reviser.
TEN SChilIDTS
riiral -ames clawed liames
Ernst iotthelf Vollmer,
Louisa r,mma liebmond Vollmer
Johannes i'.ebmond Vollmer
Li
Fritz .chmidt
Frieda Schmidt
Friedrich Schmidt
TL SCffiaDT8
A winding road leads upward from the highway at Valkyrie
to the Uchmidts' little house on tae slope of Chieftain Moun-
tain. A vineyard of 21 acres surrounds it, and in early
autumn the air is sweet from the winepresa and the vines.
Fritz's winery has become famous, an. sometimes he sells
small lots of grapes to insistent visitors. He doesn't
like to do that, as he nurses his treasured Black namburgs
jealously for the wine because of their fine flavor and rich
red color, but he is an amiable man not given to argument.
The vineyard crowds almost to the door of his neat cottage
and only a very small space is saved for Frieda' s little
garden in the dooryard, where arie has laid out patterns in
field stone and flowers to mamt tile cottage a picture from
an old fairy tale. Down the mountain, rows of vines le6cend
in tidy rLnks
The chmidts have received final papers fur iimerican
citizenship. They came from Liermany in 124.
Fritz was born in Wursbur
in 1884. His father, for
whom be was named, was a prosperous merchant. Frieda is
nine years younger than her husband and was 21 when Friedrich,
their only child, was barn during the first year of the aorld
War in Friedee native village an the edge of the Black Forest.
When Fritz returned from the war be found his family
broken up and their away gone. He could not find work and
his wife and child were hungry. Friends in the United States
wrote of fine vine lands in the Thermal Jolt of worth Carolina
and urged his to join them there. e nada arrangements through
a German *migration agency to finanae the trip and left the
Black Forest, as he thinks now, forever. beither he nor
Frieda knew a word of Lnglish.
Arriving in Borth CaroliAa, the little homeeick, bewildered
family were sponsored by Dr. Johannes von Hoff, an established
vinsyardist who was also an instructor in Romance Languages
in the high school of a nearby town.
Friedrich was sent to school there and made the trip
daily with Dr. von Hoff. rib, first few weeks were maks of
terror. The children flocked around his shouting, wTalk,
Dutchle, talk! Say something in German's Backed against the
schoolhouse wall at recess, ringed in by grinning faces, be
babbled in Germani—manything that came into his hmad--to please
the children. His answers in class were slow and stumbling
as be fumbled with unfamiliar word*, and be cringed when
the class shouted with laughter. But his sweet nature and
engaging sat it won his many friends. He quickly learned
EAglish and was intelllgent in all his schoolwork.
Frieda studied too, but Fritz found the new tongue hard
to master and even now levees into 4erman in moments of *mate-.
ment or *motion. The two of them, unlike Friedrich, were
miserably homesick for the fatherland. Their dream was to
save enough for a long visit to toeir old home. Unlike most
German girls of the prewar period, Frieda had inherited land
instead of receiving a dowry, and the settlement of that
property was the supposed mason, or escudo,, for the visit.
Frieda was oppressed by all the newness about her., She
missed the cobbled square where housewives baked in the cam.
munity oven and gossiped and coattered is her own familiar
tongue. be longed for the comforting stability and sense
of permanence about the laith century houses of her own village.
After a few years working for Dr. von Koff. Fritz had
saved enough for the journey, but, to their great surprise,
they no longer wanted to go. The somey would by five acres
of land on the mountainside, five fertile acres well suited
to grape -growing. Fritz bad been looking at that land and
thinking. It would be a start for himself in the work he
loved. zi worried about approaching Frieda with the plan to
buy, when for years she had been longing to return to
Germany. But Frieda was delighted with t:ie thought of start-
ing out for themselves.
"Bu y land now, Frits," she said, "and go back later."
He cleared the land and put it into a vineyard. He rooted
cuttings sent him from aglermany. where the originals had come
from Capri* He thinks these were the first lama Hamburg
vines planted in the United .Aates. From the beginning the
vines flourished, and now he uses nothing else for his wine.
Frieda says they chose that strip along the mountainside
for their home not only because the land was fertile and
had the right exposure for grwwihd ifirlOs* but because it
was a "dreaay—looking place." and the little stream falling
down the hillside made them think of the old country* They
built a cottage in the shelter of the mountain. It was small
and ixetty and U.Asy loved it. They were doing well.
Than came the fire. They do not know bow it started.
In t!le falling dusk Frieda stood striczen, holding the sobbing
Friedrich, wispinii and watching the little house go up in
flames. 1;he thought of the family treasures and Amized new
possessions burning before her eyes, and it seemed as if the
last ties with the old life were beihg destroyed as well as
hope for the new. Fritz too WM weeping. The loss of his
violin seemed to hurt him most.
keighbors saw the glow and hurried over to save what
they could. but it was very little. The fire had spread toe
quickly.
Fritz saved the salvage into the packing shed and the
barage. As *greed to let Frieda and the boy go to a neighbor's
for temporary saelter, but ne refused to move from the twokiag
foundation throughout the night. Chore wore many offers of
assistance. Fritz was moved 4164 grateful but Le refused them
all.
e done it vunst. us do it agaia." be said.
iiext day AS started makint, a new home of the well-built
shed and arage, while they lived in a rented house. Fritz's
iridi:atry a tarift aad won his a good reputation and it wa$'
not nerd to get a loan to start over.
The new cattage is set on a rise overlooking their land.
The long flit of stone ateps that aaike the ealkway lead
through iriedals rock ...,arden ta the hooded door opening into
a Large L-shaped room. There are casement windows and a
great fireplace. Cn the ledge of stone fora,ing tae alantel
meta a concave black candelabruc, holding nine /clic)* candles,
flanked ay two yellow -and -black bowls filled with sweet pota-
toes now hidden by the leafy, ta,agila; vines tiAtal -nave sprouted.
Ihe furnitare is good. aaaj caairs and a sofa are covered
in taarraorlizi14; colors. There ia a beautiful old desk and a
highly polisaed table or two. otAsr sad of tag. L is the
dining alcave, with built-in wall cabinets, urap-leaf table,
and caaia. A hsoe °Li ‘:heat,i ra.ers wIth a iJiirror
above IL aLaaU4 n,ear the arca of the entrance. Tat dining
table is decorated with a bowl of foliage, and casement windows
are gad with planta in brightly colored .i.Ot.,t4411.f. es. awing -door
opens into a kitchen with apotleas ahining modern equipent.
Frieda no longer regrets the community oven in her oerman
village.
Upstairs are two bedrooms eL,41 a oath. 1.d-faa-nioneci dor-
mer windowa are set in the mansard roof. Inat waa admittedly
a sentimental touch, to remind thez of the houses in their.
(semen village. l'here is an inaet deep in the roof and the
side of the house to accommodate a great tree they could not
bear to cut down only oecauee it stood a few feet in their
way
nind the house are the new packirg ahed and garage.
urtziin aloc t.te lai.a to the wiheri la a atone wall made
Leautifol lUA flowers, vines, and stArubs. the hill to
one ai e, the winer; is built over t..* mountain atream for
natural refrigeration. tier* the grapes are put into the
winepreas arta the juice .ired for fermentation.
.ine ;:.akin g under ,Aovernt control ia a cooiplicated
busineas. First, a4lIcation;Lust. be -AILdhe for tate and
counti permit, ar,d a permit at large if the wile is to be
shipped out of the .tate. If permiesion la granted, aspect-,
fications and blueprints of the ixopoaed wirAerJ muat be
sent to the Administrator of the Alcohol Unit at fititimorso
kid., and to washington, giving details of every tank, workbench,
wash rack, and heating unit. If tile outline is not entirely
satisfactory, it is sent back with sugestions for revision.
After approval is finally 61ven, a (iovernAtnt inspector is
sent to check up, and if everythin4, is in order according
to the requirements, he approves the application and issues
a basic permit.
-hotostatic copies of the permit are made. ne is sent
to the applicant, one to altimore, iLIAl the third i kept on
file in ashinaton. Thereafter, monthly, semiannual, and
annual statistical reports must be sworn to and be sent to
Baltimore, where they are checked and either approved and
sent to Aishi%ton, or returned for corrections. In addition,
reports must be made to the tate.
'4nes must be listed and bottles labeled acoording to
the variety of grape used, and Wiii; of the rapes must come
from the winemakerts own vineyard, 254 WI.% allowed to be
purchased if necessary. In Fritz's case, they must be
purchased only from other vineyardists in the township.
Frites wines are listed as hineold (light), Dryengold
(dry, lht red), and i4.yehold Aamburg t,rapes make
the red wintei :Ahdley, riuuph, rieh6oluen, and -.;inthiana
make claret. The Rhine wine is made of 70* AadAra and
lOv each of Cynthiana, Lindley, &nu concord grapes. .Aerry
can be made from any .irape if the gr pes are carefully
harvested at the exact degree of ripeness and sweetness.
The process of winemaking is the vineyarOistla secret,
but Fritz is proud of his wine, and like to talk about it.
fhe harvest depends UiATA t..browinb season. If there
are early rains followed by suna.Ane, te rapes mature about
the last of August, but a late spring or unseasonable weather
brings a late harvest, sometili.es in tae 4uta of .Aeptember.
srlier Lan that the rapes are not ribilt for wine.
The brapes must have reaced a nattAmal development of
15-A;' subar. The most iaportant fact,,r in .akin a bood wine
is the vineyardist's abilita to jodbe from the looks and,
still wore important, tae sell (called the Lloom) of the
brpes, ,&hen they are exactly ready for use. Otherwise the
wine nas no bouquet.
Frits's grapes are harvested in flats with convenient
handles for the worker to carry on his arm as he use. The
flats are broud,at to the icin. anea and inspected for
rotten or breen e.ya ea. itW bunches are stripped into five-
ballon buckets au carried to the winery where the brapes
are put i .to tunks. om there t-ey are rolled into the
crushers, t en on to the cru t,zio to and hours, or
longer, uL:til t;--ie first foall of ferwenU:tion boea away.
The juize is siphoned into settling tanks for first -brad*
wine; the residue, or plimmilie,e, is later run off for second
grade wine of lower alcoholic content.
ro tnat atep the juice ie left in the aattlinb tanks to
clarify tnroudi further fermentation, usually from three to
four months, sometimes loner, ad in tae case of champagne,
or superior ,rodes of sherry.
At the 41:4d of thia period tile wine is "racked off" into
teat vats aid bottled,; un Ant, by zjikvity from the upper
winery to toe storabe cellars below, which are kept at a
a temperature of about 60 dereea. it spriat, furnishes water
to two tanki.s with a oapacity of :c;,0O0 43Allons eac is
also "Aped tato the winery.
?ritz'a wine to stored in white -oak barrels. o far he
nas t*en unaolo to net the dea.4 fr it goat of it he
Alla at toe winery and in a nearby town, distributed tairoush
local stores. In 1L$39 he plAnrwed to .ak* 2,500 6allona of
red wine and 500 ,allona of white, if taere was not too much
eman,-.1 for tie ,;r,As for eatin6. e finda it nerd to turn
away customers vino bootdat 6raoes from him before state repeal
of the vrontoition laws abAinat wins.
no knows," said Fritz, "wnen tLie day comes that. ;erica
will say, more we r.eriit you oan ;lake alconolic drink:01N
Ae ia ,t;radally increasin6 hia vineyard and roplaciAg
the old tines. he has started a seedlin6 nursery along the
aandy riv,r land *here he 1184 planted 5,000 vines from seed
send from Capri and turttembur6. khe seedlins will .ear in
the early fall of 1K9 and i,hen he will bir-able to determine
their worth. ..;ince t,:say are 'sports" planted from seeds and
developed by himaelf, he will be able to name and own the
varietiea. w..ne of tnec he plans to nawe aloomingold.
but first he must know whetner taey will stay conatant.--
whether tamburg and Hurbert will still be hamburg and fiurbert,
or whet:,er from Vie crossing he will get a "sport" be can
use for wins,
wait.
Fritz is
vineyarjist.
of plants and
or whether ill :et nothL de can only
nurseryman and landscape architect as well as
Tple es of his land are bordered with a variety
shrubs for sale, his specialty Nark; those
used in rock zArdeas. en tie town near which he lives voted
land and funds for a municipal park, Fritz donated his services
both as architect and planter. riAl result shows his natural
skill, for he had no specialized training.
Aiwa his first success Fritz has planned that Friedrich
should beccme his partner a-. successor. 'out his eon now
has the ,iairican idea of LAflfli. his own life. e has gone
to work as an operator in a hosiery iili, Aanir to learn
tne business by starting at tne bottotL. Lt is a blow to
Fritz. ,,elations are strkdaed between tne fatner and son.
aut Frieda only uales and aays, Vaid andt see, time makes
thia smooth"
he is inve sely ireud of tne land, the vineyard, the
house, and th* winery, /Ltd of tie man who earned and built
tnem. .ier most visioaary dreaa rave been realized. ,he
and ?ritz no lonor have any desire to return to ,-ieralany for
even a visit. Their families are acattered and Friedals
property lonL aeo was sold to aLranors. in country ia in
a condition taey do n(t want to see. ?rieda still cooks
German disaes, and Fritz still lapses iilLo '„Aorman *nen excited.
Thau6h friedrich speaAs wita o4y a trace of accent, 2ritz's
and Frieda's speech marks tie.L. unaistakably 2.3 eman horn.
hut theirsympathies ad all.'lance are i'Lerican. 1%:.ey are
osoud that it is so.