Schulze Winery has passion for wine making

Schulze Vineyards and Winery, 2090 Coomer Road in Burt has been serving a wide variety of wines for the area to enjoy.

When creating the winery, passion played an important part.

Owner Martin Schulze moved from Germany with his family in 1966 and in 1969 they bought Schulze farm.

The farm came with a small, established Niagara and Concord vineyard and was used to sell the grapes to juice companies.

For more than 20 years, Martin had the dream of one day opening a winery on his family’s farm. Throughout the year’s several varieties of grapes were planted, including Hybrid Siegfried Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vidal Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes.

In May of 2007, Martin’s dream became a reality and Schulze Vineyards and Winery opened. The winery now grows eight varieties of grapes on the farm and sells more than 20 wines in their tasting room.

Available wine types include white, red, sweet, rose, crackling and dessert wine. Because of Martin’s love for bubbles, Schulze has also created a line of sparking wine.

“He did everything to fulfill this dream,” said wife Ann Schulze. “He is extremely passionate.”

Schulze is a working farm and winery. The large tasting room features a bar and cabinets made from black cherry trees that grew on the farm.

“We have really done well because of this passion,” said Ann.

Ann grew up in the Newfane area and enjoys owning a business in her community.

“It’s fabulous to be in the community where I grew up,” said Ann. “The area has just supported us wholeheartedly.”

She said the winery always tries to give back to the community that supports them.

Ann’s sons Tyler and Shaun Finley also work at the winery. Jonathan Oakes of Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina is the wine maker for Schulze.

Among the variety of wines, Ann believes the Thirty Mile Point Niagara wine stands out. She said it is one of the most popular of their wine and people really enjoy it.

Many of the winery’s labels hold a special meaning to the Schulze family and the area. The Thirty Mile Point Niagara wine features a picture of the lighthouse located on Lake Ontario. Ann’s great-grandparents Glenn and Cora Seeley were once the caretakers of the lighthouse. Her mother Beverly Rutland also grew up there.

The Lake House Red features a picture of a Lake Ontario sunset, and was inspired by growing up in Olcott.

There is also a line of carousel labels, which depicts different horses that are part of the carousel at the Olcott Beach Carousel Park.

The RCR dessert wine was named after Ann’s father Richard Rutland and the bottle has a picture of Rutland-Corwin Funeral Home in Newfane from the 1950s. Richard owned the funeral home for close to 50 years and Ann’s brother now operates it.

Schulze has the philosophy that, “the care and commitment of the grape growing is reflected in the wine making. By growing our own grapes, we are able to produce quality wine.”

For Ann, the best part of the winery is getting to work outside, especially during the fall. She enjoys helping harvest the grapes.

“I just love it,” she said. “The grapes are so fragrant. It is very enjoyable.”

The farm also still sells some Niagara grapes for juice to Cliffstar. They also do custom harvesting for other farms in the fall.

The tasting room at Schulze Vineyards and Winery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from May 1 through Dec. 31. From Jan. 1 through April 30 they are open from noon to 6 p.m.

For more information visit www.schulzewines.com.