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The Vineyard Club at LaBelle Winery will allow you to be a part of the LaBelle family and support our growth.  Each member will sponsor a dedicated vine in our new vineyard and be able to watch it grow and flourish for years to come.  Be a part of its journey to producing grapes that will become world class quality wine. It’s the perfect gift for someone in your life who loves wine, LaBelle, or viticulture.

To learn more about all the benefits of being a Vineyard Club member, click here!  

“LaBelle wine enthusiasts across the country have been asking to purchase our wines online for years,” said founder and winemaker Amy LaBelle. “It’s wonderful to finally begin offering it, and we’re all really excited to expand the number of states we can sell and ship to in the future.”

It’s not too late! Have a bottle of LaBelle Winery wine on your table this holiday season. If you’d like to send wine to Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, or Wyoming, please click here.

December 6, 2011

Winemaker Amy LaBelle spoke with Mike Morin and Tracy Caruso on WZID-FM’s New Hampshire in the Morning show about her wines, the Winery’s origins, and the future of the amazing new facility presently under construction in Amherst, New Hampshire. LaBelle also touched on the current economy’s effect on the wine industry, how the new Winery will help Amherst & surrounding communities, the importance of wine tastings, and the new, more expanded Recipe section of the LaBelle Winery website.

Click on the play button below to hear this enlightening interview.

November 30, 2011
by Jim Beauregard

Thursday, Nov. 17, was an important day in New Hampshire wine history.  In case you didn’t make it to the event, a groundbreaking was held for the new LaBelle Winery along Route 101 in Amherst, at the old Bragdon Farm.

It was an overcast day, but the spirits of those present were high.  Amy LaBelle and her husband, Cesar Arboleda, named the event “The Uncorking of the Land.” There was, of course, wine on hand, including LaBelle’s new “Americus” which you’ve heard about here before, and which is getting better and better.

Amy and Cesar founded LaBelle Winery in a small barn behind their home atop a hill in Amherst and sent forth their first wine in the autumn of 2005.

In their first year of operation, LaBelle Winery produced 400 cases of wine.  Today, in that same very overcrowded space, they produce more than 6,000 cases (that’s over 72,000 bottles), and they are faced with the constant problem of running out.

The new winery, which is now officially under construction, will quadruple the number of cases produced so we won’t have to be faced with shelves empty of the wines we seek.

There will also be an expanded tasting room (their monthly tasting events have been selling out for years now) and an event center that will seat up to 200 people for things like weddings, business meetings and celebrations of every kind.

Amy and Cesar will also be offering five-course wine dinners, special Guest Chef events throughout the year, cooking and winemaking classes, and concerts too.

And to think, this all grew from a single container of blueberry wine in Amy’s apartment in Boston a decade or so ago.  If all goes as planned, the grand opening will be late next summer.

It was an all-around happy event, with people present from every aspect of the winery’s planning and construction – Amy and Cesar, of course, family and friends, fans of LaBelle wines, and those involved in the financing, design and construction of the winery, representatives of LaBelle’s newest associates, Fireside Catering (the pairings were excellent, by the way).

And if you are standing at the top of the hill, you can look west and spot a small camera at the bottom of the hill that will be taking pictures several times an hour throughout the winery’s construction – very cool.  The photos will be posted regularly on the winery’s website, which launched a new edition the day of the groundbreaking.  Check it out at labellewinerynh.com.

Amid the speeches that marked the event I was most struck by one of Amy’s comments – she looked at her parents, and with reference to the new winery, said, “We’ll make you proud.”  I have the very strongest of suspicions that they already are.

November 29, 2011
by Kimberly Houghton

LaBelle Winery expects to quadruple its capacity for wine making with the opening of a brand new facility — complete with a ballroom — on Route 101 next summer.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new winery took place earlier this month, with supporters anticipating a surge in sales once the manufacturing space, retail store and event center opens its doors.

“We have been very limited in our wine making at our current location in Amherst.

We even had to hold back on requests last year,” said Danielle Mojonnier, director of marketing and events for LaBelle Winery. “We have continued to see growth and demand consistently over the last five years. We are packed to the gills right now.”

Owned by Amy LaBelle and her husband, Cesar Arboleda, LaBelle Winery opened in 2005 with the production of about 400 cases of its flagship apple wine within the first year. Now the winery produces more than 6,000 cases of 22 wine varieties annually. It is currently sold in more than 200 stores across New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

LaBelle Winery will relocate early next summer from its existing facility on Chestnut Hill to its new location now under construction on Route 101 on top of the Bragdon Farm hillside, surrounded by vineyards. A grand opening is tentatively planned for late summer 2012.

The estimated $4.3 million winery will be about 20,000 square feet, including a 5,000 square-foot elegant event center, manufacturing space, retail and tasting room, barrel room, two terraces, a private function space and threeacres of vineyard vines.

“We think we will be in a unique position with this new facility. It is designed to be a very contemporary, unique and upscale building with elaborate landscaping,” said Mojonnier.

The new winery’s event space will seat approximately 200 people for banquet events such as weddings, meetings and celebrations, according to Mojonnier, who said it will also be used to host five-course wine-pairing dinners, guest chef events, art exhibits, a music series and cooking and wine-making classes.

Despite the challenging economy, Mojonnier said New Englanders have continued to welcome LaBelle wine into their homes.

“We feel so blessed to be successful in these challenging times,” echoed LaBelle.

“We are thrilled that our new winery will bring new jobs and tourism to the Amherst area so that others may be successful, too.”

Mojonnier, who said the most popular wine they produce is cranberry wine, hopes the new facility will reflect the unique and delicious beverages being produced locally by LaBelle Winery, which now does all of its own bottling and labeling by hand.

In its current location, LaBelle Winery can ferment up to 14,000 gallons of wine each year. The new facility, however, will allow for up to 60,000 gallons per year, and a new bottling line to expedite bottling of the larger volumes, according to Mojonnier.

In addition, an undecided amount of new workers will be hired once the expanded facility opens. The winery currently employs four fulltime, two part-time and two seasonal workers.

The official groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 17 featured an oversized LaBelle wine cork that was pulled out of the ground using an enormous 4-foot tall corkscrew, which LaBelle called “uncorking of the land.”

BMA Architectural Group has worked on the design. Fulcrum Associates will construct the facility, and Enterprise Bank is providing funding. Fireside Catering is joining the LaBelle team to serve as the exclusive caterer for the new winery.

Winemaker Amy LaBelle, with husband and business partner Cesar Arboleda, addresses the crowd gathered for the ceremony.

When LaBelle Winery begins new construction, it’s not your average groundbreaking ceremony. On Thursday, November 17, LaBelle hosted “The Uncorking of the Land”, a celebration of the start to construction of their new 20,000 square foot Winery on Route 101 in Amherst. The highlight of the event was the pulling of an oversized LaBelle wine cork out of the earth using a giant 4 foot-tall corkscrew. As with the opening of a highly anticipated new bottle of wine, this “Uncorking of the Land” ceremony has been years in the making. LaBelle Winery has seen incredible growth and success, and the huge popularity of its locally-produced wines has caused it to more than outgrow its current location, necessitating this expansion.

LaBelle Winery is a realization of the American Dream. Founded by winemaker Amy LaBelle, the Winery began as a small hobby. From Amy’s love of winemaking, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, the Winery blossomed, and has since brought enjoyment to connoisseurs and casual drinkers alike, across New England. LaBelle Winery has been producing unique, high quality New Hampshire wine for six years, having first created its flagship apple wine in the fall of 2005. In the first year of business, LaBelle produced about 400 cases of wine; today LaBelle produces over 6,000 cases of 22 wine varieties. LaBelle Winery began with only one store as a retail outlet, and now LaBelle wine is carried in over 200 stores across New Hampshire and Massachusetts. They’ve come a long way, but their growth continues – despite the economy – and demand for LaBelle Wine is far from satisfied. The new facility will allow LaBelle Winery to more than quadruple the amount of wine produced in the current location on Chestnut Hill in Amherst.

The giant 4 foot tall corkscrew pulls the LaBelle wine cork out of the land.

LaBelle is a family business, run by Amy and her husband Cesar Arboleda. Their skill and creativity in creating wine has made LaBelle Winery flourish, and those in attendance at Thursday’s Groundbreaking Ceremony were witness to the first step towards the next stage of this growing business. Winemaker Amy LaBelle says “we feel so blessed to be successful in these challenging times, and are thrilled that our new Winery will bring new jobs and tourism to the Amherst area so that others may be successful too.”

The 20,000 square foot new construction will consist of approximately 9,900 square feet of manufacturing space for the winery, 5,000 square feet for the elegant event center, 1,500 square feet for retail and tasting room space, a barrel room, two terraces, and a private function space with its own terrace. The new Winery’s event space will seat 200 people for banquet events such as weddings, meetings and celebrations, and also will provide the location for LaBelle Winery events such as 5 course wine pairing dinners, Guest Chef events, cooking and winemaking classes, art exhibits, a music series and other similar events. The timber frame construction building, which will sit high atop the Bragdon Farm hillside, will be surrounded by vineyards producing two types of grapes for winemaking, and other farmed items such as herbs, peppers, onions, and tomatoes, all to be used in winery-produced products. It is anticipated that the flooring, walls and roof of the new Winery should be complete by February. Once the building’s exterior is in place, the interior will be completed and the spring will be spent creating the lavish landscaping and planting the 3 acres of vineyard vines. The Grand Opening is planned for late summer 2012.

Thursday’s “Uncorking” event was attended by board members and administrators from the Town of Amherst, representatives from BMA Architectural Group, the architect for the new Winery, as well as members of Fulcrum Associates, the construction manager for the new winery, and Enterprise Bank, who is contributing to funding the project. This ceremony also coincides with the addition of Fireside Catering to the LaBelle team, as the exclusive caterer and event team servicing the new Winery’s weddings and social events.

More Photos from the Uncorking of the Land:

[Show as slideshow]