Karamoor Estate's vineyard is 27 acres of densely planted, immaculately maintained vinifera vines.  The vineyard was designed and architected by Lucie Morton  who was highlighted in Vineyard & Winery Management's "Top 20 Most Admired People in the North American Wine Industry".  In 2003 (when she began working with Karamoor); she chose the varieties of vinifera grapes that we would plant here and she chose where they would be planted.

Lucie is a big advocate of high-density planted vineyards.  The normal vineyard may have about 600-800 vines per acre, but the vineyards that Lucy designs on the east coast have an average of 1600-2000 vines per acre.  The reasoning behind high-density planting is that it promotes even and full ripening by asking the vine to produce less fruit (esentially, making the vine do less work, allowing it to concentrate on fully ripening a smaller crop).

In 2006, the first 10 acres were planted, in 2008, an additional 5 acres, and in 2013, the final 10 acres were planted.  As far as varieties of grapes; we grow Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Malbec, and Pinot Gris.

The vineyard operations are maintained by our Vineyard Manager, Joseph Rienzi, and our Winemaker, Kevin Robinson.  Grape growing in Pennsylvania is very labor intensive, and everything in our vineyard is done by hand (except for mowing and hedging!).  Growing quality vinifera fruit in the warm and humid summer climate of Pennsylvania requires a more diligent spray schedule to control disease and it requires much more canopy maintenance.  We want to make award winning wines that are accepted on the world stage, and in order to do that, you need to have ripe and healthy fruit.