Vintner’s Circle Fanwall
Make-your-own-wine classes and supplies
At Vintner’s Circle, our customers can make their wine right in our stores. We take care of all the equipment preparation and cleanup, and guide our customers through three simple steps. Vintner’s Circle also carries all the wine making equipment you need to make wine at home.
Franchise Name: Vintner’s Circle
CEO/Founder: David Schmeltzle, CEO (Interview)
Website links: Vintner’s Circle, Vintner’s Circle Franchise Information
Comments: Vintner’s Circle FanWall
Corp. Name: Vintners Circle Franchising LLC
Year Founded: 2006
Year Franchised: 2008
Number of units, company: 1
Number of units, franchised: 5
Initial investment: $90,000 to $140,000 (unit developer)
Home-based Business?: No
Priority Markets for Expansion: North America
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A few years ago I was peach shopping at the former Best’s Fruit Farm just west of Hackettstonwn, NJ. I say former because Best’s has vacated that location and moved back across the street to where they started many years ago. As I was leaving the store, I noticed David sitting all alone in the corner with his ‘new’ businness, Vintner’s Circle. Not being shy, I struck up a conversation with Dave and found out what Vintner’s Circle was all about. I kind of felt sorry for him as I know how hard it is to start out in a new business. I wanted to help him out but I am no fan of wines. As we talked further and I told him that I had a ‘sweet’ tooth, so he showed me a collection of sweet fruit wines. I chose Melon Zinfandel (no longer available) and it was a big hit with my family and friends. It was nice when visiting to bring a bottle of your own handcrafted wine. I have been back twice since still working in the sweet, fruit wine category.
My fiance and I discovered Vintners Circle through friends of ours. We decided to make a Brunello for our first winemaking experience and we were pleasantly surprised with how much fun it was and how great our wine tasted! It was so interesting going through the whole winemaking process and the sense of pride we felt when we gave out our own bottled wine to friends and family was wonderful!!! We have since made many other great tasting wines at Vintners and we have loved them all. So much so we decided to open our own Vintners Circle in Whippany NJ with our good friends who introduced us to the store in the first place. We are all very excited for our store to open in a few weeks because we know others will enjoy making wine at Vintners Circle as much as we have.
My husband and I stopped in Dave’s store to see what wine making was all about. I was looking to make a red wine that I liked since I only drank white wine at the time. My previous attempts at a red wine ended up with a headache and red face as well as a bad taste in my mouth. We tasted the wines Dave had and I was sold!!! We made a Brunello without even tasting it first. The wine was great no red face, no headache. The next wine we made was a white Luna Bianca it too was exceptional. I was hooked, told all my friends and family as well as shared the wine with them. Everyone I gave wine to loved it, including good friends of ours who we are now partners with in our own Vintner,s Circle store in Whippany. The whole experience has been life altering and it started with a taste of red wine and an awesome concept.
I have the pride of being the first customer to ever purchase something from Vintner’s Circle’s website. We had just returned from visiting friends in NC and wanted to send them a gift. Our friends entertain often yet have everything I could think of – then I saw the Cooper Cooler on Vintner’s Circle. It chills a bottle of wine in minutes, perfect for the people who entertain and want to serve the bottle of wine that was just gifted to them by their guests. They loved it.
Shortly after I joined the Vintner’s Circle team working in the Hackettstown store. Over 2 years later it is still so much fun to come to work every day. Helping a customer create their own vintage and then design their label is fantastic. We have done holiday gifts, wedding favors, and even the birth announcements for twins. Helping people celebrate special moments in their lives is just one of the many great things about my job. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.
I have nothing but good things to say about Dave and his staff at Vintner’s Circle! They are friendly and nice, professional yet fun and KNOWLEDGEABLE! These folks know it all. Any winemaking question – they can answer. And not only can you go to the store and have them make wine with you – you can also buy everything you need at the store to make wine at HOME! The stores are well stocked and they are constantly getting great new seasonal juices/wine varieties in. There are so many great wines to choose from it’s hard to decide what to make next! Again, can’t say enough good stuff…I could go on and on…You have to check Vintner’s Cirlce out – you will not be disappointed.
A couple months ago I had a bottle of a Chardonnay Semillion that I really liked, but then couldn’t find it in the store again. I went to Vintner’s Circle, and they ordered California Chardonnay Semillion juice for me, and I made my own batch. As usual, Dave and his staff guided me through the process and made everything easy, and the wine came out great! I’ve given several bottles away to friends and they have all loved it. This was at least my third batch of wine made at Vintners Circle, and I’ll be back to make more. Besides the great wine, it’s especially fun to get a few friends together, have everyone make their own batch, and then have a bottling party and swap bottles. My wife and I did that with friends and it was a great time, plus we got 5 different types of wine!
I’m not suprised Vintner’s Circle was named a top franchise. For anybody who has ever considered making their own wine, this is the perfect way to start. It’s easy. It’s affordable. You don’t have to know much about wine…other than the fact that you like drinking it.
My wife Deirdre and I did it as “something different to do”, but the benefits have been some suprisingly good wine. The standard cliche is to look for a really good $10. bottle of wine in your local wine shop. But Vintner’s Circle pretty much takes the guesswork out of it. You know you’re going to end up with something good for about that price. You can sample the wine others have made to get an idea of what you’ll be getting. And picking your own bottles and labels is a hoot. Take a favorite picture or artwork, your dog or cat, even refrigerator art from your kids and make a label out of it. It’s just wine. And it’s the perfect way to make it personal.
Beyond that, it’s fun to interact with the staff and whoever else is making wine.
At the end of the day you have some fun, you end up meeting some delightful people, and you take home what will soon be some very good wine.
Winemaking for me went from a hobby to a passion. I make all of my wine presently at home and having someone like Vintners Circle so close to me saves alot on shipping costs. The selection and wine knowledge are exceptional there. I have become totally obsessed with entering my wines into competitions. I just took home 2 Golds and 3 Silver Medals from the Winemakers Magazine Competition held in May. And now Dave told me about the Indy International Wine Competition held at the Indiana State Fair and I entered 6 wines into that one. I just recieved word that I am taking home 2 Bronze, 2 Silver, 1 Gold, and 1 Double Gold medals for this competition. Also a congratulation to Dave for taking home 2 Silver Medals, way to go Dave. If you never tried to enter a wine I would stongly encourage it, it’s really a blast. With the Winemakers Competition you will recieve notes from the 3 judges that judged your wine and to me that is real valuable information. I’m looking forward to seeing a Vintners Circle Winemakers Competition!! Keep up the great work Dave.
My husband and I made wine at Vintners Circle for the first time, as part of an evening enrichment program through a local high school We were part of a group that made a Chardonay, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon. We finished bottling our wines in October and patiently waited the 6 months to taste the “fruit” of our labor. We opened the Chardonay on Mother’s Day and loved it. We waited a few more months, until the fall the try the reds. We were hooked! We are now in the process of making three wines on our own, and will bottle them on July 12th. We have worked with Kimberly at the Hackettstown location from the start, and we could not ask for a more helpful, knowledgeable staff member. Kimberly has been able to answer any question we have put to her. We look forward to finishing up our wine making process, and will be able to enjoy our wines over the winter holidays with our family and friends.
I was first introduced to VItners Circle by attending an introductory wine making course which was given to me as a gift a couple of years ago. I found the course to be very informative and enjoyable. Not knowing the first thing about wine making I learned the basics from Dave and his capable staff and have not stopped making wine since. Soon after the course was completed and having consumed the wine the class made I immediatley purchased wine making supplies and have made a wide variety of whites, reds and summer wine drinks to the enjoyment of my family and friends. Every time I visit the Vitners Circle Hackettstown store I have found Dave, Emily and the rest of the staff to be most knowledgable, friendly and willing to offer advise and suggestions. The Vitners Circle wine making process has been a great way to relax, meet other people and most of all enjoy great tasting wines at an affordable price.
I had met Dave through a couple business networking groups and was intrigued with his knowledge and understanding of wine making. In an attempt to try something different in providing “thank you” gifts for my clients, I decided to make some wine and bottle with my business logo. The Australian Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 was absolutely delicious. My clients are still thanking me for their wine. I purchased a gift certificate for my daughter and fiance to make their own wine and have just recently decided to make a Riesling (my favorite) to add to my collection of client thank you gifts, but I have a feeling I will be keeping most of the bottles for myself.
Vintners new location and gift shop are beautiful. Its amazing to see the containers of wine in their different fermentation stages.
It was October a couple of years ago when I met David and Vintner’s Circle. I was very impressed with the wine making store set up, layout, and process of how it all works. David and his team are fun to be with, very knowledgeable and truly care about their customers. Partnering with my friend, we decided to make White Zinfandel as gifts for the holidays. It was the perfect gift; a delicious, personalized bottle of wine. No more scarves, or walking around the mall wondering what to get as a gift! It was fun, and such a hit that I wish I did my own batch. Last year my husband and I made a batch of California Sauvignon as a celebration to a start up of a US operated business. Another hit!
If you haven’t made a batch yet, I highly recommend becoming part of the Vintner’s Circle Family!