Beginnings

As a young boy growing up in the South, my father, Henry and mother, Frances always had a fairly large vegetable garden with a variety of fruit trees along with pecan trees. But one crop seemed to have a magnetism over me like none other; the grapevines and their fruit mystified me as a little boy. The grapes we didn't eat, my mother turned them into grape juice and grape preserves. My father majored in agriculture in college and attended S.C. State College it was called at the time; it now is known as S.C. State University. The fact that my Dad majored in agriculture provided a straightforward explanation as to what inspired him to have these crops each year, but we will come back to this point later.

Over time as I grew up and became an adult, I maintained this fascination with the grape. Whether it was eating grapes or drinking wine, the grape was a love I had. A decade ago, I began making wine from grapes for personal consumption.

Over time, my family began having family reunions. I appointed myself the family historian, collecting countless fragments of the family tree that now has over 1000 members accounted for. We have now traced members of our ancestors as far back as the 1820s. We even have our family tree on the Internet for all to see.

One summer, 5 years ago, something so significant took place that it created an awakening, unleashing a passion that was already on an upward tilt. I visited my elderly Aunt Lillie, who knew a lot about my father's side of the family. Aunt Lillie lived in my great grandfather and great grandmother's house. My great grandfather's name was Robert Berry and my great grandmother's name was Amie Berry. Aunt Lillie would talk about the property they owned and how they had two sets of horses and carriages. One carriage was used to go into town and conduct business. Robert Berry would always dress up in a dark suit to go into town. My great grandfather also grew sugar cane and would make molasses for the community and became the source of molasses for that community. He also sold the fruit and pecans as a source of livelihood. She talked about my great grandmother Amie, would always cook and carry food to church every Sunday and was a very strong woman. But one thing she mentioned that caught me off guard. She said my great grandfather and great grandmother also always had grapevines. This had inspired my father to have grapes and had somehow driven me to stay close to and cultivate grape and wine appreciation.

Robert and Amie Berry was growing grapes during the 1880 time frame. My father, Henry, used to reminisce about my great grandfather and would sometimes say with an air of annoyance that my great grandfather would always limit each grand child to one piece of fruit when the grand children were visiting. Even back then, Robert Berry was a tough businessman with an eye on staying in business, making sure he did not give away his paying crop to the grand children (smile).

Press Coverage

Ronald Berry, Patrice Winery's founder was featured on Connecticut's Channel 12 on December 19th 2005   View the Interview

Ronald Berry was also featured in the Connecticut Post on Sunday June 13th 2004   View the Article

View Patrice Winery Brochure: Page 1   Page 2