Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery Savors Local Flavors and the Environment

The Sunshine State is the birthplace of American-made wine, dating back to the 1500s when Spanish explorers discovered wild muscadine grapes, a sweet, antioxidant-rich berry native to the southeastern United States. Today, 19 certified farm wineries collectively help Florida rank seventh in wine production.

With the distinction of “The Greenest Winery in America,” Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery in Duette runs a sustainable business like none other.

“The purpose of winemaking is to capture a single harvest from a single place in a moment in time,” Larry says.

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Larry and Lenora Woodham, an eco-conscious and wine-loving married couple, left their corporate professions behind to bring winemaking back to its traditional roots. Open since 2010, Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery’s chemical-free farm operation has perfected the process of achieving matchless wines and artisan jams sold exclusively in recycled bottles and jars.

Florida’s unpredictable weather – rainfall, sunshine, extreme temperatures – means no two harvests have been the same. This results in Bunker Hill’s ever-changing offerings of unfiltered wine containing real fruit – never from concentrate.

Cheers to Florida Commodities

Fed by a solar-powered drip irrigation system, just 4 of Bunker Hill’s 23 lush acres grow seven varieties of muscadines, with each acre producing about 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of grapes.

The remainder of Bunker Hill’s grounds, recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, flourishes with other edible plants, like assorted citrus, bamboo, dandelions, elderberries, guava and many others. All of these are incorporated into a product line featuring 40 different wines. In fact, 97% of Bunker Hill’s ingredients are grown either on the premises or within the state of Florida.

“[Otherwise] we have endless seasons in Florida! And our goal is to capture and celebrate all of these commodities,” Larry says. “Everything here at Bunker Hill is picked by hand,” he adds, of the multistep collection process.However, the Woodhams believe it’s worth bringing in a small fraction of non-native goods to craft some specialty flavors, such as the Natural Fresh Spiced Apple Wine, a seasonal offering featuring North Carolina grown apples.

The dedicated duo goes back to each vine six to eight times during the grape harvest in late summer and early fall. Grapes are then washed, hand-pressed and fermented with yeast for at least a year’s time.

“It’s a manual crusher for the grapes because we don’t need to plug into the grid. We can do it differently and still accomplish the same task,” Larry explains.

Pour Another Glass

Bunker Hill uses glass carboys instead of wood barrels for aging.

“It is the best material for aging wines because it’s sustainable and inert,” Larry says.

Glass carboys can be sanitized, countlessly reused for future wine batches and eventually, if needed, recycled.

Upwards of 60% of a winery’s carbon footprint can be attributed to its bottles. To forgo further filling of landfills, Bunker Hill solely packages its signature beverages using recycled wine bottles and, thanks to newly expanded permitting as of March 2022, 12-ounce beer bottles. Bottles are topped off with real corks and sealed with recyclable hot wax. This prevents exposure to oxygen and other environmental elements, ultimately enhancing shelf life.

Wine bottles, labeled with the important declaration of “Grown, Produced, Vinted and Bottled by Bunker Hill,” can be purchased on-site as well as shipped nationwide.Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery is open to the public and offers tastings and tours. During tastings, customers choose five wines, with favorites being the Foxy Red, Forest Keeper White, Country Cat Rosé, Natural Strawberry Sparkling Wine and Natural Black Tea Wine. The inventive Woodhams then pour a sixth glass, often containing one of Bunker Hill’s more obscure flavors, such as Natural Banana Wine, Natural Cherry Tomato Wine, Natural Fresh Florida Jalapeño Wine, Natural Florida Sweet Potato Wine or Natural Starfruit Wine – the newest flavor released for the first time in 2022.

See more: Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards: A Visit to Florida’s Largest Winery

Sweet Pairings and More

“Jams, jellies and marmalades are inherently tied into our wines,” Larry says of the secondary use of processing seasonal produce.

Customers are encouraged to also please their palates with assorted sweet condiments, handmade by Lenora.

“Because we’re a certified Florida farm winery, people come from all over the world, so that helps our tourism industry,” Larry says.

Visitors can even stay at the vineyard’s guesthouse, plus couples can exchange vows under the eco-designed wine bottle wedding arch.

See more: Florida Farm Winery Qualifications