monvalley vineyards wine cellar makes 12 varieties in small batches
Written by Kathleen m. Jacobs
Roberta Mauller’s passion for all things wine comes through in every word she speaks, and each also comes with a warm invitation to experience all that MonValley Vineyards Wine Cellar in Fairmont has to offer. The passion comes honestly and is in her blood. Her father, Stephen Perrotti, owns MonValley Vineyards. And the story of the place began many years ago when Perrotti’s grandmother gave him his first taste of wine.
“My father’s grandmother had a large Italian family of 12 children,” Mauller explains. “She kept wine stored in the cellar, and she would give a little taste of it to her grandchildren,” she shares, a hint of glee in her voice.
As manager of the wine shop, Mauller embraces her future in the family business. “My father is a practicing CPA. MonValley Vineyards is his retirement dream.”
Perrotti began making homemade wine as a hobby in 1984, the year Mauller was born. In 2000, he purchased a few acres of land adjacent to his property and began preparation for a small vineyard. In 2004, he planted Old World Vitis vinifera vineyard grapes on a slope on his property, but they proved difficult to grow in cold weather. He discovered, though, that the North American V. labrusca varieties Catawba and Niagara thrived. In 2015, he broke ground and built a barn to house a small winery.
In 2017, Perrotti asked Mauller to open and manage a retail location where they could sell their wines. The MonValley Vineyards Wine Cellar opened in 2020—a most challenging year throughout the world but thankfully a good year for wine enthusiasts. Twelve wines are now available, made not only from grapes, but also from berries and other fruits and even tomatoes.
“We produce in small batches, which enables us to offer more variety and to offer what our customers want,” Mauller says.
3118 Fairmont Avenue, Fairmont, 304.396.6228,
monvalleyvineyards.com, @monvalleyvineyards
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