In 1997, Richard Adamek arrived in the United States with $100 in his pocket and little else but high hopes. A native of the former Czechoslovakia, he came by invitation, drafted by a Bucks County winery to serve as winemaker and manager. Yet on Saturday, with the snip of a red ribbon, the Plumstead resident welcomed more than 200 guests to Vivat Alfa Winery, the winery he opened with his wife, Mi
rka, on 11.5 acres on Stump Road, just off Route 313. The vineyards occupy what was once a 200-acre farm, with the Adameks living in the original 1750 farmhouse with their children, Sofia and Richie.
“Wine-making, it’s a gift and it’s a dream and a passion,” said Adamek. “This shows that if you really work hard, there are no limits. It’s all up to you how much you want to work.”
The business is indeed a testament to perseverance, as well as the kind optimism many would have found laughable in these economic times. Adamek purchased the farm in 2007, when the country was entering its deepest recession since the Great Depression.
“To buy a farm in Bucks County, that’s like mission impossible. To start a farm, it’s like I just fell out of the moon,” he said. “When other businesses were shutting down because of the recession, we were just opening.”
Yet winemaking has remained one of Pennsylvania’s more-robust businesses in recent years. According to Jennifer Eckinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, a winery can be found within 45 minutes of any location statewide. Bucks County, which, with the addition of Alfa & Omega, now boasts 11 wineries (Montgomery County has four), is one of the state’s most vibrant wine communities.
“The number of wineries has nearly doubled in the last decade,” said Eckinger. “One of (the reasons) is the fact more people are interested in consuming local and are looking to their own backyards. It’s eat local and drink local, as well.”
Adamek grew up in a culture of winemakers and drinkers. His own family had a small vineyard in its backyard.
“Back home, it’s very natural and a custom to have a good glass of wine when you’re (aged) 13/14 on Sunday with the family dinner,” he said. “It’s very healthy for digestion and it teaches kids how to have a healthy approach to alcohol consumption.”
Before coming to Bucks County in 1997, Adamek trained for four years at a winemaking school in Slovakia, then worked as a winemaker’s assistant in a factory that produced 10 million gallons of wine a year. Though his first entrepreneurial venture, in 2005, was to start a trucking business, it seemed only natural he would open his own winery, too. When he bought the land in Plumstead, Adamek spent two years preparing the soil for 10,000 vines of vinifera grapes from Germany. He hand-planted those in 2009. The first harvest, in 2011, yielded nine different varieties of wine, among them a pinot noir, chardonnay, blush, cabernet sauvignon and his vintage champion, a gewurztraminer, which proved immensely popular with guests during tastings on Saturday.
“We’re getting two bottles of it,” said Ania Tyski, a friend of Mirka’s who attended the opening party with her partner, Phil DiAntonio, both of Plymouth Meeting. “It has a lot of flavor in it. You can taste the aroma right when you take a sip.”
The couple were among the white wines’ early taste-testers as they were being produced. After frequenting Napa Valley when she lived in San Francisco, Tyski said Alfa & Omega’s wines rank up there with the best. For many guests in attendance, the vineyard’s setting was as impressive as the wines themselves. Vincent and Leslie Komar, of Berwick, Columbia County, were enchanted by the view driving up Stump Road.
“It’s a good little spot. The building is just fabulous and the vineyards look beautiful,” said Leslie. “I think he’s going to do just fine here. I told him once they taste your wine, the only problem you’re going to have is keeping it in stock.”
Many were grateful the Adameks purchased the farm before developers could.
“We’re thrilled he’s turned this into such a phenomenal idea. It’s nice to see a small business come in and support the community and today the community it coming out to support him,” said neighbor Kathy Robinson. Adamek hopes to eventually give up his trucking business to devote his energy to expanding the winery.
“This is going to be here for a long time,” he said. “For as long as I’m here, the winery will be here. It’s like we’re becoming part of the history of Bucks County.”
