Splendor in a glass

Dr. Peter Oldak is putting his years of experience as a physician to a new use these days, testing the biochemistry and sugar levels of chardonnays and zinfandels.

The 64-year-old Amesbury resident calls his newfound fondness for wine fermentation "diabetes taking a left-hand turn."

"My wife calls this a hobby run amok," Oldak, a longtime emergency room doctor, said during a recent tour of his Jewell Towne Vineyards , which straddles the state line, extending into South Hampton, N.H. "But it's all the things I like to do, and I'm pretty independent, too."

In Haverhill, Jim Parker has been tending 25 acres of grapes for the past five years with the goal of shedding his day job -- as a waste-water treatment plant operator -- to start selling wine at his Willow Spring Farm by 2008.

"It's not something you want to do as a hobby," Parker said. "And it's not something you want to do to get rich. But I'm due for a little more independence in life."

The lure of owning and operating a winery is proving irresistible for a growing number of the region's restive. And while the Merrimack Valley is clearly less suited for such industry than similar landscapes in France's Loire Valley, or California's Napa, the area is coming into its own as a great place to grow grapes, according to Sonia Schlomann, a small- fruit specialist with the University of Massachusetts' agricultural extension program.

"We're certainly seeing a real renaissance in viticulture these days," she said. "But it's still a best-kept secret that we have some really world-class wines here."

The number of wineries in Massachusetts has increased from 12 to 23 since 1994, according to the state Department of Agricultural Resources. Among those joining the ranks of area wineries in the dozen years -- along with Parker and Oldak -- are Alfalfa Farms Winery in Topsfield, Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Flag Hill Winery and Distillery in Lee, N.H., and Zorvino Vineyards in Sandown, N.H.

Schlomann and Oldak were scheduled to speak at a "New Grape Grower Workshop" Thursday at Zorvino Vineyards, sponsored by the UMass agricultural extension program. More than 50 aspiring vintners, accompanied by the merely curious, signed up to attend the seminar, Oldak said.

Oldak has also formed the New Hampshire Winery Association, which offers support and information to aspiring vintners year-round.

By far the biggest challenge of growing wine grapes in the Merrimack Valley is the climate, Schlomann said. The weather can go from balmy to blizzard in the course of a week, so grape variety selection is key.

The inland areas of the Merrimack Valley are well suited for certain cold-weather hybrid varieties of grape, such as seyval blanc and aurora, while the coastal areas are warm enough to grow better- known varieties -- called vinifera -- such as chardonnay, pinot noir, and cabernet.

The Alfalfa Farm Winery is having success growing some of the latter, said Schlomann, while Oldak and Parker are growing the hybrid varieties.

The vinifera varieties are the better sellers, but aspiring vintners in New Hampshire may want to play it safe and grow the cold-weather varieties, said Becky Grube , Schlomann's counterpart at the University of New Hampshire. The number of wineries in the Granite State has jumped from two to seven in the past decade, Grube said. But for success in those more fickle climes, the seeds must be chosen wisely.

"The trick is trying to figure out which grapes will grow best in your area," said Grube, who also planned to participate in Thursday's seminar.

Marketing is another aspect of the industry that new vintners must master to boost the bottom line, Grube said. Wine vineyard tours and trails are money-makers for wineries in other parts of the country and could work well here, Grube said. New England has the added advantage of foliage season, which already lures tourists to the area.

"Leaf peeping is an exciting time in the vineyards as well, because it's harvest time," Grube said. "New York has had tremendous popularity with its wine trails in the Finger Lakes region. It's a very popular weekend activity . . . and their climate is not so very different from ours."

As Oldak enters his 12th year in business, word is getting out and tourists are flocking in. Jewell Towne gets 100 or more visitors a day on peak weekends and expansion plans are underway to accommodate them, he said.

Jewell Towne now produces 35,000 bottles of wine a year, requiring far more grapes than Oldak can grow on his 5-acre vineyard. He imports roughly 70 percent of his grapes from New York and California, but his best wines still come from the local grapes, he said.

"Last year we won 25 medals," he said. "About two-thirds were for our local wines."

However, Oldak is quick to acknowledge that wine-making is more about passion than profits. "As the French say: If you want to make a small fortune making wine, start with a large fortune," Oldak said.

Parker is finding the same as he wraps up his second harvest. He won a few awards at amateur competitions, but said he has also thrown out a lot of wine that didn't pass muster.

He said his interest in the industry stems as much from his desire to preserve open space in Haverhill as it is to make a profit.

"It's so difficult to turn this into something that's profitable. It's got to be a passion; all the stars have to align for it to work," Parker said. "The amount of work and financial input that goes into this was a rude awakening."

Despite the challenges, Schlomann said, there's something about wine-making that continues to pull folks in, even at a time when farming seems to be falling out of favor in many parts of New England.

"You always hear people saying that they always dreamed of having a winery," she said. "You never hear someone say, 'When I retire, I want to grow carrots.' It really has a lot of mystique."

For information about Massachusetts wineries, visit mass.gov/agr/ massgrown/wineries.htm.