DINING

A taste for finer things

Franklin brothers start wine import business

Heather McCarron
hmccarron@wickedlocal.com
Franklin's Jace Chaffee, who has a wine importing business with his brother Kaden, sniffs a sample in a mouth-blown Grassl glass from Slovakia.

FRANKLIN — Wine the color of the finest garnets slips like silk from the darkness of its glass bottle, purling — sighing — as it pools in the bottom of a pair of delicate Grassl glasses.

Jace Chaffee, a certified sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, and his brother, Kaden, gently tip the glasses — mouth-blown masterpieces from Slovakia that have the sheen and airiness of soap bubbles — and breathe in the aroma of the newly freed wine.

It is a pinot noir from Umbria, Italy, one of a highly select collection of wines the Franklin brothers have carefully selected to be among the liquid "artworks" they offer through Vine Farmer, their wine importing and wholesaling company they started earlier this year from their hometown.

"This wine is made by a young guy named Francesco," Jace said, indicating the glass of pinot noir in his hand. "He's got some nice, old vines."

He takes a sip and momentarily closes his eyes, his face falling into an expression of deep appreciation, his taste buds picking out the flavors of the land it came from, and images of that special place no doubt scrolling through his mind.

"Francesco," he said, opening his eyes and lowering the glass, "he's an artist like very few in the world are. He literally does everything by hand."

He goes on to talk about Francesco's farm and his old-world methods — time-honored methods that let nature do most of the work and that are gentle with the earth. It is the land, after all, that is the most precious part of wine making, the place where the grape vines soak up all of the nuances that make every bottle unique.

For Jace and Kaden, the growers' relationship with the earth is a primary consideration before forming partnerships with them. And it's important for the pair to have a close-working relationship with every grower, and a familiarity with their land and their story.

"Francesco says that his soul is in his wine," Jace said.

And really, soul and passion, natural integrity and authenticity are what it's all about for the brothers.

"What started as a hobby has turned into a life’s passion, with a simple goal: We partner directly with growers who champion and respect location, vintage and local culture in their wines," said Kaden. "Today, we’re working with 14 growers located in Italy and Germany — soon to be 16 — that live by these words."

Six of the pair's grower partners were introduced to the U.S. market by Vine Farmer and are currently exclusive.

Self-described "wine geeks," the Chaffee brothers say they are always looking for wines "filled with great passion, excitement and originality."

"We find wine, joyfully and thankfully, to be intensely personal. We are always chasing that next haunting experience imprinted in memory when a bottle is something greater than the sum of its parts," they note on their website, vfwines.com.

Jace rejects wines that are "made in a boardroom, forced to have certain qualities." Vine Farmer's grower partners, he says, are common in their goal of "letting nature really produce what it does."

"Nature always provides what is naturally pleasing," he said. "The grape is second. The grape is the vehicle that the land is expressed on.

"The most interesting wines are the ones where the human touch is minimal. That is what we look for."

Jace worked in life sciences, most recently for a startup. His longtime interest in the wine business led him to complete the four levels of the wine studies program at Boston University's Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center to earn his certification as a sommelier.

Kaden was working in product development and account management in the retail branding and software industry before joining his brother in founding Vine Farmer.

Both have a keen reverence for well-crafted wines, and say it is a constant learning experience.

"The more you know about wine, the less you know. It's so nuanced and so complex," said Jace.

"It's science and art and everything in between," added Kaden.

Jace noted the character of every good wine is deeply connected to the land — even bottles from the same grower can each have their own nuances based on where on the farm where the vines grow, influenced by everything from what flora and fauna are around them to how much sunlight or water they get, or how much of a slope they grow on. Biodiversity is a key part of the picture.

A common denominator among the farms represented by their business, he said, is that "they are full of life."

The brothers are already making a niche for themselves. They've gotten wines imported from their grower partners on the menu at Giusto, a freestyle Italian restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island, and their imports have also made it onto the shelves locally at Pour Richard's Wine & Spirits, 14 Grove St., Franklin, as well as Wine Empire, 12B West Union St., Ashland.

They give a lot of credit to their parents — who operated Hometown Paint & Decorating in town for many years — for "instilling in us the idea of having true pride in what we're doing."

Their ultimate vision is one day for Vine Farmer to become a nationally recognized brand.

"Bringing meaningful wine to people," said Kaden. "That's the end goal."

Franklin's Jace and Kaden Chaffee are owner-operators of Vine Farmer, a wine importing business that focuses on working with farmers who are "dedicated stewards of the land who respect and listen to the land they work."