Established in 2012, SHARA Vineyards is a small vineyard and artisan winery located in Concord, New Hampshire. 

 

The farmers and owners at SHARA Vineyards dedicate their hands and hearts to creating a thriving, diverse ecosystem for the vines. The mission is to craft wine that is deeply expressive of the New Hampshire hills that we call home -- wine that respects the earth; wine that is nourishing and delicious! 

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When the current owners moved to the vineyard in 2018, the vines were struggling from intensive applications of pesticides and herbicides, and the soil under the vines was so dry and dusty that you had a wear a dust mask just to mow the lawn!

 

There was an urgent need to restore the vitality of both the vines and the vineyard soil, and so organic farming techniques were introduced in the summer of 2018 to begin the regeneration of the vineyard ecosystem.

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In 2019, the farmers began to observe the vines much more closely, learning about the growing needs of the different sections of the vineyard and then making three different wines from these distinct sections.

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In 2020, farming practices shifted to include inspiration from regenerative and biodynamic agriculture, and farmers began to incorporate intuitive learnings from the land. Farmers nurtured soil health and biodiversity by using compost teas, allowing native plants to flourish, and removing fast-spreading undesirable plants from the vineyard and the surrounding forest.

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In 2020, the winemakers began employing ancient techniques that allow the energy of the vines and grapes to be fully expressed in the wine: foot stomping, spontaneous fermentation, gentle pressing, and aging in glass and fiberglass.

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That same year, winemakers produced an apple grape wine blended with a bit of cider, which is fresh and light on a hot summer day. The cider apples were harvested from a century-old, unsprayed orchard in Contoocook which had been left unmanaged for many years, with only pruning and mowing done in 2020.

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In 2022, SHARA winegrower Nicholas Kimberly, struck out on his own, and began leasing the 3-acre vineyard for his wine project, NOK Vino. Nicho will farm on site (with Ryan!) and produce natural wines on site in the winery, but will be doing so for his new label. SHARA owners will embark on their own winemaking journey this autumn with a fraction of the harvested grapes, and Nicho as their mentor.  

 

The SHARA Vineyard collective of folx is excited to bring you great New Hampshire wines and share our beautiful space with you this season!

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The Land

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We believe that land ownership is a modern construct that works to oppress, and do not take this lightly. We believe that folx who own land have a responsibility to tend it with many generations of humans, animals, plants and fungi in mind. We acknowledge that this land we are on was tended for thousands of years by an Abenaki people called the Pennacook, who did so without wreaking the ecological havoc we found when we arrived on the scene in 2018. We acknowledge that this land was stolen from the Pennacook people by our forebears, and that we are participants in a long legacy of oppression.

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Because of this, we feel strongly that we must tend this land with respect and reverence for the natural world. We also feel strongly that we must share this space with our community. To this end, we support the work of extraordinary wine growers in the vineyard and farmers in the fields; cultivate the surrounding lands sustainably and let wild spaces be; and share the whole beautiful bounty with a community of wine lovers every summer.

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