By Seth Augenstein
March 28, 2010

ANDOVER TWP. — If in wine comes truth, so do the business opportunities.

Vintner’s Circle, a winemaking franchise, opened a spacious store in the heart of the township in early February, and immediately welcomed a Valentine’s Day run of people who wanted to make their own personalized bottles of vino for loved ones.

Owner Todd Billingsley said the store represents an atavistic get-together for families, the curious and connoisseurs alike.

“We tell them to bring as many people as (they) want,” he said.

“They can bring cheese and food,” his wife, Janine, added.

“Make it a celebration,” Todd said.

Vintner’s Circle is a business customized for each budding vintner who walks under the trellis at the front of the store. The four-step process allows customers to make their own wine on the premises, but the customers can also purchase kits and try their fermenting hand at home, learning how to make the blends themselves. Classes are also offered.

“There’s something for everyone,” Todd Billingsley said.

For those who choose to create one of the 80 varieties at the store, the process involves four, 30-minute guided sessions going through the gradual steps of fermentation, clearing and bottling. Roughly seven weeks of waiting and know-how results in 28 bottles, complete with personalized labels. The price starts at $279, with rarer and choicer grapes and blends costing more.

“When you walk out, you have an excellent quality of wines,” Billingsley said.

When the batches of Malbec, Merlot, Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon are finished, the vintners can exchange some of theirs for samples of what other customers have created.

The Andover location is the sixth in the franchise, which has stores in Hackettstown, Middletown and Whippany, as well as Dickson City and Easton in Pennsylvania. The Hacketts-town store opened in 2006, and four of the locations sprung up in the last year.

For the owners, the vintages have replaced the voltages. Todd Billingsley was a lineman for Jersey Central Power and Light for years, before being seriously injured in an accident several years ago. Eventually, he walked into the Vintner’s Circle in Hackettstown, and made a batch of his own wine at home. His next career choice had been decided.

The Billingsleys are also hoping to be part of a new Andover “hub” envisioned by local officials for the Newton-Sparta Road corridor. A new business opening at the former D’Angelos property across Newton-Sparta Road has been the buzz around town, and reportedly could open soon. The Billingsleys hope it could complement their cultural,
and delicious, addition to Andover’s biggest accumulation of businesses.

Todd Billingsley feels the comfort of the store and the winemaking process itself will soon draw in the aspiring vintners of the area.

“You want to see the person behind the business,” he said. “Small business is the way to go.”

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