The rocky soil of the hilltops in Andreas have the perfect drainage for grape vines to thrive.

According to Tom McArdle, one of four Blue Lizard Vineyard and Winery owners, over seven varieties of vines will grow well into summer before the fruit is harvested in September.The grapes will be fermented into different varieties sold at the Ash Circle shop.“We have just under 200 vines. We also ship in grapes and juice from New York, Chile and California,” McArdle said.What once started as a hobby five years ago for McArdle, wife Mindy and Kylie and Brian Seitz, turned into the 5-acre Blue Lizard Vineyard.The project began in 2012 when the quartet planted their first vine, with the official winery opening in April 2016.“We started making wine on our own years ago. We would have 5 to 10 gallons at a time. We decided to plant our own grapes and figured we’d open up a winery,” said McArdle. “It’s been a lot of fun.”The pair of couples also work full-time jobs with the winery taking up any spare time. The four are hands-on in the new business from planting to hand-picking the fruit up to labeling the finished product.In the vats this month are 1,000 pounds of cherries to set for two days before yeast is added.After five days the cherries will be strained and fermentation started. The wine is then aged between six months to a year.The biggest challenge according to McArdle has been underestimating the quickness of growth of the vines.“They don’t wait for us to grow, so when they’re ready we have to be ready,” he said. During the first few years of growth, Mother Nature had her own ideas about what to do with the grapes, “Deer almost wiped us out three years ago. We had to put up an electric fence,” McArdle said.“Our most popular wine has been the Rusty Rudder,” Mindy said. Rudder is a sweet red made of Sangiovese grapes with hints of understated cherry.“We started out with 110 gallons and now we only have 25 bottles left,” she said.Eight members have been added to the staff for tastings held Friday through Sunday starting at noon. The winery will host events scheduled throughout the summer. A food truck and brick oven pizza chef will make the rounds up the mountain to feed wine tasters once a month.“On the weekends we will hold semi-private events. We really want to remain open to the public, but during the week we could do something more private,” said Mindy.Local couple Ian and Dana Hannis stopped by the winery on a recent afternoon to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary with a tasting, taking home three bottles to continue the festivities.“My favorite was the Mommy’s Little Helper,” Dana said.“We go to all the wineries and this is a good one. We will definitely be back,” Ian said.