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Blue Man Group Alumni Purchase Elkin Creek Vineyard
07-20-2012
ELKIN, N.C. - Two couples who became friends while working for Blue Man Group in Las Vegas are the new owners of Elkin Creek Vineyard.
Nick and Jennifer White partnered with Louis and Carrie Jeroslow to take over the facility in May from previous owner Mark Greene. Greene, who built the winery in the early 2000s and developed a reputation as a quality winemaker, will remain involved as a consultant for the first year.
How the partners came to their new venture is interesting. Nick and Jennifer were looking for a wedding venue in 2008 near Nick's hometown of High Point when they found Elkin Creek Vineyard on the internet. They asked Carrie Jeroslow - an ordained minister - to officiate the service, and both couples fell in love with the place during the ceremony.
Following subsequent visits back East to the winery, they learned Greene was selling the business and put their names in the hat.
"Mark had other offers, but knew how much we loved this place," said Carrie Jeroslow. "He wanted someone to carry on what he had done and knew we would do that."
Elkin Creek Vineyard includes the winery, tasting room with 50-seat restaurant, historic Elkin Creek grist mill, a harvest barn, 44 acres of land and a five-acre vineyard. The couples live in the renovated mill house and are building four upscale rental guest cabins to open later this summer.
Meanwhile, the four partners are transitioning from familiar roles in the Blue Man Group production to new roles in wine production.
Nick, who took online viticulture classes from Surry Community College while in Vegas, has gone from drummer to vineyard manager. Jennifer, the head stage manager, now stages weddings and special events. Louis, a special effects engineer and amateur winemaker, is now a professional winemaker, while Carrie, resident director in Vegas, directs a lot of operations and handles wellness and her ministry duties.
"We all bring specific talents and skills that fit really well," Jennifer White said. "We worked together through Blue Man Group for so long that we developed skills about
teamwork and communication. It's a pretty incredible team."
Immediate plans are to maintain production of Elkin Creek's nine wines, while adding a few varietals down the road.
"In terms of wine, we have one foot in Italy and one foot in Bordeaux, France. We have two different styles of blends," said Louis Jeroslow. "We make everything from light, crisp whites to deep, complex reds."
The couples will also place additional emphasis on weddings and events, especially when the new rental cabins are complete.
"We're absolutely working to get the word out more. We anticipate growth," said Jennifer White. "There's endless potential for all sorts of events here."
All four partners are originally from the East Coast and each has some sort of family tie to North Carolina. So as they got older and began having children, they found it
important to head back this way.
"I've come full circle," said Nick White. "I went from North Carolina up to Boston out to Vegas and back around to North Carolina. I just felt a pull to get back to this part of the country. I still like the big city, but this is home."
For information about Elkin Creek Vineyard and Winery, call (336) 526-5119, or visit: www.elkincreekvineyard.com.
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