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Google satellites thousands of miles above the earth can spot Tom Knott's Redbud Ridge Vineyard and Winery on Norman's east side. It has nothing to do with the grapes or the winepress. It's the 12-foot, bright red "Sooners" lettering along the winery's southern border.
They were lawfully salvaged and nationalized from a University of Oklahoma athletic construction project Knotts managed while working as a campus planner. The letters help visitors find the winery which opened late last year.
"I never miss a delivery," says Knotts, 64, and Norman's only commercial winemaker. He has patiently bottled and sells three different wines -- a full-bodied red aptly named "Big Red Steak Wine," a dry "Three Roses" red and and an Oklahoma Riesling. All are available for purchase at the winery which is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. or by apointment at 306-9492.
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He bought the 12 acres on the northeast corner of 72nd Avenue SE and Highway 9 in 2002. Retirement from the university came in 2007. He realized he needed something to occupy his time in retirement. His wife, Jann, is a CPA and financial planner, and a valued partner in the winery's operation.
"I just felt like retirement was the number one killer of adult males," he said. "I needed something to keep me active."
The winemaking seed was planted years earlier. His father, former ONG senior vice president Max Knotts, was part owner of an Oklahoma winery and active in the state's early viticulture movement.
Knotts, with OU degrees in zoology, landscape architecture and environmental science, began taking viticulture and oenology classes at Grayson County College in Denison, Texas, in the mid 1990s.
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Redbud Ridge is Norman's only producing winery although several others grow grapes. Redbud Ridge has about 1,100 vines planted on two acres. The winery has teamed up with similar operations in Slaughterville, Lindsay and Pauls Valley for a local wine tour promotion.
Knotts built the small winery building which adjoins his home, tends the vines, gives tours with snapshots and rings up the sale. "I'm really a one-man show," he says. "I've tried to fire myself but just can't do it."
He uses his own harvest and purchases other grapes from friends in the industry. Many come from southwestern Oklahoma.
"I tell people all the grapes aren't grown in Oklahoma but all the wine is made in Oklahoma."
A late summer or early fall harvest begins the grape's journey. It takes about two years to produce a red wine and at least a year for a white. Redbud has a 10,000 litre capacity in its production and tasting room. His tanks are stainless steel and he adds oak chips to simulate barrel aging.
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He nets his vines to keep the birds away. Errant spray from highway department crews working on Highway 9 cut his production significantly one year. Late frosts are also killers to the state's wine industry.
Drip irrigation with well water keeps his vines growing beside the post oak and blackjack trees in the red dirt of east Norman. His first vines produced grapes the third year after planting.
"They get more grapes every year and it gets better," he said. "It looks like we are going to have a good year this year."
Like many of the state's more than 50 small wineries, Redbud Ridge started as a diversion.
"It started as a hobby but when you build a building and plant all these vines, you've got a lot of money tied up in it. Then it becomes a business."
Andy Rieger 366-3543 editor@normantranscript.com
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VIDEO: Big red wine and bigger red letters put Norman winery on the map
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