1723 Vineyards champions Chardonel: The rising star of mid

Ben Cody and wife Sarah had just bought the land for the winery they planned to open in southern Chester County, one they would call 1723 Vineyards .

1723 was the year that the original New London Township, on which the property is located, was chartered.

Cody said he was working with Cain Hickey, who’s an assistant teaching professor of viticulture at Penn State and the state viticulturalist. At that time, Hickey was a grad student at Virginia Tech, and he introduced Cody to Tremain Hatch and his father, Bill, who operate Zepheniah Farm Vineyard in Virginia’s Loudoun County. They introduced Cody to a hybrid wine grape developed in 1953 that combined the winter hardiness of Seyval Blanc with the high quality of Chardonnay. It was formally released by breeder Bruce Reisch and Cornel