CLEVELAND — Chateau Hough is growing a positive impact on the community.

At the corner of Hough Avenue and East 66th Street sit 14 rows of about 320 grapevines. The urban setting is an unlikely place for a vineyard, but it’s helping improve the neighborhood’s appeal. 

“Hough is a community that’s bouncing back,” said Chateau Hough General Manager Mansfield Frazier. “It’s on the uprise. And this adds cache to the community. It makes it a more desirable community to live in.”

Neighbors like Marvin Foster grow the grapes, then make and bottle the wines by hand. 

“I put my blood, sweat and tears into this,” Foster said. “That’s what I can really say, honestly. I do everything hand-crafted.”

He blends each of the winery’s eight varieties of wine.

For the sweet red they call Crimson, he adds blackberry, raspberry and some simple syrup. It’s a formula he knows by heart. 

“I start out with one cup (of wine) and mix it with the flavors to see how I got the taste,” he said. “So, after that, if I’m making gallons, I can make a multiplication by that one cup.”

Foster’s family has lived in the Hough neighborhood for generations. He said he had a different work ethic before he started at the winery.

“I want to say I was kind of like a street cat, basically,” Foster said. “I was just looking for a quick buck to make, you know what I’m saying? Trying to make it as I could.”

He’s now worked at Chateau Hough for years, growing his talents along the way. 

“I just stuck with it, you know?” Foster said. “I got an opportunity and I just ran with it. And I ain’t looked back ever since.”

He started out in the vineyard. 

“They call me the man with the green thumb,” he said. 

And great wine starts on the vine.

They grow two different types of grapes, Traminette and Frontenac. The vines have been planted there for 11 years. Both varieties are able to withstand the winter weather in Cleveland. 

“They produce a copious amount of grapes,” said Frazier. 

Frazier said it was his vision to transform the vacant corner lot through the nonprofit Neighborhood Solutions. 

“There’s a saying, ‘you shouldn’t have to move to live in a better neighborhood,’” he said. “So, this is our effort to make our neighborhood better.” 

“This job right here turned my life and helped me better myself for the best,” said Foster. “This is what I eat, sleep and breathe.”

He tastes each batch before bottling it, a process he will continue until each tank is emptied to make room for the next harvest. 

“I love it when people come up like people can come from all over the world and just so interested,” said Frazier. “And you know, for a good thing around this area.”

Chateau Hough has plans to expand onto a neighboring property and build a larger winery. That will allow for increased production for their products to be sold in stores.

Frazier said they will need to raise more than $8 million for that project. 

Their wines are available for purchase online at chateauhough.com or on-site at their winery.