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Jerry Deal's neighbor once caught Deal eating her grapes, and she chastised him.
"To be fair, it was on his side of the fence," said Eric Deal, Jerry's son. Jerry Deal decided to plant his own grapes. Not long after, he had so many grape vines that he decided to start making wine. After several years of creating wines at his home and participating in amateur competitions, he turned his hobby into a business, establishing Forks of Cheat Winery with his wife, Susan, in 1990. The Deals had worked in real estate and today remain active in the profession, doing appraisal work and renting properties to West Virginia University students.
"One day, dad told me to put on some work clothes because he had some work for me to do," said Eric Deal, who today is responsible for advertising and design. "That was 17 years ago. ... When I was...