Joanne Williams
Editor

(Joanne Williams/TCJ – Earth tones, a grass-green bar and black tables and chairs at Auxo set off a comfortable gathering space, surrounded by tall glass windows and a working fireplace. Opening day was March 13. The facility also includes a retail shop.)

Nick and Alison Barc have got to love spring. As local farmers, they are eager to put on the mud boots, survey the soil, prune the fruit trees, and open a new winery, Auxo, at Five Point Highway and Cochran Road.

Auxo (Awk-soh) is the name of the Greek goddess of growth. The word means grow in Greek. Auxo is also the personification of spring.

The Barcs have worked more than four years to make their new winery, eatery, shop and event center blossom. They have had a hand in every detail each step along the way.

Who would have thought two students from Detroit, studying wildlife rehabilitation at Michigan State University, would end up tried and true Eaton County farmers?

Alison said they came to this decision together. Nick told her they were “kindred souls,” and after 16 years of growth, much has sprouted from their marriage, including four children, two boys and two girls.

The other roots belong to fruit trees, some pumpkins, vegetables, mums, and a few animals thrown in for good measure. The Barcs began their lives in Vermontville with an old brick farmhouse. The first year, they planted 150 apple trees, then hundreds, and then a thousand or so. “It was easier when we got a tractor,” Alison said.

That became Cherry Barc Farm, an orchard, barn and wedding venue. The 12.5 acres are the first fruits of this family’s farming.

Oh, the trees they grow now, from blueberry and raspberry bushes to peaches, apples, raspberries, grapes.  This venue is Atlas Orchards, on Maurer Road, another 12.5 or so acre farm, which offers you-pick blueberries in season.

As if that weren’t enough, Nick’s love of apples, especially his love of heritage variety fruit, led them to Auxo, which opens Friday, March 13. The date does not scare Alison. Barely hours before opening, she was sitting in the winery, planning for her staff to join her the next day. 

“We love wineries,” Alison said of herself and Nick and her family. She said her family has made wine for four or five generations.

And what do they do with all the farm cider at season’s end?! It now becomes wine, from red to whites to sweet to sparkling, as well as hard cider.

The venue will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 7 p.m. It is available for parties, weddings, etc., and bookings are already coming in.

Outside, there are two patios, a ramped entrance and views of the orchards and the 60 acres that surround the winery. The production room is in the basement and can be viewed from outside. It’s been four-long years, paperwork and permits with 12 agencies or more, and the ins and outs of building a winery, from foundation to fruition.

Inside, a tall wood-planked ceiling, three big metal chandeliers, a working fireplace, black tables of various sizes, a bar seating 16 or so, a retail area, and a kitchen, in addition to two bathrooms are housed in earthy tones.

Alison and Nick designed the building and saw it for “people like us,” who want to sit with friends and enjoy refreshments and company in a comfortable setting. The only artwork is the Auxo logo, designed by Alison and a friend, mounted on a lacquered wood piece.

What makes it all flow are the windows, towering, open and church-like sans stained glass.

Food will be appetizer-like, in addition to panini sandwiches and desserts. The product area will feature a variety of items, from food to gifts.

And guess who likes to split the wood for the fireplace?