When contractor Rick Rousseau was working on Donna Martin’s house, he brought her a bottle of his homemade wine.

“I made a few suggestions,’’ said Martin, a chemist.

The chemistry was undeniable.

Rousseau and Martin became a couple, then business partners in Mill River Winery in Rowley.

At the former Dodge’s Cider Mill on Route 1, they transformed an old apple orchard at the back of the property into a vineyard and renovated the building.

Almost five years later, the business is going strong, making handcrafted wines with its own grapes, as well as some from other vineyards.

The winery recently released its first entirely estate-grown wine, Mill River Frontenac.

We talked with Rousseau, 59, of Rowley, and Martin, 55, of Wenham.

Q. Getting started?

Rousseau: I was making wine as a hobby. Donna knew nothing about wine, but she knew chemistry.

Martin: The wine kept getting better and better. We made a small batch and from that jumped off a cliff and established Mill River.

Q. Challenge?

Rousseau: Selecting a couple of types of grapes that could survive cold winters and mature in shorter growing seasons.

Q. Your wines?

Martin: Local wines with global lines. We use grapes from our vineyard and import grapes from California and Chile, and produce the wine here. Blending is an art form. [The wines include chardonnay, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, a group of Plum Island wines, select wines, and more.]

Q. The frontenac?

Martin: We made a dry red wine using our hearty grapes. It takes up to five years to have your own estate wine. And on the bottle, it lists Essex County as the growing region, which is cool.

Q. Tastings?

Martin: People can try any wine they’d like or a flight of five wine samples [$7]. The staff educates the customer about what they’re drinking so they get a good idea of who we are and what we have.

Q. Tours?

Martin: On Saturdays and Sundays there are walks through the vineyard and manufacturing facilities.

Q. Blending bashes?

Rousseau: Our most popular event. We bring the barrels up and people create their own blend and have a bottle to take home with them.

Q. Wine club?

Martin: Special events and discounts. When the members come in the day we release the wine, we have ‘pickup parties’ that are themed, like a Jamaican night where we pair wine with food from that area. [Club membership is $20 with a commitment to buy a case of wine a year, $40.]

Q. Bottom line?

Rousseau: People meet others who also like wine and who they might not have known. It’s like a big family.

Wendy Killeen

Wendy Killeen can be reached at wdkilleen@gmail.com.