(PennLive) - You could probably call Chris Boyd a prototypical Pennsylvania winemaker who makes a couple of the state's most atypical products.

While there are a number of owners of Pa. wineries who invest all of their time in their business, there are just as many if not more who juggle essentially two full-time occupations. Boyd still works his primary job as director of sales for a New Jersey company that makes equipment for the wastewater industry while he maintains his winemaking 'hobby" on the side. That's assuming the 30 to 40 hours he spends a week running his Cardinal Hollow Winery in West Point, Montgomery County, can be considered a sidelight.

His success also provides some validity to what another winemaker, Sal Cullari, said in a story last week about how he's been able to parlay a number of unique products such as chocolate wine and some funky blends into a working business model in Hershey. Boyd's claims to fame have been twofold: a whiskey mead that he was making even before the business opened 10 years ago and a jalapeno wine, which has received plaudits and coverage from a number of sources, including Inquirer food and wine critic Craig LaBan a few years ago.