ORANGE — A small winery that started with an overly abundant peach tree was recently named the sixth-best one to visit in Massachusetts by a website aiming to provide resources for those eager to learn about American wine.

Home Fruit Wine at 382 South Main St. earned a score of 85 based on data ChoiceWineries.com gathered from sources such as customer reviews, wine competition scores and niche digital publishers. Owners Lori Perkins and David LeClaire said they were informed by an email from the website, one year after getting a similar notification that the business had ranked seventh in the state.

“We moved up a notch. It’s kind of cool, you know?” Perkins said. “Especially for being a small, little business here in Orange, just the two of us running it.”

Home Fruit Wine started in 2011 when a peach tree LeClaire had planted in his rescue greyhound’s honor produced more fruit than the couple could eat. They decided to ferment the peaches into alcohol.

“It was the most terrible wine ... but we kept trying,” Perkins said with a laugh. The business now makes wine from various fruits, including cranberries, apples, kiwis and Concord grapes.

“Made from ripe, succulent fruits and plump, juicy berries, these wines will rock your tastebuds with concentrated flavors and nicely defined textures,” it reads on ChoiceWineries.com.

LeClaire said he quit his job at Mayhew Steel Products in Turners Falls nearly two years to devote all his energy to the winery that started with a winemaking kit.

“Now I have eight stainless steel tanks,” he said. “A little hobby had turned into a full-time job.”

He said Home Fruit Wine sells its products at various package stores as well as the Orange Farmers’ Market, and he always asks customers to relay their positive experiences on social media.

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” LeClaire said.

Jameson Carr, owner and founder of ChoiceWineries.com, told the Greenfield Recorder he started the website in 2021 after falling in love with wine. His background as a technology and business strategy professional with data analysis experience is reflected in the way the site produces rankings.

“We take all of our data points and each one of them contributes to the score, in varying ways,” he explained. “And it spits out a score.”

The Atlanta resident said the quality of Home Fruit Wine’s customer reviews helped it secure a top-10 score for Massachusetts. Any subjectivity, he said, comes from how the site weighs different components across the various sources in developing scores. Carr said his website evaluated at least 40 wine producers in Massachusetts, though that number is a bit blurred because it includes establishments that hold wine tastings and sell wine but do not produce wine of their own.

Other Pioneer Valley wineries to make the top 10 are Glendale Ridge Vineyard in Southampton at No. 8 and Queen Bee Vineyard in Monson at No. 10.

More information about Home Fruit Wine is available at homefruitwine.com. The business also maintains a Facebook page.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.