When they opened the winery both John & Sylvia had other jobs. Neither one had the time to devote to developing the winery business, and after three years, they hired a winemaker to help them out. That worked out for several years, until the winemaker left. At that point, the winery was at a crossroads, and several things happened almost simultaneously that allowed the Schraff's not only to remain in the wine business, but also to grow and expand. First a building along the main North-South highway from Altoona became available. Originally a fruit market, the structure had about 7500 square feet of space, enough for a winemaking facility, case storage, a cold room for wine stability, the largest tasting room in Pennsylvania, and an extra space for winemaking or beer-brewing classes. Shortly after the building became available, John's son Scott decided he'd like to return to Altoona after spending 10 years working in New York City as a photojournalist, and learn the wine business. Five years later, Scott is running the winery, and John & Sylvia have retired form their full-time jobs and from day-to-day responsibilities at the winery, and today the winery is producing 6500 cases annually.

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