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Monday, Aug. 31, 2009

Kentucky wineries gaining respect

Kentucky's wine industry gains medals, respect

RICHMOND — Lowell Land beamed as he held a bottle of the Concord wine made at his Acres of Land Winery in Madison County.

In June, that wine took a double gold medal at the 18th Annual Indy International Wine Competition in Indianapolis, one of the most prestigious contests in the country. (A double gold medal is reserved for the show's very best wines, and it earns the right to compete for best of show.)

"To beat out other wineries from other states, especially in that competition, is a huge accomplishment for us," Land said. "That just goes to show that we can make good wines in Kentucky."

After a decade of growth and production, Kentucky-made wines are gaining respect. Eight Kentucky wineries won 30 medals from Indy, which had 2,280 wines entered in the commercial competition.

Others are noticing Kentucky wines, too. Last year, Time magazine writer Joel Stein and friends sampled wines from all 50 states. Among the dozen wines Stein deemed to be "excellent" was a "Celebration White" wine from Midway's Equus Run Vineyards.

"Kentucky, you charmed me," Stein wrote.

The Bluegrass State's wine industry, still in its infancy, is maturing in other ways.

Wineries are becoming more sophisticated and aggressive in their marketing. Through television, newspapers, billboards, their own Web sites, and special events including concerts and festivals, wineries are getting the word out like never before that Kentucky is a place where wine is made.

"It's a necessity if you want to have the business be commercially viable," said Logan Leet, owner of Lovers Leap Vineyards and Winery in Anderson County. "We can grow all the grapes and make all the wine we want, but if we don't sell it, ultimately it's not going to make a lot of sense."

Becoming an attraction

This year, several nationally recognized musical acts performed at regional wineries.

In July, Elk Creek Vineyards in Owen County hosted a concert with country singer Darius Rucker, the former lead singer of the rock band Hootie and the Blowfish. The Temptations will play there in September. Grammy-winning singer Mary-Chapin Carpenter will appear at Equus Run in October. Other wineries have their own concert series including jazz and classical music.

Acres of Land Winery recently had its second annual festival, which included music, food, dancing and a grape-stomping contest. Land calls that kind of event "agritainment."

"We try to tell people what we used to do to make a living on the farm, and explain how our new operation is coming along," Land said. "We do tours of the wine operation and we do wagon rides and talk to people about the vineyards."

Wineries also are becoming popular places for weddings and wedding receptions.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand why wineries try to draw as many people as possible.

"We make more money off our wine if we can sell it here on the farm," Land said. "So the more people we get here, the better it is for us as far as profitable sales."

Bourbon and horses have been synonymous with Kentucky, but grapes and wine were a part of the state's history from the start. In fact, Kentucky was home to the first commercial vineyard in the United States. In 1798, Jean Jacques Dufour, winemaker for the Marquis de Lafayette, planted the first vines in what is now Jessamine County. (Nicholasville celebrates that heritage with an annual Wine & Vine Fest in May.) By the mid-1800s, Kentucky was the third-largest grape and wine producer.

Prohibition put a halt to the industry, and most vines were destroyed. Now, with the increasing appreciation for wine, Kentucky wineries are making a comeback.

Tourists and consumers have more and more choices of wineries to visit. The Kentucky Grape & Wine Council counted only five wineries in the state in 1999. Today, the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control lists 52 licensed wineries, and more are coming.

About 90 percent of all the vineyard acreage is concentrated in Central and Northern Kentucky, as are most wineries, according to a 2008 survey conducted by the University of Kentucky and the state Department of Agriculture.