A taste of Kentucky wine
Kentucky isn't known for its wine, but the state is touting more and more vintners as small farmers turn away from tobacco. Gabe Bullard has more on how in a few years, vineyards in Kentucky are expected to grow.
A glass of wine poured for tasting (iStockPhoto.com)
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Scott Jagow: For decades, Kentucky's farm land was all about one crop: tobacco. But a lot of small farmers have decided to turn their tobacco fields over to a vice of a different sort. From Louisville, Gabe Bullard reports.
Gabe Bullard: At Felice Vineyard in downtown Louisville, Jeff Tatman makes wine. He used to grow tobacco.
Jeff Tatman: The last year I raised tobacco, and the prices were better then than they are right now. I made about 50 cents net per hour of my time involved.
Tatman stopped growing tobacco in the 90's, and many other farmers quit after 2004, when the federal government cut subsidies. Now, former tobacco growers are turning to a new, more profitable crop: wine grapes.
The University of Kentucky is offering farmers technical assistance to turn their fields into vineyards. And although the numbers aren't huge, total acreage devoted to grapes is expected to hit 1,400 by 2015 -- more than double the current amount.
One of the early wine pioneers was Jerry Kushner:
Jerry Kushner: This is our operation -- you see this, 26, 27 acres of grapes.
Kentucky's climate is well-suited for growing grapes, but Kushner and other local vintners have found consumers are skeptical of wine from a state better known for coal and horses. Kushner recalled one time a restaurant buyer took a bottle of his wine to the West coast.
Kushner: He took some of the wine out to California to have some people taste it out there, and they loved it because it was a blind tasting. And then when he showed them it came from Kentucky they said, "Well, the wine was good, but it didn't come from Kentucky." So Kentucky has a tremendous image problem.
Tyler Colman: There is a lot of snobbery in wine.
Tyler Colman teaches wine appreciation classes at New York University. He says good wine should overcome a few snobs.
Colman: If the quality is there in the glass, that should be enough to carry the day. In the case of Kentucky, if the wine's half as good as the bourbon, they'll be doing just fine.
But for Kentucky winemakers to sell their wares in other states, they need to go through a distributor -- something new, and small wineries may not be able to afford. Selling it at home is a problem, too -- 54 of Kentucky's 120 counties are dry.
In Louisville, I'm Gabe Bullard for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Thousand Oaks, CA, 06/02/2008
Thanks for the story on Kentucky wines. I recently finished a project in Louisville, and on the weekends, I visited a number of wineries in the Louisville and Lexington areas. My favorite is the Jean Farris winery just south of Lexington. The quality of their wines gives California a run for the money. Their tasting fee ($6) includes about 10 wines plus a fruit and cheese plate. (Try to do that in Napa Valley!) In addition, they have a nice tasting room with full service restaurant on premises. I would be proud to serve their wines to friends here in California.
From San Diego, CA, 06/02/2008
A Kentucky winery just won a Gold medal in the 2008 Critics Challenge International Wine Competition. Jean Farris Winery won the Gold for its blended red wine "Tempest Reserve". Judges at the competition are all professional wine journalists with extensive experience with wines from all over the world. Over 1500 wines were judged. Full results of the competition can be found at www.WineReviewOnline.com.
From Louisville, KY, 06/02/2008
http://www.kentuckywine.com/
From Wilmore, KY, 06/02/2008
Thanks for the story on Kentucky wine. My favorites come from Wildside Vines in Woodford County. Several farmers' markets in the state invite local wineries to sell and it is fun way to meet the makers and try their wines.
We offer a toast with local wine at our gatherings where we try to use as many local products as possible.
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