Founded in 1798, Nicholasville is the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky. The city is also home of the state’s official wine festival of 2017, the Kentucky Wine and Vine Fest. It was at First Vineyard in Jessamine County that the country’s first commercial wine production got its start. The County today boasts of two of the state’s 72 licensed wineries, Chrisman Mill Vineyard and Winery and First Vineyard. On the second Saturday in May (the 13th), wine lovers can enjoy this historic city and sample many of Kentucky’s finest wines.
The Wine and Vine Fest kicks off on Thursday with a Farm to Table dinner, followed on Friday by a docent led Equine and Wine Tour of Taylor Made Farms, First Vineyard, and with a gourmet lunch served at Chrisman Mill Vineyard and Winery. The peak of the wine weekend is the festival itself held Saturday in downtown Nicholasville.
The following Kentucky wineries are scheduled to attend: Cave Hill Vineyard & Winery-Eubanks, Chrisman Mill Vineyards and First Vineyard-Nicholasville, Elk Creek Vineyards-Owenton, Equus Run Vineyards-Midway, Grimes Mill and Talon Wineries-Lexington, Hamon Haven Winery-Winchester, McIntyre’s Winery-Bardstown, Purple Toad Winery-Paducah, Prodigy Vineyards and Winery-Frankfort, Rising Sons Winery-Lawrenceburg, Wildside Winery-Versailles, and Springhill Vineyards-Bloomfield. The wineries will be pouring tastes from their fine wines and offering them for sale.
Wine lovers can do more than taste wines. Other activities include an art walk, and arts and crafts show, Kentucky Proud products, a Run for the Merlot, cooking demonstrations, wine tasting and wine pairings workshops.
The wineries will be pouring from 10 to 7, on Saturday, May 13. Other events may start earlier. Check out the festival’s website to get the full schedule.
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In 2007 vines were planted to reestablish the vineyards at the site of the first commercial vineyard in the United States, near Nicholasville, Kentucky. First Vineyard Winery soon followed. Today, wine lovers can visit the winery that one can imagine resembles what one might have found in 1799. But of course, the current winery contains all the modern conveniences.
According to Kentucky wine history, Jean Jacques Dufour, sold stocks to the directors and the Society for Promoting and Cultivation of the Vine in Lexington, Kentucky, and established the first commercial vineyard in First Vineyard, Kentucky, in November 1798. The vineyard was located in Jessamine County, overlooking the Kentucky River. The vineyard produced wine that was enjoyed by the directors in Lexington. After a killing freeze in 1809, Dufour and his family relocated to Vevay, Indiana, where he developed Second Vineyard.
First Vineyard welcomes visitors from 1 to 7, Fridays through Sunday. They offer a variety of wines for all tastes. From a unique dry white, Cabernet Doré, to a Kenkoolas, a peachy wine slushy, visitors can choose a drink and enjoy a relaxing afternoon on the porch of the tasting room imagining themselves in the same spot in the early 1800s sipping a new Kentucky wine.
They also have lodging at the Sugar Creek Resort. Check my link to their website.
by adminWine lovers in the Bluegrass had a new winery to visit in 2014. Just off I 64, near Winchester, Hamon Haven Winery opened its doors. Visitors are welcomed into a lovely, cozy tasting room from Monday to Saturday, on a flexible schedule. It’s best to call ahead. They have some nice wine gifts as well as a great selection of Kentucky wine.
Native grapes, such as, Catawba, Concord, and Niagara, can be found side by side with Chardonnay and Merlot. A unique wine offered at Hamon Haven is a Zinthiana. Yes, the spelling is correct. A grape breeding program to combine Vinifera grapes with the native Norton resulted in this hybrid. Zinthiana is a red hybrid, more hardy for the cold temperatures in Kentucky than a Zinfandel, the grape produces a high quality, robust, red wine with jammy flavors. The grape has become available to vineyards and I think you’ll be seeing more of this hybrid in Kentucky.
We visited Hamon Haven Winery during the McConnell Springs barrel tasting and certainly enjoyed meeting the winemaker and trying this new wine.
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The Wine Barrel Tasting for the Springs, sponsored the by McConnell Springs organization, is Saturday, March 25. Kentucky wine lovers won’t want to miss it.
Start at any of the following wineries: Springhill Winery & Plantation, Lovers Leap Vineyards & Winery, Horseshoe Bend Vineyard & Winery, Wildside Winery & Vineyard, Chrisman Mill Vineyards, Talon Winery & Vineyards, Jean Farris Winery & Bistro, Black Barn Winery, Equus Run Vineyards, Hamon Haven Winery, Prodigy Vineyards & Winery, Grimes Mill Winery, Chuckleberry Farm and Winery, McIntyre’s Winery & Berries, First Vineyard Winery and Rising Sons Winery.
Enjoy a day of wine tasting and visiting wineries of the Bluegrass, in Lexington, Frankfort, Versailles, Lawrenceburg, Bloomfield, Bardstown, Willisburg, Midway, Nicholasville and Winchester. Choose your starting place and plan your visits. Times are 11 AM to 5 PM.
Visit McConnell Springs website for directions.
http://www.mcconnellsprings.org
Maybe we’ll see you at one of the wineries.
by adminEven though it doesn’t feel much like it today, spring is on the way. You can tell because March Madness starts today and wine events are on the calendar in Kentucky. While you’re enjoying those basketball games, enjoy a glass of Kentucky wine and toast your favorite Kentucky team. Our state’s basketball fans can choose between University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and for the first time Northern Kentucky University.
Wine loving basketball fans can also look ahead to a March wine event. On March 25th, sixteen of Central Kentucky’s wineries will open their doors for the 10th Annual Wine Barrel Tasting for the Springs, a fundraiser for McConnell Springs, the twenty-six acre natural historic park at the springs where the city of Lexington, Kentucky was named. The event is a self planned visit from 11 to 5 PM. Visitors can start at any of the participating wineries, pay the fee of $20 per person, receive a map, and choose their route to their chosen stops.
Springhill Winery & Plantation, Lovers Leap Vineyards & Winery, Horseshoe Bend Vineyard & Winery, Wildside Winery & Vineyard, Chrisman Mill Vineyards, Talon Winery & Vineyards, Jean Farris Winery & Bistro, Black Barn Winery, Equus Run Vineyards, Hamon Haven Winery, Prodigy Vineyards & Winery, Grimes Mill Winery, Chuckleberry Farm and Winery, McIntyre’s Winery & Berries, First Vineyard Winery and Rising Sons Winery are ready to open their doors to visitors. Many will have special options like food or maybe even a barrel tasting with the winemaker. A barrel tasting is a one ounce sample of wine that is still in the barrel awaiting bottling. Wine lovers get the chance to taste an early stage of their favorite wines.
For more information, go to their website (www.mcconnellsprings.org). This is a special day, a chance to take part in a worthy cause for McConnell Springs and an opportunity to visit several Kentucky wineries as they are welcoming the beginning of spring. Hope you have the opportunity to attend.
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You know you’re a wine lover when…
You know you’re a wine lover when you rent a motel room for your wine. While it wasn’t a large room and I wouldn’t give it four stars, it had the two important qualities we were looking for at the time – it was air conditioned and it was in the United States.
A few years ago, we were on a trip to Niagara Falls. As we left Kentucky and drove north, we visited wineries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York on our way. Of course, we tasted wines and found many too good to pass up. We bought two cases of wine. That’s what caused our dilemma. Our reservations for the night were in Canada, and as we discovered that you were only allowed to take alcoholic beverages that you planned to consume while there. We only planned to stay one night. We’re both wine lovers and have drank a lot; but we were sure the border crossing guards would not believe we planned to drink two cases in twenty four hours. We needed a plan.
It is legal to ship wine to yourself, but it is quite costly and you have to be at home to sign for it when it arrives at your Kentucky home. That wouldn’t work, but what would? After some thought, we realized that the New York side of the falls had an awful lot of inexpensive motels. We found one close to our route, found they had a vacancy, rented the room, unloaded our wine, turned down the air conditioner, locked the room, and headed for the border. Problem solved.
We crossed the border and enjoyed a day and evening exploring the falls on the Canadian side. The views are gorgeous and the visit was an exceptional experience. The next day, we checked out of our Canadian hotel, crossed the border, checked our wine out of its room, and spent an enjoyable day visiting the American falls.
The wine, by the way, was worth the price of the room!
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Happy National Drink Wine Day! Enjoy a glass or two, or more!
by adminFinally, a holiday we can all get behind. February 18th is National Drink Wine Day. I hope all of you wine lovers out there are ready. It’s even conveniently on the weekend this year.
So shop, if you need to, or choose your favorite bottle from your wine rack. Be prepared to celebrate.
This might be my new favorite holiday. Cheers!
by adminValentine’s Day brings to mind thoughts of love and romance. If you’re a wine lover, thoughts of sharing a bottle of wine with your love one will not be far behind.
Many wine experts are recommending rosé as the perfect wine for romance. Some say reds are best. Here’s my advice — choose your favorite wine. Make it a special one that you only have on special days. Whether the wine is red, white, or rosé doesn’t matter. What matters is the person you are sharing it with!
Have a wonderful, romantic Valentine’s Day with that special person!
by adminSince the 1970s, when the movie Deliverance was released, an experience that occurs off the beaten path makes people think of dueling banjos and feel uneasy. Well, everyone who has visited a vineyard and winery knows that they are often in remote (let’s not say godforsaken) areas. When you visit a lot of wineries, your chances of arriving at the boondocks is inevitable. We’ve had a few trips to the back of beyond and heard the banjos.
Years ago, we were driving around Virginia touring wineries. We found a winery that appealed to us that was near the city of Lynchburg. (As a side note, I’m glad we went as the winery closed a couple of years later.) Being near a city does not always assure a suburban atmosphere. As we were following directions, we drove further and further into what appeared the middle of nowhere. And, of course, all of a sudden we needed a rest stop. We found what might graciously be called a service station. Our arrival aroused a lot of attention from those standing around. Being somewhat desperate, while my husband pumped gas, I went inside to ask about the facilities. That’s when the banjos began dueling in my head. As the three people behind the counter (who all would have been at home in a Grizzly Adams episode) watched me walk in, I bravely asked if they had a restroom. The answer was a resounding “out back”. Not the answer I was hoping for but as I said – desperate times. Though it seemed unlikely at the time, we made it to the winery and had a really nice time.
Our next most notable Deliverance experience was in Kentucky and was truly the fault of Google maps. Everyone has gotten used to relying on Google or GPS to find places. Heads up, this is not always a good idea. While we were visiting wineries across Kentucky for the book I was writing, we got directions for a winery outside of Morehead. The directions were a bit odd because it sent us to the winery one way and home from the winery another, but we thought there must be a good reason. Hardly, the directions to the winery seemed to be designed to make sure we heard the banjos. Carefully following the steps led us off the paved highway to a gravel road. As we drove, the road seemed to get more isolated with no sign of human habitation. Then all of a sudden we saw what looked like a junkyard with what might be a garage. What seemed like about ten mountain men walked towards the road and monitored our car as we drove past. Making sure the doors were locked, we continued on our way. We finally reached the winery, tasted wine, asked questions, and took photographs. We left the winery using the other directions and almost immediately reached a highway that led through rows of homes.
The moral of the story is that when you’re a wine lover and the trip results in finding wine, the journey is worth it, even when the background music is dueling banjos.
Stay tuned for another wine adventure next week.
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