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Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/105989
Says Leet, "Te expansion really got started with the tobacco-settlement money, so the vast majority of growth has been within the last 10 years." According to A Wine Lover's Odyssey, the state passed legislation in 1990 that provided economic incentives to people starting wineries and vineyards (founding the Department of Agriculture-run Kentucky Grape and Wine Council in the process). Further provisions during the '90s made the conditions even more favorable, and the state eventually set aside $500,000 to encourage people to start vineyards and wineries. "A lot of people jumped into it early," says Teresa Weyler, "getting anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 a year." Other vineyards and wineries in counties close to Jeferson include Bullitt County's Brooks Hill, Wight-Meyer, MillaNova and Forest Edge, along with Horseshoe Bend in Washington County, SmithBerry in Henry County, and Chuckleberry Farm and McIntyre's in Nelson County. "We're going to have to develop the marketing to sell the different varietals that we can grow well here," says Logan Leet. Leet points out that, while the funds haven't gone up, we keep getting new wineries. Te reasons for this can be explained by wine's growing popularity. David Weyler mentions a business book, Blue Ocean Strategy, which notes that the percentage of people who drink wine has grown exponentially in the last two decades. He says the book brings up wineries such as Australia's Yellow Tail, "how they took the sophistication out of (wine's image) and made it just a fun, low-priced drink that people weren't intimidated to buy." Part of Old 502's re-branding is, as Leet says, "taking the stufness out of the business." Te new labels phonetically play on the varietals Bordeaux and Riesling to read: "Bore Dough" and "Reese Ling." Even with the history of wine in the commonwealth and the recent winery boomlet, Leet says, "We're not in the foreseeable future going to become Napa Valley. Some people liken us to Virginia 15 years ago — they have about 250 wineries and some are really good." Land devoted to vineyards in Kentucky has grown from about 67 acres in 1999 to 600 today. Numerous wineries across the state have fared well in national and international competitions, but the success of a wine isn't just based on an expert's taste. Old 502's best seller — Bourbon Barrel Red, which is aged for 30 days in bourbon barrels — is too sweet for Leet's taste, but he credits the high sales to the local allure among people who are probably not wine connoisseurs, people who buy a bottle as a souvenir or gift. Both the Little Kentucky River Winery and Old 502 use grapes from various vineyards. Labeling laws require a Kentucky wine to be made with at least 70 percent Kentucky-grown grapes. Says Leet, "Te reality is that none of us — well, maybe one or two wineries — 30 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 2.13 but the majority don't use 100 percent Kentucky fruit." Te reason? "We're going to have to develop the marketing to sell the diferent varietals that we can grow well here," he says. Tat might be a hard sell to wine connoisseurs, even if not to drinkers open to new tastes. "People are used to certain varietals that they know that ft into one family of grapes called Vitis vinifera," Leet says. "Very few of those varietals grow consistently well in this area." Just because a grape has a good harvest possibilities here doesn't mean it will make a good wine. Concord is an example of a native grape that grows well, but it makes a sweet wine that most serious wine drinkers gag at. While Napa has mastered the vinifera varieties, Teresa Weyler says, "Tey've spent years building that; they started in the '70s." She and her husband, she says, want to optimize locally grown French hybrids that not only do well in these parts, but also make palatable wines. Tough making wine may be a spiritually rewarding feat, the exhausting process flters out anyone who doesn't have the passion in his or her blood. And tending to a vineyard and making wine involves attention to legalities. (Kentucky has more dry counties than any other state. Te Weylers had to go door-to-door to get signatures for a petition to allow them to open their winery.) Laws dictate every step of the process, from making the wine to labeling it. Winemaking also requires oodles of time and a lot of money — a reason why it's ftting for retired professionals. Teresa Weyler's four years of research included collaborating with other wineries to help make decisions on everything from the varietal to the type of fermenting tank. To the Weylers, the winery is a product of their land-preservation eforts. "Te winery is one element of the sustainable model — we're trying to preserve and manage the asset of the land," Teresa Weyler says. "Te land is key, and the winery itself is part of the means." Other wineries market their business to tourists, ofering a stay at the site's bed-and-breakfast or maintaining a golf course. Te Weylers have built a pavilion and cleared miles of hiking trails to create a unique experience for guests. Every structure has been made with natural materials harvested from the property, except for the metal roofng. "We have a smaller footprint in life, but a larger life with greater satisfaction," David Weyler says. "Is it a viable business? We don't know yet." Unlike other industries, wineries across the state tend to be less competitive, even rallying for newcomers and neighbors. Tere's a sense of connectedness: Te winemakers are in this together, perfecting the craft to build the state's reputation. Ally Sandusky, a winemaker at Old 502, used to work at Smith-Berry, while Leet used to own Lovers Leap in Lawrenceburg. Why wine? Leet, who formerly worked in the furniture business, jokes about the taxing efort winemaking requires: "What is it about wine? It's a lot of trouble. At least it doesn't pay well." He explains his wine obsession by referencing an Oscar-winning flm about wine. "My wife and I were sitting around watching Sideways, and one of the characters asks, 'Why did you get into wine?' and the other one says that wine is alive and that every day is diferent than any other day. Wine is ever-changing; it is — no pun intended — a fuid product. Every harvest is diferent. Every bottle of wine is diferent."