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Agritourism
Monthly
A MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER FOR THE KENTUCKY AGRITOURISM INDUSTRY
Office of Marketing, Division of Agritourism • Amelia Brown Wilson, Director • (502) 7 82- 4136 • amelia.wilson @ ky.gov
Kentucky
Department
of Agriculture
James R. Comer, Commissioner
October 2015
Voters approve wine sales
at Fancy Farm vineyard
Neighbors’ approval key to vineyard’s
wine sales proposal; owner now building
winery, meeting with county for permits.
By Jim Trammel
Lisa Davis cuts Concord grapes off the vine in September at
Carriage House Vineyards in Auburn. Bowling Green Daily News
photo by Bac Totrong (Bac Totrong/[email protected]).
Voters in the Graves County community of Fancy
Farm gave enthusiastic permission for wine sales at the
area’s vineyard in a special election in September.
The resounding 375 to 18 approval came from over
40 percent of Fancy Farm precinct’s registered voters,
said Mary Potter of WestKentuckyJournal.com.
The outcome means wine may now be produced
and sold at Fancy Farm Vineyard, once owner Tom
Curtsinger is issued a license.
See FANCY FARM, Page 6
Sweet smell of Carriage House
grapes could produce fine wine
By Justin Story, The Daily News
[email protected]
AUBURN — The vines peer up over the horizon
as you approach Carriage House Vineyards, and
breezes carry the sweet smell of the grapes growing on
hundreds of vines.
For the moment, these are some of the only signs
that a winery is establishing itself in rural Logan
See CARRIAGE HOUSE, Page 2
Tom Curtsinger and Robbie Felker of Fancy Farm are jubilant at
the posted referendum totals. (Photo from Tom Curtsinger, Facebook)
CARRIAGE HOUSE ... from page 1
County, but the newly licensed operation illustrates
how the area is attempting to develop a robust
winemaking industry.
Don and Lisa Davis began planting vines outside
their house in 2013, and after three growing seasons,
1,176 vines of mainly Chambourcin grapes – a durable
grape favored by several growers in the eastern U.S. –
extend in long rows at Carriage House.
For Don, the venture is a polar opposite from his
job owning an information technology company.
“I’ve always been interested in wine, and living in
Kentucky I’ve always been interested in the bourbonmaking process,” Don said a few days after he and Lisa
pressed the grapes that would go into future bottles.
“Most of it is a tradition that hasn’t changed, so this is
like an anti-technology job.”
The couple bought the land for their vineyards
about 15 years ago and, just as the aging process makes
a fine wine, the development of the land and the
business is a process requiring patience.
Licensed in September
Last month, Carriage House received its state and
federal licenses designating the business as a small-farm
winery, allowing the Davises to begin the harvesting,
crushing and fermenting of 1,600 pounds of grapes
that will lead to the bottling of their first wines, which
should be ready at some point next year.
Don said he has a distributor lined up when the
time comes to place the Carriage House bottles in
stores and is working with someone to design the labels.
2 •
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015
Lisa and Don, conquering the towering job of harvest.
Plans are also afoot for a petition drive to support
a local option election, a crucial step for small-farm
wineries in dry counties that want to sell their products
and hold tastings on site. “Our neighbors have been big
supporters,” Don said.
Five more varieties of grapes were planted last year
to allow for a more diverse wine selection, and the
Davises look to add about 800 more vines in the spring
with an eye toward developing some of the land as a
location for weddings and other events.
“Putting a vineyard in is a huge undertaking,” Lisa
said. “I see that as we get bigger at some point that
we might have one or two employees help in the offseason.”
To get a better idea of the work that goes into
developing the winery, the Davises have talked with
owners of other small-farm wineries in the region and
with state agriculture officials.
The wine industry in the state has been on the rise
in Kentucky, particularly since the beginning of the
decade.
Area wineries flourish
In the past few years, Cave Valley Winery at Park
Mammoth Resort in Park City and Green Palace
Meadery in Barren County have established their
business operations, and Crocker Farm Winery in
Simpson County won approval in 2012 to sell their
products on site. Reid’s Livery Winery in Warren
County has been in place for a few years.
“I think the wineries are a growing thing, and I
think we’ll all stay small,” said Dan Crocker of Crocker
Farm Winery.
About 70 licensed wineries operate throughout the
state, producing an estimated 150,000 cases annually,
according to the Kentucky Grape and Wine Council.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture counts
113 producers growing around 550 acres of grapes.
“There’s a learning curve as to which variety of
grapes grow good and make good wine, and we’re
learning how to make great wine,” Crocker said.
Intimate gatherings and touring groups of wine
lovers help local wineries prosper, and most of the
vineyards in the area are tended by growers who are
relatively new in their fields, making for a cooperative
spirit among the proprietors.
“You benefit from a tourism standpoint by having
more wineries in the region,” Don said.
Story and photos: www.bgdailynews.com/community/sweet-smellof-grapes-could-produce-fine-wine/article_8122f68b-f68b-5d4b-8bef3623717c7a22.html. Follow reporter Justin Story on Twitter at twitter.
com/jstorydailynews. Visit bgdailynews.com. Photos by Bac Totrong,
The Daily News. Story and photos used by permission.
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015 •
3
Each of Alvina
Maynard’s alpacas
is good for about
three sweaters
per year in fiber
production, but
alpacas have
value for their
meat as well.
(Photo © Abby
Laub, J.A. Laub
Photography,
Lexington. Used
by permission.)
Rancher hosts alpaca dinner to benefit farm-vet group
Alvina Maynard’s River Hill Ranch near
Richmond welcomed 30 guests for a special
five-course farm-to-table dinner last month,
featuring Suri alpaca meat prepared by
Chef Robert Weickel of Hill Restaurant,
a pop-up restaurant in Lexington. The
event benefited Homegrown By Heroes,
a KDA program for veteran farmers.
“Alpaca is increasingly popular as a delicious,
nutritious meat and a sustainable source of natural
fiber,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said.
The event also showcased other Kentucky Proud
products, and a portion of ticket proceeds were
donated to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s
“Homegrown By Heroes” branding program.
“Homegrown By Heroes” designates farm products
produced by military veteran farmers. Commissioner
Comer launched the brand in January, 2013. Its
coverage has expanded nationally, and it is now
administered by the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC)
based in Davis, California.
River Hill Ranch, which raises alpacas for both
meat and fiber, provided the alpaca. Nearly all the other
4 •
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015
ingredients for the dinner came from Kentucky Proud
producers, including Blue Moon Farm, Richmond;
Forest Retreats, Berea; Stonehedge Farm, Versailles;
Hoot Owl Hollow Farm, Waynesburg; Three Springs
Farm, Carlisle; and Irie Hills Farm and FoodChain
Urban Farm, both of Lexington.
Wines paired with the courses were supplied by
Grimes Mill Winery near Lexington.
“River Hill Ranch has eceived a grant from FVC
to fund shearing equipment and fencing for more
pasture,” said Air Force reservist Maynard. “This is
our opportunity to pay it forward by helping another
military veteran farmer.”
Chef Weickel cooked some of the dinner dishes
on an outdoor fire near tables set up on the farm,
according to agriculture reporter Janet Patton’s
coverage in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Maynard held an open house at the farm to
demonstrate how she and her family manage the
animals. The evening also included an informal fashion
show of clothes made with alpaca wool, Patton’s
account said.
-- KDA press release and as cited
River Hill Ranch is on Facebook and on the Web at www.riverhillranch.us.
County displays area’s
agritourism potential with
benefit Farmers’ Feast
Faith Acres Farm, in the Pendleton County
community of Butler, welcomed the public to a getacquainted event for the area’s agritourism efforts
at a “Farmers’ Feast” held in late September, event
spokesperson Sara Swope told AM.
The event was sponsored in cooperation with Rose
Hill Farm Winery, also of Butler, and the Pendleton
County Cooperative Extension Office, Donations
were earmarked for the Pendleton County Farmers’
Market to fund its efforts to find and acquire a
permanent home and structure, Swope said.
“The event provided an opportunity for the
community to experience agritourism at its best and get
to know the local farmers that provide great foods and
local products from the region,” Swope said.
The meal was prepared by a local chef and provided
from local farms.
The annual event has generated much interest in
the local agritourism association and has boosted the
exposure and potential of agritourism, Swope said.
“The event truly was the best one yet, and I am being
bombarded by those wanting to come next year,” she
said, calling the occasion “so exciting and the perfect
introduction to agritourism in this area.”
Swope said the association plans the Farmers’ Feast
to rotate to a different farm each year to showcase the
diversity of the area’s agritourism experiences.
— Story information and photos: Sara Swope
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015 •
5
The winery, under construction.
FANCY FARM ... from page 1
Curtsinger now will meet with county leaders to
draft rules and guidelines for his wine sales, and to get a
building permit to erect a winery on the excavated site
he has prepared. Curtsinger told AM the close-knit community and
their pride in his vineyard translated into keen anticipation
of the vote. The referendum passed 375 to 18.
“My neighbors come by the house and vineyard all
the time, walking and exercising, or riding their golf
Photo: Mary Potter, WestKentuckyJournal.com
There was a nominal “vote yes” campaign, but voters, who had
been keenly anticipating the election for years, turned out not to
need much persuading.
6 • Agritourism Monthly • October 2015
carts,” Curtsinger said. “Everyone in the community
has really taken ownership of the vineyard – it’s a place
of community pride, a showplace they can show off.”
He will look up from suckering his vines, he
said, to see neighbors strolling the six-acre vineyard.
”I encourage everybody to participate and enjoy it,”
Curtsinger continued.
As with most vineyards and wineries, permission of
the precinct’s voters is necessary before a wine-making
business may sell wine on its premises.
“People asked for eight years when I was going to
open the winery and call for the election,” Curtsinger
said. When the petition drive began, it took him and
his friends only a few days to get signatures from 25
percent of the precinct’s voters in last general election,
the legal requirement for the referendum. “Everybody
was eager to do it,” Curtsinger said.
Community enthusiasm
The same enthusiasm that swept the election
propelled the winery toward completion, Curtsinger
said.
“Community Bank was great about financing
the easiest, quickest way that they can,” he said,
complimenting the bank president on personally
getting behind its development. “He came over to look
at the vineyard on picnic day and said, ‘This thing’s
The Fancy Farm winery vineyard is only a few hundred yards from the site of the speakers’ podium at the annual St. Jerome’s
Parish Fancy Farm Picnic.
great, we’ve got to get this going.’ To have such an
impact on someone that it’s not just about drinking,
that it’s going to be a great social place for everybody,
that’s a big deal for me,” Curtsinger continued.
Following the success at the polls, Tom has met
with the county to establish sales parameters and
obtain construction permits for his winery.
The building will not be more complex to raise
than a barn, Curtsinger said, so he hopes to open the
winery during the upcoming holiday shopping season.
Photo: Mary Potter, WestKentuckyJournal.com
Was supplying others
His vineyard grows many different varietals,
including Cabernet, Riesling, Malbec, and Merlot.
Having no winery meant that, once his vines started
producing (which takes three to four years from
initial planting), the bulk of production had gone to
other wineries, including Purple Toad in Paducah,
Medicine Man Wines in Princeton, and the former
Glisson Vineyards & Winery of Paducah, which
closed earlier this year.
Curtsinger also keeps his family and friends well
supplied so they can make wines and jellies in exchange
for their help when picking time comes.
Curtsinger started growing grapes eight years ago.
He added about an acre each year, and, after winter
losses hit hard this year, currently has six acres of vines.
“This is going to turn a pursuit of a dream of
just growing grapes into a place producing a quality
wine where people can come and enjoy themselves,” he
told reporters from Paducah TV station WPSD. “The opportunities that you’re going to see here is
that we can see other wineries open up, as well as grape
production,” Curtsinger said.
Pre-election marketing was largely a matter of community visibility and
involvement. The vineyard and winery’s top-hatted scarecrow logo is familiar
all over the community. At right, Tom models the Fancy Farm Vineyard &
Winery T-shirt he produced to promote local pride in the enterprise. Among
his upcoming events will be a T-shirt design contest among patrons.
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015 •
7
KENTUCKY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
1-3: 1-5: 2-3: 2-4: Fair and Homecoming – Caneyville
Heritage Trail Days – Whitley City
Old Fashion Days – Greenup
Washington Co. Fair - Springfield
Bittersweet Festival – Mount Vernon
Fair and Homecoming – Caneyville
Jim Beam BBQ Classic – Springfield
Mary Breckinridge Festival – Hyden
Octoberfest – Taylorsville
Sorghum Festival – Springfield
Corn Maze and Fall Nights – Eminence (all Oct. weekends)
Festival of the Horse – Georgetown
2-4: Kentucky Wool Festival – Falmouth
St. James Court Art Show – Louisville
3: Apple Festival – Paintsville
Arts & Crafts Festival – Wilmore
Octoberfest – Smithland
Pumpkin Festival – Edmonton
Pumpkin Festival – Marion
Rockin B Farm Fall Festival – Bowling Green
Woofstock – Carrollton
3-4: Arts & Crafts Festival – Henderson
Lincoln Days – Hodgenville
Louder than Life Festival – Louisville
3-10: Tobacco and Heritage Festival – Russellville
October 2015
3-11: Farmington Harvest Festival – Louisville
4-10: Daniel Boone Festival – Barbourville
7: Taste of Louisville
7-10: Jenny Wiley Festival – Prestonsburg
7-11: Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration – Rosine
9-10: Belknap Fall Festival – Louisville
Country Ham Festival – Cadiz
Downtown Days – Columbia
Forkland Heritage Festival & Revue – Gravel Switch
Garvin Gate Blues Festival – Louisville
Outskirts Festival – Louisville
Railroad and Bluegrass Festival – LaGrange
10: Barktoberfest – Louisville
Foxhollow Farm Fall Festival – Crestwood
Pigapalooza II -- Horseshoe Bend Vineyards, Willisburg
Turning of the Leaves Festival – Augusta
Southwest Festival – Louisville
10-11: Arts, Crafts & Antique Fair – Bardstown
11: Hunters Moon Fall Festival –
Grand Rivers
16-17:Fall Festival – Mount Washington
Foothills Festival – Albany
List your event here
Email details, with the single word
“Event” in the subject line,
to j i m . t r a m m e l @ k y . g o v.
16-18: Salt Festival – Union
16-19: Court Days – Mount Sterling
17: Bluegrass Festival – Shepherdsville
ColorFest – Clermont
Craft Beer Festival – Bardstown
Crossing Festival – Glendale
Maiden Alley Oktoberfest – Paducah
17-18:Apple Festival – Owensboro
23-25:Woolly Worm Festival – Beattyville
24-25: Independence Bank Sorghum Festival – Hawesville
30-31: Field of Horror at Devine’s Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
– Harrodsburg
Compiled from the listing of agritourism
events posted at the Kentucky Department
of Agriculture website, www . kyagr . com,
and the Kentucky Festivals Schedule at
kentuckyfestivals.net.
Events are always subject to change or
cancellation; check before attending.
Entrepreneur series in progress in Ashland
*
*
Marty Brown Red River Fiddlers Gary Weilage
BBQ and iron kettle chili carriage rides corn maze
games horse rides gifts BStylish fashion show
author Trudy Harden of Broken Pieces
*
*
*
*
*
A four-part Entrepreneurial SMARTS Series has
returned to Ashland. “This is a great opportunity
for pre-venture and newly launched businesses,” said
Amanda Kelley of the Southeast Kentucky Economic
Development (SKED) Corporation.
The two remaining sessions will take place Oct. 6
and Oct. 13 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Old Post Office’s
first floor conference room. Subject areas covered are
Getting Started, Financial Management, Effective
Marketing, and Operations Management. The $25 per
person fee for the course series includes workbooks,
materials, and refreshments.
Kelley told AM she will work with anyone wanting
to take the two October sessions to catch them up on the
already-past September sessions.
--SKED press release
Amanda Kelley of SKED can be reached at (606) 416-2008.
SKED’s webpage is www.southeastkentucky.com. Online registration
can be accomplished at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/
event?oeidk=a07ebfscllxa4298341&llr=f4kzbhpab.
8 •
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015
October brings Kentucky festival fun
It’s October, the height of agritourism
event season, and the festivals and
special events are as plentiful and
colorful as the fall foliage.
Oct 1-11: The Bourbon Social.
A set of bourbon-centered events in and around
Lexington and the Bluegrass. Check the website,
www.thebourbonsocial.com, for sites and details.
A percentage of the proceeds benefits the Kentucky
Department of Agriculture’s “Homegrown By
Heroes” veteran-farmers program.
Oct. 2, Relish ‘n’ Ramble, 6-9 p.m. at
FoodChain and Bluegrass Distillery in the Bread
Box, 501 West Sixth Street, Lexington. Chef Ouita
Michel hosts area chefs preparing small plates
of the street foods of India, Latin America, and
Asia. The event is a benefit for FoodChain, whose
mission is to bring innovative solutions to the local
food system while increasing access to fresh food
in underserved communities. Tickets are $35 in
advance via Foodchainlex.org or $40 at the door
Oct 3: Fall Farm Festival, Rockin B Horse
& Carriage and Rockin B Farm, Rockfield.
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Barbecue and iron kettle chili, corn
maze, music, carriage rides, kids zone, horse rides,
gifts. Proceeds to mammograms and breast cancer
awareness. See previous page
for contact information.
Oct. 3-4 and October weekends: Harvest
Festival at Evans Orchard and Cider Mill, 180
Stone Road in Georgetown, every weekend through
Oct. 30-31 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and noon
to 6 p.m. Sundays. Visit www.EvansOrchard.com
Oct. 9-10: Outdoor Family Adventure
Weekend at Cumberland Falls State Resort
Park, Highway 90, Corbin. Family activities
include hikes to the natural arches and waterfalls,
archery, fire tower walks, birding, and more.
Call (606) 528-4121, email [email protected],
or visit www.lakecumberlandtourism.com.
Oct. 10: Chili Cookoff. Sixth annual event,
at Long C Trails, Scottsville. Email longctrails@
yahoo.com or visit www.longctrails.com.
Oct. 23: Haunted Fun Fest at Mill Springs
Mill Park, 9155 Highway 1275 N, Monticello.
5-7:30 p.m. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Lake Cumberland Office, sponsors an evening
of free goodies, refreshments, and candy, plus a
tour of the restored grist mill. Dress up in your
best Halloween costume. All children must be
accompanied by an adult. Call (606) 679-6337 or
visit www.lakecumberlandtourism.com.
THINGS TO DO IN KENTUCKY: www.kentuckytourism.com/do/
-- photo Devine’s Corn Maze website
Oct. 3-4 and October
weekends: Autumnfest
at Bear Wallow Farm, Piney
Grove Rd., Nancy. Through
Oct. 31, Saturdays 10 a.m.
-10 p.m. and Sundays 1-6
p.m. Visit a 1900 vintage
homeplace, feed the animals,
and enjoy the nature trails.
Bear Wallow also offers a
four-acre corn maze and
hayrides to the pick-yourown pumpkin patch. Phone
(606) 871-7745 or visit www.
bearwallowfarm.com or www.
lakecumberlandtourism.com.
Devine’s 2015 maze honors Triple Crown winner
DEVINE’S CORN MAZE, HARRODSBURG, now open through Halloween, pays tribute this
year to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The Devine farm, 623 Talmage Mayo Road
in Harrodsburg, is open weekends and has extended Fall Break hours Oct. 7-9. Explore
the corn maze, brave the zip line, and experience the special events of the Field of Horror
Oct. 30 and 31. Children’s activities include the kiddie corn maze, hay maze, straw crawl,
hayrides, tire mountain, petting area, pumpkin picking, and nightly bonfire with free
marshmallow roasting. Admission is free for kids 4 and under, $6 for those age 5-12, and
$8 for 13 and up. Visit www.devinescornmaze.com for details or call (859) 613-6900.
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015 •
9
Downtown event
draws crowds
for Barrens
farmers’ market
By Gina Kinslow, Glasgow Daily Times.
Used by permission.
A new monthly event called Third Thursday Shindig
has proven profitable for downtown Glasgow
businesses, as Ann Stewart, marketing director of
the Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention
Commission, reported to a commission meeting.
Stewart estimated up to 500 people turned out for
the event, during which downtown businesses were
open later than usual, including the Bounty of the
Barrens Farmers’ Market, which is typically open
only Saturdays 8 a.m.
to noon on the public
square.
Stewart quoted
Becky Barrick, owner
of Awards Inc., a
downtown gift shop,
reporting that her sales
from 5 to 9 p.m. were greater than the rest of that day.
“People were in and out all evening,” Stewart said,
adding that a downtown restaurant, George J’s, closed
because they ran out of ice cream.
Live musical entertainment was performed on the
courthouse lawn. The Plaza Theater showed cartoons.
“I was just amazed at the number of people of all
ages,” she said. “It was an upbeat event, and I was really
happy to see it.”
Both Mayor Dick Doty and Judge-Executive
Micheal Hale attended the Shindig. “I think, from
young to old, everyone enjoyed it,” said Hale, an exofficio member of the tourist commission.
Several other commissioners attended, including
Bobby Lee Hurt, who called it “a good social event.”
Commissioner Earl Hammons said more people
attended than he was expecting. “It was wonderfully
attended,” he said. The tourist commission had
previously voted to contribute $1,000 toward the event.
Floyd County Farmers’ Market wins online preference poll
Floyd County Farmers’ Market in Prestonsburg
swept the specialty categories in the 2015 annual
Farmers’ Market Celebration online balloting, the
American Farmland Trust (AFT) announced after the
close of balloting Sept. 23.
The 10-vendor Floyd County market collected
most online votes for Focus on Farmers, Healthy Food
for All, Pillar of the Community, and Champion for
the Environment. The second-place market in all those
categories, Easton (Pennsylvania) Farmers’ Market,
took first in the People’s Choice ranking.
Robert Connelly, manager of membership and gifts
for AFT, said perks of winning the balloting include
“Best in Class” flags to hang at the market, lapel pins
for vendors, and bragging rights to use in promotional
materials.
10 •
Agritourism Monthly • October 2015
Ralph Davis, the market’s manager, is happy for
its recognition. “We are very fortunate to have strong
support from our community. We have dedicated
supporters who are very passionate about and
committed to supporting local foods,” he says.
Floyd County Farmers’ Market has also been voted
Kentucky’s favorite farmers’ market for two years
running, Davis said.
“Markets are an important source of income for many
family farmers. Each summer, we run this celebration
to promote farmers’ markets — and therefore, support
farmers,” marketing and communications director
Laura Trivers said. “Real people vote for their markets,
and we spread the word through market managers and
our social media accounts,” Trivers said.
-- press release, American Farmland Trust (https://www.farmland.org)