In the early part of the century, Nelson County was enjoying a resurgence of interest and expansion in the grape and wine industry.  Nelson County Extension was heavily involved in helping educate interested individuals in the process of growing grapes for the wine market. We addressed the many pitfalls of growing grapes including how to avoid growing what couldn’t be successfully grown.  As we moved through the process of planting and planning, it became apparent the winemakers were pushing the growing risk to the grower by encouraging growers to grow the varieties that were riskier and more likely to result in freeze loss.   As a result of this analysis, we began encouraging interested parties to grow better varieties for our area and to begin adding value to the crop by beginning to make their own wines.  We began offering winemaking classes by utilizing existing industry leaders.  These classes increased the confidence of half a dozen new winemakers in our area.

One participant in these conversations and classes began looking at the wine industry in a different way. Mr. McIntyre, through the processes, began leaning toward u-pick small fruit rather than the challenges of grapes. Through communications with the Nelson County Hort agent that included site visits, soil analysis, and production guidelines.  Mr. McIntyre decided to begin by planting 2 acres of a mix of blueberries and blackberries.   After a few years of u-pick marketing, Mr. McIntyre began to produce Wines from excess production.  He put to work his newly learned winemaking skills and quickly found a following for his country style fruit wines.  This progression and continued learning through University of Kentucky Extension training and accelerated by a forced career detour, Mr. McIntyre opened his winery to the public in 2011.  McIntyre Winery outgrew its original winery in 2018 and built a new modern winery and tasting room.  This facility is large enough to host larger events and features dedicated space for outdoor events.  As the popularity of the Winery has grown so too has the offerings that McIntyre’s has available.  In the last couple of years, they have added two Air BnB’s to the property.  

It makes this agent proud that training and direction offered many years ago have been put to use and helped this agriculture enterprise thrive, develop, and adapt in an ever-changing industry.