Introducing…Vinnie the Vineyard Dog

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We have a new addition here at the winery, Vinnie the Vineyard Dog. After the unfortunate loss of Sully, we have been in need of another dog to help us keep unwanted pests out of the vineyard. So we brought Vinnie home with us. Vinnie is a Great Pyrenees puppy with lots of personality. He’s only been here a few days but he already feels at home. Vinnie, Tank and MoMo all seem to be getting along just fine with the exception of the occasional debate over who is the head honcho around here.

He’s just about the cutest little puppy we have ever seen. So far, his favorite activities are following Tank around, begging at the dinner table, and helping Joey. Pretty soon, he will be spending lots of time in the vineyard chasing deer, opossums, and various  other critters, so if you see him while you are here give him a little belly rub and welcome him to the family!

Blues and Wine this Weekend!!

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Another Blues and Wine is coming up this Saturday!! The sensational Miranda Louise will be gracing us with her talents once again! The show starts at 6pm and goes until 9pm. Feel free to pack a picnic or you can purchase some award winning BBQ here! No outside alcohol though!  See you there!!

Summer Cooking Class coming up!!!

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On Sunday June 5th, we will be holding a cooking class here at the winery! Food blogger, Jodie Morgan, from EatinontheCheap.com will be preparing 4 fresh and easy summer recipes! The event is free!! Call today to reserve your spot!!

Catch us at Nashville Shores!

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This weekend is the annual Toast to Tennessee Wine Festival at Nashville Shores. We will be there along with many other Tennessee wineries sampling and selling our wine. The festival starts at 12pm and goes on until 6pm. This is a great opportunity for everyone to experience a fantastic selection of Tennessee wine all in one place! We hope to see you this weekend!

Bottling it all up…

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Bottling is a process that we do year round here at the winery. There is always wine in the tanks that is in different stages of readiness and bottling any wine that is ready is a priority. The problem with bottling is that it’s time-intensive and it takes a large number of people to do it efficiently. For the last several years we have been lucky enough to have lots of friends who are willing to come out in the early morning hours and help us get our products on the shelf, but it is not always easy for us to round up enough people to get a good bottling going. Plus, it can take hours to do a palette of wine.

That’s why when the Hamm’s of Keg Springs came up with an automated bottling truck we were excited. Gerald, Brian and Becky Hamm designed a little mini factory to fit into the back of a truck the size of a moving van so that the wineries in the area could take advantage of a streamlined, efficient system and save everyone a little time and frustration.

The Hamm's of Keg Springs

This unassuming truck houses a bottle sanitizer, bottle filler, labeler and heat shrinker for the capsules that go over the neck. Not to mention the moving track that feeds the bottles down a line to someone packing cases and taping them up.

Mobile Bottling Truck

Of course there are always a few kinks to work out in the beginning, but once this puppy gets rolling, the time it takes to bottle up a couple of tanks full of wine is drastically reduced. Leaving us free to do other things, like make more wine.

Bottles going in...

Bottles going in...

The whole process is pretty fun to watch and we are excited to have it available to us.

Filling up and getting labeled

Bottles going out.

Think Thin …

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It’s amazing what kind of growth a vineyard has after it rains for nearly 2 weeks straight. The vines, which were little more that woody stumps a few weeks ago, have really burst forth with vigor. Each vine has dozens of tiny clusters of will-be grapes. When we say dozens, we mean that some vines may have as many as 30 or 40 clusters on it. You would think that would be a good thing, but the truth is, it’s way too many. So it is our job to go though the entire vineyard and thin out each vine by hand. We get rid of the shoots that come up from the base of the vine and thin out some of the clusters on each vine so that each plant can concentrate on making a few really great clusters of grapes instead of dozens of mediocre ones.

Our younger vines, like the Chambourcin here, get a much more extreme thinning. We pull all of the clusters off so that the vines can concentrate their efforts on establishing  good root system. With a good root system, the vines are better equipped to withstand periods of dry weather in the future.

So you can see, thinner is better here in the vineyards.

Stan Hedges Benefit

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As many of you know, we recently lost one of our dear friends and one of our favorite Blues and Wine Musicians. Stan Hedges’ family has been in our thoughts and prayers and we have put together a benefit in his honor.  The benefit will be held here at the winery on May 22nd. Donations will be taken in order to help Stan’s family with their very difficult financial situation. If you would like to donate you can drop off your donation here at the winery or you can donate via Paypal from this site that we have set up. Thank you so much for your support and compassion.

http://stanhedgesbenefit.blogspot.com/

Happy Easter!

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Just a friendly note to let you all know that we will be CLOSED on Easter Sunday in order to spend time with our family. We hope you all have a safe and fun holiday!

A Great Loss

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The world has lost one of it’s best. Stan “The Man” Hedges passed away last night and we here at Grinder’s Switch Winery are mourning the loss of a great musician and an even greater friend. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to his family. May he rest in peace.

Bud Break and the impending Battle against Black Rot

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Bud Break has begun in the vineyards. Just about every vine on our 5 1/2 acres of vineyard is starting to poke their little green heads out. Of course, with the greening out of the vineyard comes the dangers of being a plant. Fighting diseases such as downy mildew and the dreaded black rot is one of our biggest battles.

Black Rot, downy mildew, and various other fungi are ubiquitous. It shows up at bud break and once it’s there it can’t be gotten rid of. Black Rot gets down into the grape cluster itself and kills the fruit leaving a fruitless harvest in it’s wake. Which is why we will be fighting that battle very soon.

In other news, the development of last year’s dry red harvest is rolling along quite nicely. We have 3 different varieties aging in American oak barrels. They will be hanging out in the coolest room in Hickman County for the next several months. We will keep you updated on their progress periodically.

In closing, we would like to mention that we have changed our hours. We are now open from 10am-6pm Mon-Sat and 12-5 on Sunday. Feel free to come out early and hang out on our decks and patios and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather.