Arrington Vineyards is Williamson County’s First Commercial Winery
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The grapes are plump‚ juicy and ready for harvesting at Williamson County’s first commercial winery‚ which is scheduled to open in fall 2006 near Arrington.
The enterprise‚ called Arrington Vineyards‚ is the brainchild of grape enthusiast Fred Mindermann‚ winemaker Kip Summers and country music artist Kix Brooks.
Mindermann says he and his wife have been winemaking hobbyists for years. “When we moved to Tennessee in 1994‚ we started planting grapes in the back yard of our Brentwood home‚” he says.
In 2001‚ Mindermann joined forces with Summers‚ an experienced winemaker‚ to test grape varieties locally. After experimentation and research‚ the pair came up with Chambourcin‚ a French dry red; Traminette‚ a white sweet hybrid similar to Gewuerztraminer; and Vignoles‚ a French dry-to-sweet white.
“Tennessee is a great place for growing grapes - there used to be thousands of acres of vineyards in Tennessee before prohibition‚” Mindermann says. “Now there are less than 30 commercial wineries in the state‚ but we’re hoping more will pop up.”
Brooks got on the bandwagon in 2004‚ and the trio pooled their finances to purchase a 75-acre tract on which they planted more than 5‚000 grapevines. Initially‚ the winery is expected to produce a minimum of 5‚000 cases of wine per year.
“Our goal is to be the largest vineyard in Tennessee‚” Mindermann says. “It will be a place for concerts‚ family gatherings and picnics.”
Williamson County has plenty of wine aficionados. Franklin holds two wine-related fundraising events in November - Wine Down Main Street and The Factory Wine Festival - that benefit nonprofit organizations.
Story by Jessica Mozo
Photo by Greg Emens
