Lawrence, Kansas, native Jennifer Dreiling admits that when she came to Smith-Berry Vineyard and Winery (www.smithberrywinery.net) near New Castle, Kentucky, in mid-September she didn’t expect to spend quite as much time as she did pointing her camera at the sheep grazing among the vines.
After all, Dreiling herself was there to graze-lavishly. Visiting family in Louisville for the weekend, she drove with her sister 40 minutes northeast to New Castle to attend a dinner served at a long, white-linen-draped table plunked right down in the middle of Smith-Berry’s 5-acre vineyard.
The dinner was orchestrated by a nation-wandering troupe of local-foods enthusiasts who call themselves Outstanding in the Field, and prepared by Louisville chef and restaurateur Kathy Cary. Sixty others participated, and from late afternoon until dark on a sparkling late-summer day, they feasted on a variety of goat-cheese appetizers, Smith-Berry wines, entrees of roasted chicken-“pulled,” barbecue style-and slow-cooked lamb, butternut squash soup and apple crisp topped with goat-cheese ice cream. All the ingredients were produced on-site or within 100 miles of the vineyard, with the exception of the Michigan apples brought in because a late-spring frost had killed most Kentucky apple blossoms.
Dreiling, a producer for Hallmark cards, brought her camera because she expected a picturesque experience, based on what she learned about other such dinners around the country on Outstanding in the Field’s website (www.outstandinginthefield.com) and in magazine articles she’d read about the group. She wasn’t disappointed.
“It really was stunning-everything from the food to a brilliant sunset, and the views from the vineyard across the countryside,” Dreiling said. “It would have been nicer if they hadn’t had so little rain,” she added, referring to the brown pastures and other obvious effects of Kentucky’s protracted drought, “but it was lovely all the same, and a beautiful setting for a dinner.”
The charm of sheep
Dreiling said she took the time to include the camera-shy sheep in her pictures of the event because they added to the charm. “It seemed very ‘old school,’ to me, like something you’d see in vineyards in France or Italy. It made me think I was on a farm that wasn’t mechanically driven, and I liked that a lot.”
Vintner Chuck Smith recognizes the allure, and says it’s part of the reason he introduced 21 Border Cheviot sheep into his mature grape stand early last summer.
“People just like looking at them,” he said. “It leads to a little more foot traffic through the vineyards than I might like, especially as dry as it’s been this year. But it sure does seem to make people happy, and that’s what this is all about.”
He’s talking about his family’s evolving efforts to farm sustainably, and leave something for his three daughters if he and wife Mary Berry Smith ever choose to retire.
Over the 25 years since the Smiths bought their 180 acres, those efforts have included dairying, tobacco, participation in a community supported agriculture project, organic produce, pastured poultry, and now a bustling 5-year-old wine business supplemented by a small organic beef-cattle operation.
The Smiths are pioneers of the resurgent Kentucky grape and wine industry. When they planted their first single-acre stand of vines in 2000, there were only five licensed vineyards in the state, according to Chuck Smith, who is vice president of the Kentucky Vineyard Society. There are now more than 40, he said.
That means increased competition, which the Smiths are meeting in a variety of ways.
As one example, they’ve expanded their wine list. Using a combination of his own grapes, grapes purchased from other Kentucky vineyards and juice he buys from Arkansas and Missouri vineyards-as well as varied aging, fermenting and storage methods-Smith has introduced 15 whites and reds over five years, with two more debuting this year.
Vintner Chuck Smith recognizes the allure, and says it’s part of the reason he introduced 21 Border Cheviot sheep into his mature grape stand early last summer.
“People just like looking at them,” he said. “It leads to a little more foot traffic through the vineyards than I might like, especially as dry as it’s been this year. But it sure does seem to make people happy, and that’s what this is all about.”
He’s talking about his family’s evolving efforts to farm sustainably, and leave something for his three daughters if he and wife Mary Berry Smith ever choose to retire.
Over the 25 years since the Smiths bought their 180 acres, those efforts have included dairying, tobacco, participation in a community supported agriculture project, organic produce, pastured poultry, and now a bustling 5-year-old wine business supplemented by a small organic beef-cattle operation.
The Smiths are pioneers of the resurgent Kentucky grape and wine industry. When they planted their first single-acre stand of vines in 2000, there were only five licensed vineyards in the state, according to Chuck Smith, who is vice president of the Kentucky Vineyard Society. There are now more than 40, he said.
That means increased competition, which the Smiths are meeting in a variety of ways.
As one example, they’ve expanded their wine list. Using a combination of his own grapes, grapes purchased from other Kentucky vineyards and juice he buys from Arkansas and Missouri vineyards-as well as varied aging, fermenting and storage methods-Smith has introduced 15 whites and reds over five years, with two more debuting this year.
Full Story: http://www.newfarm.org/features/2008/0108/winesheep/mudd.shtml