ALVATON — Rex Reid came up with the idea to start a pick-your-own blackberry business seven to eight years ago in hopes it would be profitable enough he could stop working as a farrier.

He and his wife, Diane, own Reid’s Livery and Winery in the Alvaton community of Warren County.

When mites attacked his blackberries causing them to turn white, making them less appealing to the typical customer, officials suggested he sell them to a winery. He opted to destroy them, and later made wine from a different blackberry crop.

“So he made some wine that year, and he was very successful with the blackberry wine,” said Diane. “We gave it to our clients, friends and relatives. People were telling him, ‘you need to make wine. You’re really good at this.’ It just evolved from that.”

The couple grows blueberries, elder berries, black and red raspberries and peaches, in addition to blackberries for use in their wines. They also buy a few grapes.

“He started out with 400 gallons and he’s working toward 1,800 gallons to replace the farrier business and pay for our farm before we die,” said Diane.

The Reids produce eight varities of fruit wine and have won awards for their wines at the Kentucky State Fair and the Finger Lakes Wine Tasting Contest in New York.

“We’re pleased,” Diane said. “It’s going really well so far.”

The couple can sell their wines at their farm, and at farmer’s markets and festivals in counties where it is legal to sell alcohol.

“We had to have a local option election in order to sell wine on our farm,” she said.

The election took place two years ago. With the exception of the Reids’ farm, it is not legal to sell wine in Warren County, but it is legal to sell it in Bowling Green.

  “We are the only wet piece of property in Warren County, aside from Bowling Green,” Diane said.

The Reid’s winery is one of 53 statewide. Wineries have come to be a new type of agribusiness that many are giving a try, especially in the bluegrass and northern regions of the state.

Tom Cottrell, principle Extension enologist for the University of Kentucky, said a vineyard can be a lucrative agribusiness.

 In the last five years, the number of wineries in the state has grown tremendously from 15 in 2005 to 53 that are in operation now.

“We have some good examples [of vineyards] that are working. There seems to be people willing to experiment with Kentucky wines,” he said. “We have companies that are producing multiple thousands of cases and expanding gradually. It’s quite possible to have wine as an agribusiness.”

However, it is not to the point that it could serve as a substitute for burley tobacco, and probably won’t in the near future.

“It’s significantly different from tobacco in that tending vines, which are a perennial crop, is much trickier than managing tobacco, which is an annual crop,” Cottrell said, adding he doesn’t see a lid on the growth of vineyards and wine making in Kentucky so it could one day be as profitable as burley tobacco.

The size of the vineyards across the state vary. Some are situated on  1/4 acre, while others are much larger.

“We have 12 wineries that are large enough that they make 70 percent of all Kentucky wine,” Cottrell said.

Maintaining a vineyard is a big task that can be both expensive and labor intensive.

Cottrell said it can cost around $14,000 to start a vineyard, and then it is usually three to four years before producers see a profit from their investment.  

Kristin Goodin, horticulture Extension agent for Barren County, typically doesn’t recommend people do a grape vineyard unless they are certain they have enough time to devote to it.

“If you put your time in, you’re going to get what you need,” she said.

There are many obstacles to growing grapes in Kentucky.

“The reason it’s really, really hard for people to establish a grape vineyard on a commercial scale is because Kentucky is hot and humid. It’s the perfect environment for diseases and insect problems,” Goodin said. “It’s really important that anyone who is interested in growing grapes to have a good spray schedule.”

The spray schedule depends on the stages of the grape plant, and grape plants have several different stages — bud swell, bud break, veraison and crush.

Some of the diseases that can affect the grape plant are: Powdery mildew and downy mildew. Insects that can damage grape plants are: grape flea beetle, grape berry moth and Japanese beettles.  

Grape plants must be pruned regularly, typically when the plants are in their dormant stage.

“Much of your labor goes into pruning your grapes,” Goodin said. “You can’t totally ignore pruning, because if you do [the plants will grow] and produce more green foliage than fruit. So, it’s really vital that you prune it depending on what variety you’re growing.” 

Grape plants need to be grown on a trellis, which can be expensive to construct, depending on the type built.

It is also important to take into consideration who will buy the grapes, she said.

“Marketing is another big thing. When people contact me here at the Extension office and they say, ‘I’m interested in putting in a grape vineyard, I say, ‘OK, whose your market?’ That’s the biggest thing you have to decide first is who I’m going to market my product to,” Goodin said. “Because if you’ve got all this product and nobody to market it to, you’re not going to have any money and then you’ve wasted all your time and effort. You need to have a market identified and then depending on who you want to market to you’re going to have to cater to their needs.”

She explained that some customers may prefer red wines over white and vice versa.

More information is available at www.kentuckywine.com or by