Journalist Joel Stein drank a bottle of wine from every state for a Time magazine article published in August 2008. His selection from Kentucky was Celebration White by Equus Run Vineyards of Midway.

He liked it.

The Kentucky Proud wine was one of 12 that Stein gave an “excellent” rating. His affirmation was one more step for Kentucky up the ladder of winemaking states.

“People from all over are finding out what we already knew – Kentucky’s grape and wine industry is back,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Kentucky was one of the leading wine-producing states in the U.S. before Prohibition. Not that long ago we didn’t have any wineries; now we have 46. And we are gaining in quality as well as quantity.”

Wines from Kentucky earned six gold medals among a total of 164 medals in a series of five in-state competitions in 2008. But Kentucky wines also are making their mark in national and international competitions. The Tempest Reserve wine from Jean Farris Winery in Lexington earned a gold medal in May at the Critics Challenge, a competition of nearly 1,700 wines from around the world. Four Kentucky wineries earned gold medals at the 2008 Indy International Wine Competition in June – Jean Farris (2); Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery of Shepherdsville (2); Chrisman Mill of Nicholasville, and Equus Run – in a field of more than 3,200 wines from 15 countries.

Tom Cottrell, Extension enologist for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, organized the Kentucky competitions to raise awareness of the Commonwealth’s growing wine industry.

“The reasons for doing these competitions in Kentucky with out-of-state judges are to alert the public to the quality of the wines and help Kentucky wineries recognize the wines that are most appreciated,” Cottrell said.

The larger wine world sees Kentucky’s wine industry as “in its infancy,” Cottrell said. “I think we’ve turned the corner [in terms of quality]. Our reputation is yet to be developed by better wines. More and more of the wines are pretty good.”

Cottrell was hired by UK about three years ago to help Kentucky winemakers and vineyards improve their products. Cottrell’s goal is to help wineries make consistently good wine. He focuses on helping Kentucky winemakers improve their laboratory skills.

Cottrell has an upbeat assessment of the future of Kentucky’s wine industry.

“I am fundamentally an optimist, and I’ve seen enough really nice wines to be confident that Kentucky will produce fine wines,” he said. “They may not be the same string of varieties coming out of California or New York, but they will be good.”

Source: Kentucky Grape & Wine Council Press Release, September 25, 2008