Driving South on Stewart Road just after getting off 385, you won’t miss the black, iron gates that open up into the long, scenic driveway of Delta Blues Winery, located at 6585 Stewart Road in Lakeland, Tennessee. To the left of the driveway is a small, calm lake, the vineyard growing and twisting along the grounds around it. Trees, standing stoically, border the entire property, making the winery feel like a special, hidden place in a valley. At the end of the sloping driveway sits the Delta Blues Winery tasting room, where winemaker, Dr. Ed Stevens, his wife and manager, Dianne Day, and the owner, Jerry Michie, operate their establishment on three unwavering principles — cultivation, dedication, and plenty of wine.
Padding softly up the stone steps, you find your way to the wraparound porch. French doors open up into the building where the entire room is open with a wraparound bar that juts centrally from the back of the building. To the right, a gift shop displays products from local businesses. To the left, an open sitting area with large, inset windows looks out across the vineyard and over the lake.
What was the driving force is behind opening up a business, particularly a winery, in West Tennessee? It was simply the love of wine and sharing that love for fine wine. For years Delta Blues Winery was just a seed of an idea—planted and dormant, much like a lot of ideas that have to be pushed aside for daily life to carry on— but it has finally taken root.
With several different varieties, that range all across the spectrum of possible wine flavors, a lot of our wines are favorites among our customer base and tend to surprise people visiting for the first time. Perhaps people’s anticipation of a local winery is that it’s not going to be “that good”. But when customers come in and they taste our wine, they are really surprised about how good it is.
Wine tastings are offered throughout the day and each tasting includes four wines. Tours are also available as time permits, and groups of ten or more are encouraged to call ahead and make reservations. If wine isn’t your thing, we serve beer as well.
We currently import our grapes from other wineries in West Tennessee and are cultivating our own grapes for self-sustaining wine production in the near future. It takes about five to seven years for the vineyard grapes to fully mature and develop in flavor and for us that is right around the corner. We have four varieties of grapes: Sangiovese, which is the primary wine grape in Tuscany; Barbera, a grape hailing from the Piedmont region in the Northwestern corner of Italy; Tempranillo, a grape of the Spanish variety; and Primitivo, the most planted grape in California.
Your visit to Delta Blues Winery is an experience. At least that’s what we hope to achieve. And with such picturesque scenery, it’s no wonder that Delta Blues is an incredible venue to host events and activities. We do birthday parties, anniversaries, weddings, wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, you name it. We even do tours (by appointment).
Behind the tasting room building is a music stage, where musicians play for a jovial crowd sipping on wine and simply having a fun, laid-back Friday night (during warmer months). The stage sits in a small valley and the acoustics are incredible. Low-key Sunday afternoon music is played on the porch, in the pavilion or in the tasting room, depending on the weather (though, you’ll have to check out our Facebook page to find out all the details).
The winery attracts people every day - although certain days we are open by appointment only. When we are ready to bottle, the bottling room is open to volunteers in the community to learn about the local wine making process.
The winery’s charm entices people to visit with friends and family and to drink and be merry, making it become much more than just an establishment that sells alcohol and hosts parties; it becomes a true experience. That’s part of the winery business that people don’t really think about. It’s a place you go. It’s a place you come with friends, you do things, you sit on the porch and enjoy a glass of wine.
Demonstrating our passion for local business, we sell local business’ products in our gift shop. Along with soaps, shampoos, jewelry, t-shirts, and other local goods, we also sell gourmet cheese, jams, and jellies. We try to be an outlet for local endeavors.
Delta Blues Winery
6585 Stewart Road, Lakeland, TN 38002
HOURS:
MONDAY AND TUESDAY: *closed*
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: 12pm - 5pm
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY: 12pm - 7pm
SUNDAY: 12pm - 5pm
Copyright © 2022 Delta Blues Winery - All Rights Reserved.
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