Winery
Winery

Contact Information

Jeff Wheeler
Enology Extension Specialist

4321 Emmert Farm Lane Lexington, KY 40514

winery@uky.edu

Home

Home

Our wines are available for purchase by UK students, employees, and retired employees.

In order to purchase wine, first time users must register:

Online Registration Form

Once registered, click here to purchase wines:

PURCHASE WINE

 Purchased wines will be available for pickup at the UK Horticulture Research Farm:

Pickup Location/Details

Descriptions of our available wines and ciders:

Our wines and ciders

Our Mission

All proceeds from wine sales go directly to supporting ongoing grape and wine research that serves to advance the commercial wine industry of Kentucky. Our mission is to provide support to the commercial wine industry of Kentucky through grape and wine research and Extension.  This work would not be possible without the long-term financial support we have received from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board and the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Industry

There are currently 70+ commercial wineries in Kentucky.  If you haven’t done so already, make sure to download the Kentucky Wineries app Drink KY (https://app.drink-ky.com/sign-in).

To learn more about Kentucky Wine visit https://www.drink-ky.com/kentucky-wine-history

For more information about Kentucky Vineyards and Wineries visit https://www.kentuckytourism.com/things-to-do/food/breweries-wineries-distilleries/vineyards-wineries

Grape and Wine Research

Our vineyard research is focused on developing grape production practices that allow for improvements in fruit quality, efficiency of labor and reduced pesticide use. Over the past fifteen seasons more than one hundred different wine grape cultivars and numerous grapevine rootstocks have been evaluated for commercial viability at the UK Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.  The primary vine characteristics we are looking for include: cold hardiness, disease resistance, and fruit quality.

Our current wine production research has been designed to identify production methods that result in wines that reflect the uniqueness of Kentucky soil and climate.  Examples of this work include our efforts to identify and utilize native yeast and bacteria to conduct primary and secondary fermentations, and our work defining best practices to produce high quality sparkling wine in Kentucky.  All University of Kentucky wines are solely produced from fruit grown at the UK Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.  

Students

The University of Kentucky Vineyard and Winery serves to train future winemakers of Kentucky. Our efforts are paired with the University of Kentucky's Distillation Wine and Brewing Science Certificate Program. The UK-DWBS is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of Kentucky’s alcohol beverage industry.  This twelve credit hour Undergraduate Certificate can be tailored to allow students to obtain introductory training in one of three distinct tracks: Distillation, Wine or Brewing.

Our Team

- Sean Lynch

- Patsy Wilson

- Jeff Wheeler

- Carlos Lopez

- Kendall Corbin

- UK Horticulture Research Farm Staff

Contact Information

Jeff Wheeler
Enology Extension Specialist

4321 Emmert Farm Lane Lexington, KY 40514

winery@uky.edu