Still Pond Vineyard and Winery Launches Four New Wine Blends
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Still Pond Vineyard and Winery introduced four muscadine wine and fruit blends this month under its Farmhouse label. Made entirely at the vineyard, the four blends combine blueberry, peach, blackberry and watermelon with the unique flavor of muscadine grapes. According to Charlie Cowart, director of marketing and winemaker for Still Pond, the idea for the blends came from customers and distributors and early market response has been positive.
“I was in a liquor store yesterday that had the new blends on the shelf for about five days and had sold quite a few bottles,” Cowart said. “And the owner had taken some home to his wife and she liked it so that’s a good sign.”
Located 30 miles south of Albany in Arlington, Ga., Still Pond Vineyard and Winery was established 25 years ago by Cowart’s grandfather and is run today by his father, Charles Cowart. With 170 acres of muscadine grapes, Still Pond is the largest commercial vineyard in southern Georgia. It produces 20 different muscadine wines, controlling every step in the winemaking process. Muscadine grapes thrive in a hot and humid climate and are native to the southeastern United States. They have a distinctive flavor and produce a light, generally sweet wine. Still Pond grows several varieties, five of which are grown on sizeable acreage.
A cheerful holiday season
Still Pond uses about 15 percent of the vineyard’s crop in their winemaking. The rest is sold as juice to large commercial wineries. According to Cowart, the recession has had limited impact on Still Pond’s operations.
“We saw it and felt it little bit, but other industries and companies had it much worse; so we can’t complain,” Cowart said.
Still Pond’s wine sales during the 2010 holiday season went very well, a big improvement over the 2009 holiday season. While juice sales in 2010 could have been better, Cowart is hopeful they will pick up this year as wineries buy juice for wine they will sell in 2012.
“We have very good relationships with the commercial wineries that buy our juice. Many of them have been buying from us since my grandfather was growing grapes,” Cowart continued.
Still Pond used to sell grapes rather than juice to its commercial customers. Selling juice means more value-added to the product and therefore greater profitability.
Growing popularity
One of the biggest challenges Still Pond faces is growing competition on the liquor store shelf. Consumers are spending, but more cautiously than in the past and are very selective in their purchases.
“Luckily, muscadine wine is becoming more popular especially in the South. We’re seeing more people in our tasting room,” Cowart said.
According to Cowart, muscadine wine has a very distinct taste. It is a light, very fruity wine.
“You can make a dry wine from muscadine grapes, but the majority are sweet,” Cowart said. “Some call it a dessert wine, but the majority of our customers have it as a cocktail.”
In addition to growing popularity, other trends support a positive long-term outlook for the winery. For example, more people are looking to buy local-made products.
“It seems like more people would rather buy from the smaller guy rather than the huge wineries,” Cowart explained.
Still Pond opened to the public in 2003. It hosts three wine festivals each year that feature wine tastings, live entertainment, good food, local vendors and hayrides through the vineyard. The Still Pond tasting room is open most weeks, Monday through Saturday, and offers complimentary tastings of the winery’s 20 award-winning wines. Wines, other products and gifts can also be purchased online at www.stillpond.com.
For more information on Still Pond Vineyard and Winery, call (229) 792-6382 or email [email protected].
