"Keel and Curley Winery was started in spring of 2003 in the kitchen of founder and owner, Joe Keel. Keel, a central Florida blueberry farmer wanted to find something to do with his end of crop blueberries. Keel decided blueberry wine would be interesting to dabble with in the family farm house kitchen."
Our tour started off on an open air bus pulled by a tractor through the blueberry fields to the winery.
Photo by Denise Taylor
Our tour guide Sam explained the wine making process for their blueberry wine. I admit that I didn't know blueberry wine was made entirely from blueberries with no grapes added. Sam explained the processes of fermentation, clarification, filtering, and bottling. Each step in the wine making process happens at the Keel & Curley Winery site.
After our winery tour, we headed over to the tasting area and gift shop.
For our tasting, we sat outside of the gift shop on the patio area where live music was playing. I purchased food from a local food truck park near the patio area. Let the wine begin!
- Dry Blueberry - my favorite, good dry finish
- Semi-Dry Blueberry - slightly sweet, not a dry finish
- Sweet Blueberry - sweet and smooth
- Strawberry Riesling - a little too sweet for me
- Wild Berry Pinot Noir - fruity and flavorful
- Tangerine Zinfandel - full body
- Key West – Key Lime - tart and refreshing
- Black Raspberry Merlot - would make a nice sangria
- Peach Chardonnay - strong peach tones
- Dry Blackberry - muted bouquet
- Sweet Blackberry - very sweet
We had a fantastic time at Keel & Curley Winery!
Check out their Blueberry Festival this weekend, April 27-28.
Disclaimer: I was given a tour of the winery and wine tasting in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.
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