Sip Bold: Celebrating Bourbon Month at Wildside

September isn’t just the gateway to fall—it’s National Bourbon Heritage Month, a time when amber waves of spirit honor American determination, craftsmanship, and audacious creativity. At Wildside, we raise a glass to that legacy—with wines that echo the gritty grace of bourbon, and fields that whisper tales of Kentucky’s early vineyards.

Before Bourbon Was a Powerhouse, Wine Was Kentucky’s Promise

Long before Prohibition tipped the scales toward bourbon and tobacco, Kentucky was actually one of the nation’s leading wine producers. In the early 1800s, Swiss immigrant Jean‑Jacques Dufour planted what became the country’s first commercial vineyard—“First Vineyard”—on the banks of the Kentucky River, under the auspices of the Kentucky Vineyard Society VisitLex+4Recette Magazine+4Traveler's Cellar Winery+4. By the mid‑19th century, Kentucky ranked third in the nation for grape and wine production Traveler's Cellar Winery+3VisitLex+3WNKY News 40 Television+3.

But then came war, disease, and, eventually, Prohibition—when tobacco quietly replaced grapes in the field, and bourbon found favor with doctors (legally prescribed as medicine!), while wine suffered cultural snubs WNKY News 40 Television+1.

Today, thanks to 1976 reforms and the decline of tobacco, Kentucky’s wine industry is staging a sweet comeback—with over 65 wineries and roughly 600 acres of vineyards, producing more than 100,000 cases annually Visit The USA+4Recette Magazine+4ky-caps.ca.uky.edu+4.

On Our Land: From Tobacco Back to Vine

Wildside’s fields share that story. What was once tobacco ground is now reclaimed, planted with grapevines instead of dried leaves. It’s not just agriculture—it’s redemption, resetting the cycle back to the land’s true calling.

Our Bourbon-Barrel Wines: Kentucky Meets the Vineyard

• BBR — A California Cabernet Sauvignon aged for over a year in a wet Kentucky bourbon barrel, a fusion of West Coast fruit and bourbon oak depth. Legend has it: our founder knew immediately it was special—the first wine in Kentucky to touch bourbon oak—and it remains our top-selling dry red.

• Dangerous — Estate-grown Norton aged in bourbon barrel staves for three months. Just enough sweetness softens its bold character. From vine to bottle, it doesn’t leave the Wildside farm—its journey is unapologetically local, proudly Kentucky.

• Bourbon Berry — A joyful accident: square bottles, a bottle-ordering mishap, Clint’s bargain discovery, and a spark of inspiration. Four berries—strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry—with a name that marries fruit and bourbon flair in a square-shaped statement.

  
  

National Bourbon Month: Where We Belong

It’s fitting. Kentucky is bourbon country. We’re minutes from legends like Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, and Woodford Reserve—bourbon icons that helped shape our state’s identity. And here we are, making wines that nod to that heritage, that reclaim grape culture while raising the bar for what wine in Kentucky can be.

This Thursday: Wine Club Release Party (6–9 PM)

Raise your glass beside ours. Let Bud & Sarah’s music soundtrack the evening. Enjoy a grazing table of charcuterie—complimentary for Wine Club members—and sip through BBR, Dangerous, Bourbon Berry. Not in the club yet? There’s no better time to join—pour first, taste first, live in the Wildside spirit.

Why This September Matters

This month we celebrate resilience and reinvention. Plants once uprooted now grow again. Fields once dedicated to tobacco now cradle grapes. Bourbon month is about honoring tradition—but also rewriting it. Ours is a story rooted in Kentucky history, but told through bold wines and wild hearts.