By TIM PRESTON
ASHLAND — Jim Ross says people will see “things you just don’t expect to see” when they visit the new CCC Trail Vineyard Tasting Room at the Pendleton Art Center.
“And, it is likely you’ll see something new each time you come in,” Ross said, explaining the new tasting room is accentuated with the same types of things visitors will find at CCC Trail Vineyard and Journey’s End Inn in Rowan County.
In a building shared by artists’ studios and a café, the new tasting room brings an entirely different dimension of hand craftsmanship to the center. The tasting room is laden with European antiques around elaborately carved wood furnishings and focused on providing a platform for the quality of wines capable of being produced in Kentucky.
More specifically, they want people to taste the wines being made at the Rowan County vineyard and winery established by George Plage, a farmer who has been recognized for his innovative approach to agriculture
Ross, 56, said he and his wife, Darlene, are developing the tasting room, vineyard, winery and inn as their retirement plan. He recently joked with members of Ashland’s Rotary Club saying it is an investment he is told “could make a small fortune” and simply requires a large fortune and a lot of manual labor to pay off.
A business presence in Ashland is a natural move for Ross, who is a practicing physician and former corporate medical director for Ashland Oil, as well his wife, who is an attorney with a long history of involvement with local civic groups. Their newly renovated space in the Pendleton is an ideal location for their ambitions, he said.
“I’m really impressed with what they’ve done with the Pendleton,” Ross said, citing an impressive number of people he personally knows who have enjoyed an introduction to painting, pottery and other arts through classes at the center. “The Pendleton Center is a great resource for the city of Ashland. I thought, ‘What a perfect place.’ It inspires me.”
The CCC Trail tasting room will be open during the First Friday series on the first Friday evening of every month and in conjunction with downtown festivals, events and the Paramount Arts Center. The room is also available by appointment for small groups who want to enjoy a taste of the winery’s vintages.
“We will probably have more guests at the tasting room than at the winery,” Ross said. “And, the tasting room will cause people to come to our winery and our inn.”
The tasting room will pair well with The Olive Tree Café at the Pendleton, Ross said. While CCC Trail wines can’t be enjoyed outside of the tasting room, he said the café’s foods will be available for visitors and group events.
“Food and wine just go together naturally,” he said.
Currently offering a range of wines from dry and red to light and sweet, Ross has plans to add a blackberry wine and a tomato wine to their list. While the idea of a tomato based wine may seem unusual, Ross said it is a wine that must be sampled to be appreciated. Five types of tomatoes for the wine are being grown in a garden near the operations center at the vineyard, he said, and were selected for their acidity, fluid content, sugar content and flavor.
In blind tastings, Ross said people tend to think the tomato wine is a grape wine with a familiar yet unidentifiable aroma.
“It doesn’t come off as tomato soup,” he said with a chuckle.
Ross makes a point of saying he is still working as an apprentice to George Plage and has much to learn from “the farmer extraordinaire” as he and his wife move forward with their plans.
Among their greatest challenges in the years ahead is the task of letting people know just how good wines made in Kentucky can be. The state actually has rich preprohibition history as a wine-producing area, Ross said, and continues to provide an ideal environment for grapes to flourish.
When compared side by side with wines from other places, Ross is confident Kentucky wines will find friends.
“I believe Kentucky wine will stand up with anybody,” he said.
For more information about the CCC Trail Tasting Room at the Pendleton Art Center, call (606) 768-2103.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
