From Berries to Bottles

The Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm sits nestled off of Highway 86 beside Pope’s Tire Service. The blueberries aren’t in season this time of year, but it doesn’t mean the owners and employees are off the clock.

The Smith family has owned the farm for about three years. When they bought the property, it came with a warehouse building. And Lyndon Smith said he automatically knew he wanted it to be used for making all sorts of blueberry wines, for every type of person.

“A lot of people like what they know but don’t necessarily know what they like,” he said. “So what we want to do is give the opportunity for people to try lots of different things, to blend their own of the same fruit with different sweetness levels.”

But the problem was that equipment, like aging barrels and keg systems, is expensive. So with their new name, Botanist and Barrel, Lyndon said the family decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign.

“We have all of the equipment to start fermenting,” he said. “What we didn’t have was some of the stuff to age.”

A sign for berry pickers at the Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm. Photo via Steph Beckett.

The campaign raised over $23,000, $3,000 over its goal. Co-owner and Lyndon’s sister, Kether Smith, said one of the next steps is finishing the renovation process, and figuring out where Botanist and Barrel will fit in the wine market.

“We’ll pour our wines,” she said. “We’ll have some stuff that if we do champagne method, that will be in bottles. Because that process has to happen in the bottle.”

She said one of their goals as a company is to be relaxed and welcoming to everyone, wine snobs and newbies alike. She said unlike at a regular winery, they won’t attempt to tell patrons what wines they should enjoy.

“It’s kind of already decided for you,” she said. “It’s a finished product. So ours should stand alone, but we also want people to play because everybody has a different palate.”

From their almost four acres of land, they’ll be developing different wines with different fermenting processes. But they’ll also be experimenting with other local fruits like blackberries, peaches and apples. Botanist and Barrel will also be partnering with local breweries to offer blueberry beers.

Lyndon said it’s important to him, and to his family that they continue trying to make new, different flavors for people to try and love.

“The worst thing I can think of is to stop experimenting,” he said. “I don’t want to be a production facility where we’re pumping out the same bottle of Coca-Cola for 100 years, that’s the last thing I want to do.”

Botanist and Barrel is set to open this summer in July, peak blueberry season.

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