Tourist trap or quality wine?
Recently, my family and I visited Gatlinburg, TN. I am not too much of a country fan and I am allergic to camping (joking), but my wife and I thought it would be a nice mini vacation with the children. Last summer, we booked this amazing house and this past month, we headed south.
To say the view from our patio was spectacular would not do it justice. It truly was a sight nobodies’ eyes would ever believe. My goodness was it breathtaking.
Previously, I visited TN but only Chattanooga and Nashville, but never Gatlinburg let alone Pigeon Forge. Many people that we spoke with or even work with routinely go to Gatlinburg. It was only after we started talking about our upcoming adventure that we noticed the sheer number of individuals who also visit. In fact, multiple people within my own practice were visiting Gatlinburg just a few weeks before our trip was planned.
Upon their return, we received numerous recommendations for places to eat, places to visit, and even things to ride. One of those places included a distillery which almost everyone advised us to visit. “Moonshine baby” is the phrase I distinctly recall from many people. They all said, you must go moonshine tasting. However, we were travelling with our 5-year-old and our 2-year-old, so moonshine, hooch or even a small amount of beer and wine was probably not happening. However, just because we weren’t actively tasting, that did not mean we could not purchase a few bottles for home, especially with the holidays and parties on the horizon.
As we meandered through the streets of Gatlinburg, we came across store after store and distillery after distillery, both selling various styles and flavors of moonshine. We also came across winery after winery selling wine. To say I was surprised would also be an understatement. Amongst my wine studies, through both the Wine Scholars Guild as well as The Wine and Spirits Education Trust, they seemed to skip the chapter on our country’s good ole vineyards in Tennessee. During our drive through the Smokey Mountains, I never noticed any vineyard let alone a lone grape plant, so I was again puzzled by all these establishments selling their product.
The question I am asking is not whether there are vineyards in Tennessee, but rather, do they produce a worthwhile product? How is their wine?
When I noticed the first “winery,” I noted it was merely a storefront. This is not me being critical by any sense of the word. I run a winery out of my home, so by the pure definition of the word winery, both settings are absolutely accurate.
The other detail I noticed was that these wineries were not serving standard Cabernet or Merlot, but rather, strawberry, raspberry, and any other berry you could name. (Interesting aside, a strawberry and a raspberry are technically not berries. Google it, I promise you they are not berries).
Therefore, essentially, these wineries appear to be built purely to cater to the group of people that cannot drink moonshine but rather can slip next door and have their fruity styled alcoholic beverage. I did not try any of these wines while I visited Gatlinburg last month, but I did try wine in Hilton Head, South Carolina which appeared to be quite similar to these in Tennessee. I assure you; I was not impressed. I am not saying they were bad wines by any stretch, but rather not my style. I appreciated their intent, and they were perfect for those who wanted a fruity sip of alcohol but not the potency of moonshine or, in Hilton Head’s case, the powerful reptile themed slushy establishment.
Though I personally never tried any of the wines in Gatlinburg, TN, I could not help to think, are these wineries a tourist trap or quality vino? I guess my answer will have to wait, unless others would care to chime in.
