Beer, Wine & Spirits in Clarksville

Situated amidst 80 acres of rolling countryside, Chateau de Pique Winery hosts live music and wine tastings inside a fully restored, 19th-century horse barn. Glasses swirl handcrafted wines such as a dry, citrusy riesling and semi-sweet Lazy 8 Blush, a crisp pink wine with notes of waning ambition. In warmer months, a 6,500-square-foot tent accommodates up to 350 guests during special events, and two satellite tasting rooms provide sips in Indianapolis and Clarksville year-round.

Indian Creek Winery came to be as the result of a 15-day road trip embarked upon by Mark Kendall and his wife. As the couple drove across the Southeast, they visited every winery they found between Alabama and Gatlinburg. At the trip's end, they'd acquired the inspiration to plant their own grapevines on Georgetown soil. Since then, they've developed wines that range from a three-wine blend called Dry Creek Red to a riesling sweet enough to make honey glow the envious green of a lovelorn alien. Visitors to the winery can take a seat indoors, or outdoors amid scenic views and live music, to pair red and white sips with platters of cheeses, summer sausage, and dried fruit.

Wight-Meyer Vineyard & Winery began producing wines in 1996 as Bullitt County's first commercial vineyard. In 2006, after initially plucking grapes from 2.5 acres of vines and squeezing them using telekinesis alone, Wight-Meyer’s founders converted their barn into a bustling 16-acre wine production facility. The vineyard’s award-winning wines include a barrel-aged Kentucky norton and a rosé, some of which can be sipped during group tastings in the facility’s new tasting room.

Craig and Laura Decker seem to have a difficult time making up their minds. They also seem to have a knack for turning this indecisiveness into an advantage at every turn. When it came to opening their new business, for example, they briefly wondered whether it should feature a wine shop, a wine bar, or a gourmet bistro. Their solution? All three.

This spirit of inclusivity pervades The Wine Guy Bistro, where the Deckers pair seasonal wine varietals with globally inspired cuisine. Rather than choose between European elegance and New-American pizzazz, they settled on a compromise they describe as “Old World chic.” This label suits a menu that features small plates of housemade meatballs and bruschetta alongside assorted cheeses from around the world. The focus on small plates is in keeping with the Deckers’ have-it-all mentality and gives diners the option to sample several dishes without having to barter with adjacent tables.

At Chrisman Mill Vineyards, Kentucky is king. The winery uses 100% Kentucky-grown varietals such as Vidal Blanc, Chancellor, and Norton in each of its wines. The grapes come from the winery’s Nicholasville estate—tucked into the rolling hills of Hickman Creek valley—as well as 14 family farms spread across the state.

In Nicholasville, vintners carefully process, bottle, and sing each batch to sleep. They also produce two non-grape beverages—a sweet honey mead and a blackberry wine made with berries from the Pacific Northwest. Visitors can visit either the Nicholasville or Lexington tasting rooms to pair wine flights with a selection of tapas that includes tomato bruschetta, hummus, and homemade wine cheese.

Since 1997, Neil and Rachel Vasilakes have been growing fresh fruit with minimal pesticides on 30 acres of rolling farmland. With the grapes, berries, apples, and peaches that grow there, they craft 22 wines. Included in these are nine dry reds, which range from medium to robust, as well as such dry whites as chardonnay and seyval blanc. Neil, the primary winemaker, also enjoys exploring unusual varietals, fermenting small quantities of inventive recipes for his Black Barrel Reserve collection. Though they frequently rotate, these wines sometimes include peach mead, port wine aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels, and black walnut wine aged in Maker's Mark barrels. The winery is also known for Neil's blackberry, strawberry, and blueberry wines.

Within their tasting room, they serve up cheese pairings to complement the flavors of the wines, several of which won silver and bronze medals at the 2009 Kentucky State Fair Commercial Wine Contest. Believing that no good thing should go to waste, they repurpose some wines from the tasting room into gourmet cooking vinegars.