Saturday, November 02, 2024
*Disclaimer: This content is not paid or sponsored in any way. It is written as an informational guide for readers to explore and experience the wine event mentioned in this post.
Where can you find mums and pumpkins, fresh meat and produce and wine and cider all in one place? At a farmer’s market of course. But take those wines and bring them from across the state of TN with the owners/producers on site and you have the Sip Tn Wine Fest, an inspiring event misted in tranquility and rich in product offerings. The space was lovely and easily moved about even at its peak time. There were vendors scattered throughout who had products other than wine such as fresh cut flowers, biscuits with different fillings and flavored tree nuts as well as baked goods and fresh pressed juices. There was jewelry, candle makers and even fresh vegetables. In addition to all of that, there were food trucks available and even a wine valet option so that you didn’t have to carry it around the entire time. The details were well thought out.
There were two separate rooms in the event space separated by a main entrance. Each room held many wineries who had brought about six different wines from their respective wineries. The other vendors were interspersed between the winery tables which gave lots of diversity to the offerings. The size of the event was just right. It didn’t feel overwhelming with the amount of vendors present. For my taste, I was pleasantly able to get to each and every winery’s table to sample their great work. There was time within the five hour span to make it to each vendor more than once, even when lines had formed. Some vendors did run low or out of stock to purchase while at the event, which was a great sign of the patrons enjoying their wines. To my knowledge, each of them offered shipping options! My 2025 travel is looking very hopeful so I opted to keep my purchases small. I plan to make it to some of the wineries that were in attendance at the wine fest and do a more extensive tasting. I will definitely have to post on each visit.
Entry was swift and easy, all automated but with very friendly hosts at the door. Unfortunately there was an issue when I tried to purchase my ticket online. I had tried until the final night before to no avail. I reached out to Rocky Top Wine Trail, one of the hosts of the event, via Facebook late evening on Friday. I got a response within minutes, which was impressive due to the prep I am sure they were deep into at that point. I spoke with someone who informed me that tickets were available to be purchased at the door. The young lady Izzy, whom I had the pleasure to meet at the festival, was most helpful. Once there and I was purchasing my ticket, I was given a wristband that stated over 2. That let the wine vendors know that I was available to sample and had not entered on a designated driver ticket. A thoughtful detail that I appreciated. I was also given a wine glass for sampling and a simple, classically designed tote bag that could hold up to six bottles of wine as well as pamphlets/ brochures. All of these items were included in the ticket pricing.
Once inside, there were greeters who kindly gave the lay of the land and their suggestions on where to start. The compliment on my hat helped to relax me as well. Even though I am an introvert, I like what I like and I could be dressed a little flashy at any time 😆. Events can be intimidating for me and wine festivals can come off as pretentious. Wine snobs do exist, but we seek to understand one another. I felt that the Sip Tn Wine Fest was full of those who sought to not only enjoy wine, but to understand how others enjoy it as well. That is from the producers to the patrons and that makes for a nice wine community. Again, the layout made for a good flow of the event. The separation of rooms kept any one area from being too congested. It also made for the feeling of not experiencing that you were in the same one room for too long and becoming bored. The variety of vendors, not only wineries in their different approaches to wine making, but also of product availability was great. There was a diversity of types of products and items that could be paired with wine. I learned that some of the vendors who were not wineries were hosted at the farmer’s market on a regular basis.
Pricing of the wines was varied. While that can be a tough pill to swallow knowing that you have paid for entry and then purchase wine, we understand that no one works so hard for free. We all must eat. The cost of entry to the event was approximately 50$. I have definitely seen pricing for wine festivals double or more. While that entry fee might seem like a lot, you do receive the items mentioned before within that cost. Also, some of the vendors offer certain discounts when purchased at the event. One such winery priced all of the wines they brought for one set price each for the Sip TN wine fest. Others brought along their policy from in-house of receiving a discount for purchase of a certain number of bottles. Usually a percentage when you purchase six or more. This offset the cost of entry, but remember, there was no additional cost to purchase samples and they were unlimited throughout the event. I definitely went back to taste a small sample of some that I wanted to be sure of. One of the wineries from my hometown was there and they had one of their seasonal wines to taste. I had to try it because it has been an entire year! Fortunately, no one had ridiculous prices on their wines. I mean, we’re not buying vintage bottles as collectors here. We are buying great quality wines that have been made with love to enjoy.
Overall, I know that the Sip TN Wine Fest was a success. The vendors were friendly and informative. The diversity of offerings was wide and inclusive. Also, the staffers were kind and courteous. I would like to say kudos to Katie (pictured with me in the gallery below) and J. B. of Rocky Top Wine Trail, you did a fantastic job hosting the wine fest. Also, thanks goes to Tennessee Wines-Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Alliance for a well orchestrated event with great offerings. To all of the vendors, wineries and winegrowers especially, thank you for bringing your product to the public under one roof. It made for a great experience and I can’t wait to attend the next one. It gave me a desire to want to host something very similar in my city.
So to all of the readers out there, whether you’re a wine lover, a novice or just want something different to do, try a wine festival. It is great wine and community and the Sip TN Wine Fest Mid-south provided exactly that!
I have listed each winery in attendance below as well as just a few of the other vendors. Also listed are the hosts of the Sip TN Wine Fest. Click the business’ name to be taken to their website or social media page.
Tennessee Wines Rocky Top Wine Trail
The Farmer’s Market at Agricenter