The Wildside Story

Wildside Winery

Check out our really fantastic new red wine releases: 2007 Chambourcin, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Zinfandel. We also have a new sweet white, our 2007 Niagara. And have you tried our dry sparkling cider, our cranberry or our cherry wines?

Our goal at Wildside Winery is quality grapes and wine. We believe that quality wine is made in the vineyard. How do you define quality? We try to maximize flavor, not quantity. We define success by the number of times we hear "Wow!". Thats when we know we've succeded. We also try to produce a wide selection to satisfy all tastes. We limit production to ensure that each grape has maximum flavor. This flavor is evident in the wines we produce. Our berry wines are pure berries. We don't add any water - this is rare in making berry wines. Why? - It's expensive! We want to be known for the best wines at reaonable prices.

Thank you for supporting us!

Neil and Rachel Vasilakes moved to Versailles, Kentucky in 1997 after several years of traveling and searching for the ideal location for a small farm. We fell in love with a 30 acre farm just south of Versailles.

We planted our first grape vines in 1998 and began putting up the trellis. Some neighbors stopped by and were surprised that grapes could even be grown in Kentucky. This was before the grape growing boom hit. We also planted blueberries, blackberries, apples, pears, plums and peaches in 1998.

In 1999 and 2000 we planted table grapes.
In 2001 we planted an acre of hybrid grapes with the financial help of the Kentucky Vineyard Assistance Program. The Vineyard Assistance Program started the grape growing boom in Kentucky. In 2003 we had the first harvest of these grapes. which we sold to home winemakers and made into wine for ourselves.

In 2002 we planted 100 Cabernet Sauvignon Vines.
In 2003 we planted 500 more Cabernet Sauvignon vines and 300 more hybrids. We just planted another acre of Neil's favorite red grape, "Cynthiana" (also known as Norton). This spring we also planted a half acre of Chardonnay.

We also have an apple orchard as well as pears and peaches. We make a hard cider and are making a peach mead (honey wine) this year. We grow blueberries and blackberries for wine as well.

We started selling wine in early in 2005 at festivals and similar events and began construction of our winery.

March 25, 2006 was our grand opening of the winery at the vineyard. Stop by and try our selection.