Tennessee Winery Celebrates

Filed in archive Vineyards , Wine Making , Wine News , Wineries on April 25, 2006

Napa Valley is not the only place in the U.S. that can boast about its wine. Welcome to Clarksville, Tennessee, folks, where Beachaven Vineyards and Winery are celebrating its 20th anniversary.

From The Leaf Chronicle: The Beach family broke ground on their winery in April 1986. Wielding the shovels on that day were then-Clarksville Mayor Ted Crozier, former County Executive Joel Plummer and former Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce President Wendell Gilbert.

There were some doubters around town at the time, but today, Beachaven is Montgomery County's leading tourist attraction.

"Wine-making had been a hobby of my father's since I was a kid," Louisa Cooke recalled.

"Daddy would say when I was a little girl, 'Come on down here and help me Cork these bottles.'"

Ed Cooke said Beachaven has helped to change the culture in Clarksville.
"For example, we've had 20 years of Jazz On the Lawn in the summertime.
"When we first started out, we had maybe 40 people in our audiences. Now, a typical audience is about 3,000 people in a single night if the weather is good," Louisa said.