It is mid-October, and Keels Creek Winery is still finishing its 10th harvest of grapes grown fewer than four miles from Eureka Springs. Dr. Doug Hausler and Edwige Denyszyn, owners, noted the moderate summer weather has allowed their harvest to extend into early October. Just now off the vine are the late harvest Vidal grapes.
Hausler said that last year Keels Creek produced almost 5000 gallons of wine. They have eight acres of grape and blackberry vines in production off Rockhouse Road where they grow eight primary grape varieties and assorted others. Their blackberry vines produced 1000 pounds of berries this yea,r from which they expect 100 gallons of wine. He also buys grapes of three additional varieties from a vineyard in Hindsville. In his ten years of winemaking, Hausler has produced wine from pears, peaches and apples.
Hausler and Denyszyn bought their property in 2003 and immediately planted 200 vines, followed by 600 more the following year. They purchased more property in 2005, and this time planted 5000 vines. “And then the work began,” Hausler commented.
Only then did they seriously consider what they would do with so many grapes. Hausler calculated that since a typical vineyard has 550 vines per acre, and an acre of vines can produce four to six tons of grapes, and one ton of grapes will produce 150 gallons of wine, Hausler figured their 12 acres could produce a tad more than 7000 gallons.
The idea of building a winery on the property was one possibility, but things fell into place for them to acquire property on US 62 only four miles from home. There was a spacious building near the front of the property and the foundation and three walls for what was to have been a motel toward the back. The motel space became the site for processing the harvest into wine, and the building in front became their wine-tasting room and art gallery. Hausler and Denyszyn cooperate in making wines and managing the gallery. Around 20 area artists have work displayed there.
“We wanted to have a facility that would be run in the manner of small wineries in Europe by making wines that were exclusively sourced using locally-grown grapes, and as much as possible, using regionally-sourced materials,” Hausler said.
Keels Creek Winery produces around 15 different wines, depending on the availability of quality grapes, fruit and tanks. Hausler said most of them are single varietals, but a few are blends. Signature Red, for example, is a blend of Cynthiana and Chambourcin grapes. He said the most popular dry white wines are Vivant and Vidal. Traminette is the favorite sweet white and Embarrassed is the favorite sweet red. Cynthiana, which is the state grape of Arkansas, is their most popular dry red wine.
The red wines are aged a minimum of two years in oak barrels and whites age for about one year in stainless steel tanks. Keels Creek port-style wine, Big C, is aged for at least six years in French oak barrels. He said they have tried many grape varieties in the past ten years. Since it takes three or four years for a vine to begin producing and eight to ten years for it to reach peak production, Hausler noted there is quite a lag time in seeing if particular vines were a good investment.
Primary adversaries in the vineyard are deer, raccoons, Japanese beetles, diseases and mildews. His solution to the deer and raccoons are two Great Pyrenees named Bacchus and Vincent. Japanese beetles are more of a challenge. Hausler said one summer they picked an average of ten pounds per day from the vines. Hard winters help with the beetle problem.
The perfect weather for grapes in our area would be a cold winter with no late frost followed by a moderate summer “with rain at the right times, and not during harvest,” Hausler said. Harvest is usually from the very end of July through September, depending on weather. Cynthiana is usually the last grape harvested, but this year it’s Vidal.
Keels Creek wines have won more than 80 Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in competitions including the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in New York, the Indy International Wine Competition in Indianapolis, and the Arkansas State Fair.