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w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m S e p t - O c t 2 015 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 1 0 7 thing to a deep freeze, as happened in the winter of 2013-14. That's why more vigorous grapes like Vidal are popular here." CULTIVATING JOBS Consider, also, the economic climate. Bird explained that the decline of tobacco farming has hit the region hard. "Farmers are starting over, learn- ing how to grow the new cash crop, grapes," she said. "But our local farmers have lost 75% of their income in the past 10 years. They can't make enough money to pay taxes on the farms, and can't read- ily sell their land. Forty percent of the people in our country are on government subsidies. Our winery is now one of the largest employers in the county (by way of purchasing grapes from local farmers)." The process of upgrading the aged winery inches forward in fits and starts, depending on available cash flow. "It was two years before I could afford to put flooring over the dirt floor in the tasting room," Bird recalled. "I was really thankful to medical research before transition- ing into investments. "In order to support the costs of a winery, I have a 'regular' job as a portfolio manager and am a Certi- fied Financial Planner,"she said. "My work with high-net-worth indi- viduals has enabled me to travel the globe, and in the process I've learned about viticulture in most of the world's major wine regions." Bird now works about 60 hours (including commute time) at her investment job plus another 30-plus hours on winery work. WINE MEETS BOURBON Her dedication appears to be pay- ing off, as Baker-Bird wines have begun winning awards in interna- tional as well as local competitions. One wine that is attracting consider- able attention is Black Barrel Wine, a Cabernet Franc aged in white-oak barrels before being transferred to charred bourbon barrels, where it rests for six to 12 additional months. It is silky and not overly oaky, and yes, it does finish with bourbon-like sweetness and complexity. The winery's production is about 1,600 cases per year, about half of which is devoted to the bourbon barrel Cabernet. Among Baker- Bird's other offerings are dry and semi-dry Vidal Blanc wines and Chambourcin. "In the popular imagery of the United States, Kentucky is a place to grow wheat," wrote Pinney. "Yet there was a time when the future of winegrowing looked quite prom- ising in Kentucky, and perhaps such a time will come again." Bird seems to be signaling that such a time has arrived. Marguerite Thomas is a Bal- t i m o r e - b a s e d j o u r n a l i s t a n d p h o t o g r a p h e r w h o c o n t r i b u t e s wine-related articles to several national and international publi- cations. She is the author of the books "Wineries of the Eastern States" and "Visiting East Coast Wineries." Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. have the money to put in a heat- ing system. Trust me, kerosene heaters are not the way to go in a tasting room! And one of the big- gest challenges is keeping paint on the interior walls of the stone building. Because of extreme tem- perature variations here, which can range from minus 25 to over 100 degrees, the paint will not stick to the walls. Modern paint technology has not caught up to the 1850s." Since there has never been run- ning water at Baker-Bird, for the moment the wines are made off- site at other wineries, with neigh- boring winemakers participating in the vinification. M o s t v i n t n e r s w o r k l o n g , exhausting hours, but Bird may well outdo them all in terms of hard work and perseverance. At age 17, she left the ranch in central Texas where she grew up, taking with her only $1,000 that she'd inherited from her grandmother, along with what she describes as "a strong work ethic from having labored there from sunup to sundown." She went on to earn two Master's degrees and a Ph.D., and for 10 years worked in Baker-Bird's tasting room had a dirt floor for the first two years of its existence. It is still a work in progress.