Vineyards

Our 80-acre vineyard, known as Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards, is located in Clermont, Fla. Additionally we own 450 acres in Florida's panhandle at Prosperity and contract with several growers throughout the Southeast with over 400 acres under our contract.

Our produce, Florida hybrid bunch grapes, include Stover, Suwannee, Blanc Du Bois, and the Mississippi hybrid Miss Blanc. We also grow native varieties of the red Noble and bronze Carlos and Welder Muscadines.

Typical yield at maturity is 6 to 7 tons of grapes per acre, or 160 gallons of wine per ton of grapes, or 1,000 gallons (approximately 5,000 bottles) of wine per acre.

Grape Varieties

Our vineyard produces Muscadines and bunch-grape varieties developed in the South and in Florida for disease resistance and adaptability to a warm, humid climate.

Breeding programs over the past 50 years by plant geneticists and food scientists have brought about dozens of new types of Muscadine and bunch-grapes, some of which are excellently suited to winemaking. The bunch-grape varieties used in our wines are Suwannee, Stover, Blanc Du Bois and Miss Blanc. The Muscadine varieties we use are Noble (red), Carlos, Welder, and Magnolia (whites). Our vineyard does not yet provide all the grapes we need, for this reason we contract with other growers to provide the balance of the juice we need.