Feasting on Agriculture -- Thirsty Farmer Winery & Vineyard
When you think of wine country, I doubt northeast Louisiana is one of the first places that comes to mind. But, Ouachita Parish is quickly becoming a unique, must-see destination for wine lovers in the Bayou State.
This week, I traveled north, to my hometown of Calhoun, LA to visit one of the newest vineyards, growing just miles from my childhood home.
Thirsty Farmer Winery and Vineyard offers locally crafted wines, food and live entertainment. Owners Michael and Savannah Ray opened their business to the public in June of 2022.
Full disclosure, Savannah and I went to school together. However, when I saw they had built a vineyard and winery in our hometown, I knew that I wanted to feature it in one of our Feasting on Agriculture segments.
Thirsty Farmer’s story does start in a more familiar wine country. After a trip to California’s wine country in 2015, the couple decided to try their hand at growing grapes and winemaking back home. Michael planted more than 150 vines of their favorite wine grapes, but the crop was not exactly successful.
"I found out really quickly that I had put the wrong grapes in the ground,” Michael said.
Three years after planting, Pierce’s disease infected the plants, and they lost the entire crop.
Michael and Savannah discovered they needed to learn more about growing grapes and find varieties that were suitable for Louisiana’s hot and humid growing conditions. In 2020, they purchased and planted some new varieties that were developed specifically for Louisiana growing conditions by the UC Davis Foundation Plant Services. They also enrolled in the Distilling and Viticulture Program at Grayson College in Denison, Texas to expand their knowledge of the winemaking process.
Wine has been likened to “poetry in a bottle.” And just like any creative process, winemaking requires knowledge, commitment, and time— a LOT of time.
It can take a full three years to get from the initial planting of a brand-new grapevine through the first harvest. Over the next several years, the young vines need lots of care and attention, including judicious watering, proper pruning, and protection from pests and disease.
Growing grapes also involves a complex interaction between the following factors:
Soil: Soil influences how much water and heat are available. Grapes need a steady, but not excessive, water supply.
Color: Dark soils tend to be warmer than light soils because they are better at absorbing and holding heat.
Geology: Rocky or stony soils allow water to drain better than clay soils; rocks also help to absorb heat in the soil.
Chemicals: The role of soil pH and chemicals (nitrogen, potassium, organic matter) in the soil is delicate and crucial.
Topography: This influences the amount of sunlight available and the drainage
Microclimate: This influences temperature, sunlight and water (rainfall, fog, mist).
Once the crop is mature and ready for harvest in late July/ early August, they pick the grapes by hand. Then the next process begins - crushing, pressing, fermenting, degassing, filtering, clarifying, stabilizing, testing - to turn those grapes into a bottle of wine.
The alcoholic fermentation process takes anywhere from two weeks to about a month. During this time, the winemaker samples the fermenting must and measures the pH or acid levels and sugar content to determine that the fermentation process is proceeding as it should.
Michael explained many of the challenges they faced early in the process. For example, did you know that oxygen is a fickle beast for winemakers? Too much or too little can be disastrous. Oxygen’s presence or absence at the various stages of winemaking can have extraordinarily important and lasting effects on what wines taste like. Oxygen levels must be measured and controlled by the parts per million from fermentation to bottling to achieve the perfect “sweet spot.”
After many batches of mistakes and lots of failed recipes, the Rays finally found their own “sweet spot” that satisfied their stringent taste palettes. Savannah said at the beginning, they gave away many of the bottles to friends and family to help them evaluate the wine, and discover what they liked and didn’t like about different blends.
Fast forward a few years and many, MANY glasses of wine later, the Rays are still continuously striving to perfect their craft and their wine.
I discovered that the process of making wine is a bit of dance that includes some science, art, and a touch of magic. During the interview, I asked Michael if he felt winemaking was more of an art or a science, and he said, “it’s both. Science gets you to a place where the art can then take over.”
The fermentation stage of the winemaking process is clearly rooted firmly in chemistry. Without the right formula and conditions, alcohol cannot be produced. In every fermentation there are certain ‘ingredients’ (yeast and grape sugar) and conditions that are mandatory in order for the fermentation process to occur and alcohol to be created.
“It’s most certainly an in depth science project from start to finish,” he added. “If you don’t understand the science of how to make wine, and why certain reactions happen in the process, you will never create a successful product.”
The combination of scientific knowledge and skill along with better farming practices, and more advanced technology are all crucial aspects of making wine.
While science is a useful tool to back up decisions while making wine, it also requires creativity and artistic intuition. From the choice of barrel, type of oak, toast level, what percentage of neutral and/or new oak to use and the amount of time a wine will spend in the barrel— all of those decisions are intuitive for the winemaker.
Making a good wine in Louisiana certainly requires creativity. Michael said that he learned to think outside of the box by finding other fruits and ingredients to blend with the limited variety of grapes you can grow here. Much of what a winemaker decides when it comes to what tastes good is based on their own palate or personal tastes and the final objective they are trying to achieve. Michael and Savannah’s creativity is evident in the unique blends they have artistically crafted at Thirsty Farmer.
In 2021, the Rays added a state-of-the-art tasting room and wine production facility to their operation. They wanted to create a space that would cultivate a one-of-a-kind experience for their customers and visitors at Thirsty Farmer, much like so many of their favorite vineyards in California.
Savannah and Michael say this journey has been a constant cycle of learning and growing, but they’re finding joy in the process of it all.
Today, Thirsty Farmer is thriving with acres of lush vineyards and a beautiful, modern farmhouse style tasting room which welcomes hundreds of visitors each weekend. The winery currently produces eight crafted wines, most of which feature fruits other than grapes, such as their peach wine.
They offer tastings, bottles, and flights of wines and ciders in addition to flatbreads, charcuterie boards and live music every Saturday. Thirsty Farmer also hosts special events like a Bring Your Own Steak Night, a Sip & Shop Market, and various wine pairing events.
Savannah partnered with Good Good Chocolates in Pennsylvania to craft a blend of special chocolate confections that pair perfectly with each of their wines. I had the opportunity to taste each of the pairings, and… WOW! It’s amazing how each of the chocolates highlights the different flavors in each type of wine. The chocolates were so good, I left with three packages of each flavor… and they may or may not be gone already!
They also crafted a charcuterie board pairing for each of their wines which was incredible as well. My favorite was the strawberry goat cheese and Bubbles wine pairing, and again, wow!
I can’t thank Savannah and Michael enough for welcoming us to the vineyard and showing us such wonderful hospitality.
Next time you’re in the Monroe/West Monroe area, make plans to visit Thirsty Farmer for a great time and delicious wine!
Follow Thirsty Farmer on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about their upcoming events.
