Two years ago, Grinder’s Switch Winery, located in Centerville, Tennessee, opened a tasting room in Columbia. It has become a great place to meet friends and unwind with a glass of wine and a charcuterie board after a busy day. This will be the second year they will offer a Galentine/Valentine’s Day wine and cheese pairing event. It will take place on February 19, 2024.
Bring a friend or a romantic partner to this after-hours event. The one-hour activity will include tastings with six cheeses, fruits, nuts and chocolate. There will be three seatings, one at 5:00 p.m., another at 6:00 p.m., and the last at 7:00 p.m. It is a great way to celebrate the day of amour with that special someone or a gal friend.
Last year’s event offered artisan cheeses from The Bloomy Rind, as well as Goo Goo Clusters dark chocolate bon bons. Besides the wine and cheese, there will be a photo op for you and your sweetie or buddy to help remember the beginning of a great evening. Participants may want to follow-up this activity with a great dinner at one of the marvelous restaurants downtown. Reservations for the wine and cheese tasting are required. They can be made here, and a request for additional information about the event can be made here.
The winery has been named by “Southern Living” as one of the South’s best vineyards. A visit to the winery offers guests an opportunity to tour the vineyards, do a wine tasting, and peruse the local gifts and hand-made crafts available in the gift shop. It was started by Joey and Gail Chessor as a “hobby gone out of control” ten years ago, and it has become a family business.
While the Columbia tasting room is sleek and modern, the Centerville home-office is located in a hand-built log cabin surrounded by 110 rolling acres. The winery sits on seven acres of the family’s farm land. About 15,000 gallons of wine can be produced there per year.
“[Our philosophy is to provide] Southern charm and sophisticated taste,” says their website. Their wines have won a number of awards.
At the Columbia location, they have slowly been offering a more sophisticated menu to pair with their wine by the glass or wine slushies. While the menu started with just one charcuterie platter, the House Board, they now offer a Hummus Board and a Dessert Board. They also offer Spicy Whipped Goat Cheese Toast, Caprese Salad and a Pimento Cheese BLT Sandwich.
Grinder’s Switch offers a selection of both sweet and dry wines. Their sweet wines include:
- Blondy: Similar to Moscato, this Muscadine and Cayuga grape blend is light, peachy and refreshing.
- Switch Red: Made using a sweet Concord grape, this wine offers a familiar, comforting flavor. It is their flagship wine.
- Honeysuckle Rose: This is a sweet blush wine with a ripe golden apple nose and a dark cherry finish.
- Razzberry: A blush blend, it has lots and lots of sweet, raspberry flavor. It is excellent with a bite of dark chocolate.
- Blackberry Express: Their bestseller, Blackberry Express is a favorite of all who try it. It is their sweetest wine with tons of Blackberry flavor with each sip.
Their Dry and Off Dry Wines include:
- Barrel Select: A smooth, bold blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Barrel Select has been aged in Tennessee oak for almost two years, adding more complexity and roundness to the flavor.
- Three Eighty-Two: Three-Eighty-Two is an estate grown dry red wine from the Chambourcin grape. A unique flavor for a dry red, this grape offers smooth tannins and a dash of berry finish.
- Chardonnay: Unoaked, this wine is light and refreshing.
- Magnolia White: This is a bold and complex dry white Gewurztraminer wine.
- Vital Blanc: A refreshing and crisp dry white wine, it offers a grapefruit and tangerine nose, and a buttery, citrusy finish.
- Ivory Mist: This is an off-dry white wine from the Cayuga grape. It’s light, refreshing and easy to drink. They call this their “champagne without the bubbles.”
Grinder’s Switch Winery is named after a location just outside of Centerville, which is little more than the railroad switch for which it is named. The name Grinder’s Switch is also the fictional hometown of comic character Minnie Pearl, created by comedian Sarah Cannon, who grew up in Colleytown, located near Centerville.
They are open Tuesday through Thursday, 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Friday, 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Saturday, 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.; and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. They are closed on Mondays.
