The UCCEO team started our week on Monday with an awesome trip to visit the Peachbarn Winery and Cafe. Nestled in the hills of Alto Pass, and owned by Scott and Jenny Schroeder, the Peachbarn is one of the wineries on the Shawnee Wine Trail.

The Schroeders bought the business in November, 2019, and a little thing called Covid shut them down shortly thereafter. An interesting point that Jenny made, was that they do not know what their business was like pre-Covid. They really started in the midst of it and have just rolled with the punches. Jenny shared that it was a stressful and challenging time but as we experienced on Monday, they have kept their focus on their vision for their business and have established a wonderful place in our community with their own personal touches.

Jenny explained that wine from the Peachbarn is vine to bottle, meaning that they only use their own grapes. Scott does all of the work in the vineyard and oversees the winemaking. Their peach wine is made from their own small peach orchard. Scott has won several awards for his wine and continues to hone his craft.

In addition to their wine, they also serve some delicious food and several different sangrias. One of their most popular has been their lavender sangria, using local lavender from Shawnee Hills Lavender Farm. They use Rendleman Orchards apples for their fall sangria and Flamm Orchards strawberries for their strawberry flavor. Jenny talked a great deal about the community spirit between the local wineries and other businesses and how wonderful that collaboration is for all of them

UCCEO team member, Lucas Salazar had some great takeaways from our visit:

“On Monday, we met with Mrs. Jenny Schroeder at The PeachBarn. It was a beautiful morning and a perfect temperature. Upon walking inside, I couldn’t help but notice the lovely atmosphere and the vibe I got from the barn.

Mrs. Schroeder began her presentation by describing how the Peachbarn came to be. They bought the barn three months before covid hit which caused them to shut down for a while. Despite shutting down, Covid allowed Mrs. Schroeder to redirect their business into a different path.

Outside, she explained the categories of wines and how they are organized. There are four main categories: sweet, semi-sweet, semi-dry and dry. The wines are categorized by how long the fermentation process is and how much sugar is in the wine. I found that interesting because I never knew making wine was so time-consuming.

One important piece of advice Jenny talked about was friendships and communication. The Peachbarn has built strong relationships with many wineries around them. Jenny explained how these relationships can help their businesses and the community thrive. Good relationships with your community and employees seem to be common advice from many businesses. It’s neat to see businesses thrive from good relations with others because it further indicates how valuable relationships can be.”

Thank you to Jenny for an amazing visit! We appreciate your time and hospitality and look forward to seeing you again!!!