For more information:
• Cedar Creek Vineyards

Producer: Dave Shuffett
Videographers: David Dampier, Prentice Walker
Audio: Roger Tremaine
Editors: Kelly Campbell, John Bacon, Angelic Phelps

Cedar Creek Vineyards

This edition of Kentucky Life focuses on the finest Kentucky food and drink, specifically wine and cheese, distilled spirits, and mountain cooking.

We begin in Pulaski County at Cedar Creek Vineyards. Jeff Wiles began the winery in 2002. Now he grows grapes on 3.5 acres, and he prides himself on sustainable practices like making compost, collecting rainwater, and introducing bees for pollination. Cedar Creek bottles wines in the autumn, and a tasting room is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Kentucky's wines are achieving international acclaim. Today's vintners are following a long history of winemakers here: The first commercial vineyard in America was established along the Kentucky River in what is now Jessamine County. When Prohibition began in 1920, Kentucky was the third largest grape and wine producer in the nation.

Dave Shuffett talks with several Kentucky winemakers about the resurgence of winemaking and what makes Kentucky the perfect place to grow grapes.

For more information:
• Duncan Hines Museum
• About Duncan Hines

Producer: Jim Piston

Historical Marker 1831—Duncan Hines

Everyone's familiar with the cake mixes from Duncan Hines, but many don't realize that Duncan Hines was a real person. Hines was born in Bowling Green in 1880. We visit the Warren County historical marker that recounts Duncan Hines' ground-breaking career in the food industry.

Long before he became known as the Cake Mix King, Duncan Hines was a traveling salesman taking note of the best places to eat on the road. In 1936 at the age of 55, he self-published a guide to the best restaurants in the country. The book was a hit, and he found more success with a book about the best motels and hotels. His standards were high, and the Duncan Hines seal of approval was much sought after.

After World War II, Hines joined with a business partner, Roy Park, to start a line of food products. That business merged with industry giant Proctor & Gamble in 1956, and the now famous cake mix line was born. Hines passed away in 1959, but the brand name lives on.

For more information:
• Good Shepherd Cheese

Producer: Valerie Trimble
Videographers: Angelic Phelps, David Dampier
Audio: Brent Abshear
Editor: Jim Piston

Good Shepherd Cheese

At a time when Sanford and Colleen Dotson could have planned for a relaxing, work-free retirement, they felt a spiritual stirring to become shepherds. They bought a Bath County farm and a small flock of East Friesian sheep. Now they're milking twice a day and operating the first licensed sheep milk dairy in Kentucky.

While most sheep in this country are raised for meat and wool, East Friesian sheep are among the breeds that have been raised for milk production. The Dotsons turn the creamy milk into an earthy, flavorful artisan cheese.

The Dotsons' delicious Good Shepherd Cheese is based on a recipe that has been popular in the Basque region of the Pyrenees Mountains for centuries. The Dotsons use old world techniques to make their cheese, separating the cream from the milk and breaking up the curds. Except for salt used to turn the milk into cheese, no preservatives are used. The cheese is aged at least 60 days.

We visit the farm, watch the milking and cheese making process, and talk with Sanford and Colleen about the satisfaction of their new life as shepherds and cheesemakers.

For more information:
• Heaven Hill Distilleries

Producer/Editor: John Schroering
Audio: Noel Depp

Heaven Hill Distilleries

Heaven Hill Distilleries was founded in Bardstown in 1934 after Prohibition ended in 1933. Today it is the largest independent, family owned and operated producer and marketer of distilled spirits in the country.

The five Shapira brothers began the business by producing and marketing bourbon and American whiskeys. Joining them in 1946 as master distiller was Earl Beam from the Jim Beam Company. In the last 20 years, the business has expanded to rum, cognac, tequila, vodka, and more.

Now the third generation of Shapiras is guiding Heaven Hill, with Earl Beam's son, Parker, and his son Craig as master distillers.

A popular stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is Heaven Hill's Bourbon Heritage Center, which features a working rickhouse, where barrels of bourbon are stored while they age.

For more information:
• Joyce Pinson's Friends Drift Inn

Producer: Valerie Trimble
Videographer: John Bacon
Audio: Noel Depp
Editor: Jim Piston

Friends Drift Inn

Get ready for some mouth-watering reading. Years ago, Joyce Pinson's grandparents ran a restaurant called Friends Drift Inn. Today, that's the name of Joyce's food blog, which has attracted the attention of food writers and famous chefs, as well as a devoted following in the Pikeville area.

Joyce blogs about gardening and cooking, posts recipes of her own and from the many Kentucky chefs with whom she's become friends, and writes about all the activities in her busy life, including her own monthly cable TV show. She's passionate about presenting a vision of Appalachia where family traditions have always included the food philosophies that are the current rage: locally grown food, canning and preserving the harvest, and the farm to table movement.

On her blog you'll find out how to cook frog legs, get ideas for all those black-eyed peas, and learn to make honeysuckle syrup. And don't get us started about the scrumptious fried green tomatoes!