Shady Grove Meadery

Shady Grove Meadery

Welcome to Shady Grove Meadery and the historic world of Mead, a flavorful, ancient drink. A tradition at Irish weddings, mead is better known here as honey wine. We appreciate your interest in finding out more about this inviting beverage and why we bother with our labor of love... Cheers! Shady Grove Spirits LLC (dba Shady Grove Meadery) was founded in February 2002 as a member-managed Limited Liability Company registered in Tennessee and owned and operated by John Cosgrove and Hal Jennings. The company concept, product development, facility construction and equipment purchasing began in 2000 and the LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the State of Tennessee in February 2002. We received our federal winery permit in May 2003 and our Tennessee winery permit in October 2003 at which time we began commercial production. We built a small home-based production facility with the intent of conducting a limited-production, 2-5 year test-market phase of the business. During our first production year, we concentrated on producing an elegant, hand-crafted sparkling mead, in several flavors, produced using the traditional methods of fermented-in-the-bottle French champagne. We also recognized a unique market for mead-on-tap which allows us to broaden our market by offering our products in kegs. In our 2003/2004 production year we produced about 100 cases of mead and 9 kegs. We are on track to double that production in our 2004/2005 production year. We began distributing Shady Grove mead through Knoxville Beverage Co. in November, 2004. Our bottled mead is currently carried in liquor stores in Knoxville, Oak Ridge and Gatlinburg. Our mead is also sold by the bottle at NAMA restaurant at North Gay Street in Knoxville, Tennessee. The success of our test-marketing phase has prompted us to purchase interstate-accessible property off I-75 at the Lake City exit where we will scale up our production capacity and offer a tasting room and gift shop with direct sales to the public. The site plan for our new facility was approved by the Anderson County Planning Commission in August, 2004 and we plan to start construction as soon as financing is secured. Mission: Shady Grove Meadery is dedicated to refining the ancient magic of mead. Our mead (honey-wine) is hand-crafted using only top quality, carefully selected ingredients. Our specialties are bottle-fermented sparkling mead using the traditional Champagne Method and "Mead on Tap". As one of very few meaderies in the country producing sparkling mead and providing kegged mead, we hope to build a loyal customer base excited about a unique, unforgettable fine-wine experience. Every step of our business, from honey selection to pouring the final product at wine tastings, is an opportunity shared among the three owners. Mead was once believed to be the drink of the gods and the Shady Grove owners also share a passion for bringing this incredible drink back as the premier celebratory drink . Our first year of production in our test-marketing phase has created a lot of excitement among our customers and distributor and we intend to double our production level at this phase to 300 cases per year while constructing a 3000+ case per year facility on interstate-accessible property we acquired in 2002. Wine retailed directly through our tasting room provides the best profit margin. We intend to retail approximately 80% of our mead directly through our tasting room while distributing 20% so we can continue to reach the wonderful friends and customers we've come to know through the restaurants and liquor stores. Keys To Success: 1) Uncompromising commitment to the quality of the end product: quality ingredients, processing, and presentation all ensure a quality finished product. 2) Successful niche marketing: we are positioned in the forefront of a revived interest in mead and are one of only three companies in the U.S. making a sparkling mead using the traditional champagne method. We successfully focused our early marketing efforts on reaching a broad audience through wholesale distribution to area restaurants and liquor stores rather than rely solely on on-site sales. 3) Teamwork among a small committed group of working owners. Since our company's inception, the three owners have combined their individual strengths, vision and dedication to create and maintain a strong synergistic company with an unwavering commitment to producing fine mead for satisfied customers who are as excited about our product as we are.