By: Kelsey Harrell

Originally published in the Tampa Bay Times on December 28, 2023: read here

A short drive off Interstate 4, at the same exit as Dinosaur World, is a Plant City winery that’s made fermenting blueberries and other fruits for wines, ciders and beers a family affair for the past two decades.

Keel Farms, one of the largest wineries in the Southeast, has grown beyond making and selling wine, becoming a place where families and friends can spend time together eating, drinking and exploring the farm.

The 25-acre farm is open for visitors to walk and offers daily tours of the facilities where its wines and beers are made.

Joe Keel opened the winery in 2003 under the name Keel & Curley. He originally owned a plant nursery from 1981 until 2001 where he transitioned from growing small plants to blueberry bushes.

He used the fruit to make Keel & Curley’s first batch of wine, which is still sold today and is made of 100% pure blueberries.

Clay Keel bought the farm from his dad in 2019 and transitioned the brand to focus on a younger, family-friendly atmosphere with the core principles of quality, sustainability and community. They added a food menu that same year and have continued to expand those options.

“The winery is named after my grandmother and my grandfather because one is Keel and one was Curley, so the family aspect runs pretty deep,” he said.

During the winery’s first year, it made 10 gallons of blueberry wine. Now, it sells more than 450,000 bottles of wine annually in a variety of flavors.

The farm makes 12 flavors that are available year-round and offers seasonal flavors, too. The most popular are sweet blueberry, wild berry pinot noir and sangria, Keel said.

Four ciders are also available year-round with seasonal flavors as well. Unlike the wine, not all the cider is made in-house because they can’t keep up with demand, Keel Farms tour guide Deziree Rosebeck said.

All of the beers are brewed in-house, but are only kegged and sold on the property because they don’t make enough to distribute, she said.

Keel Farms wines can be found on Publix shelves across the state. Locally, its products are sold at Total Wine, Walmart, ABC, Winn Dixie and smaller independent stores.

“When my dad started making blueberry wine, everybody thought he was crazy,” Keel said. “There was no other blueberry wine at Publix, now there’s a handful of them.”

Keel Farms has been a corporate partner with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the past two years, selling wine and cider at the stadium and making a commemorative wine for the team each year, Keel said. Their products are also sold at Tampa Bay Rays games.

The wines and ciders are part of Disney World’s International Flower and Garden Festival, and its Food & Wine Festival and are sold at Universal Studios, Keel said.

The farm’s products can still only be found in-state, but they’re looking to expand distribution outside of the state but want to do it when the time is right, Keel said.

One of the farm’s goals is to try and be as sustainable as possible, Rosebeck said. They hope to eventually keg all their products to eliminate waste.

The property hosts a variety of weekly and yearly events, including its blueberry festival held in April, which it has been hosting since the winery opened.

The busiest time of year for Keel Farms is between February and early May, Keel said.

That’s when the farm’s fruit gets ripe, people are visiting for winter break and spring break and local festivals are happening, he added.

When the blueberries and strawberries are ripe, visitors can come and pick the fruit themselves.

“There’s not too many farms in the area,” Keels said, “where you can go and have a beverage.”