ENTERTAINMENT
CHEERS TO BEER,
WINE AND CIDER
Get your taste buds ready for a traveling
A bottle of Orchid Island beer and a glass of its brew in an Indian River County citrus grove symbolize Treasure Coast Wine & Ale Trail festivities.
40
wine and ale trail festival
BY BERNIE WOODALL
Gary Roberts, owner of a winery northwest of Fort
Pierce, and Pete Anderson, owner of a craft brewery
in Sebastian, had each been to other areas of the
country where craft brewers or vineyards collaborated
to create maps guiding customers to their businesses.
The two men each say they got along well right from the
start, but it took several years for them to call together the
craft brewers at Roberts’ Summer Crush Vineyard & Winery.
It was the inaugural meeting for members of what became
the Treasure Coast Wine & Ale Trail.
Roberts called the tourism organizations in St. Lucie and
Indian River counties, which each agreed to pitch in money
ORCHID ISLAND
and to help organize and promote the Wine & Ale Trail,
launched in March 2017, according to Charlotte Bireley, director
of tourism and marketing for St. Lucie County.
At that time, there were seven of the current 12 members.
There are 10 craft breweries, a winery and a cider maker that
now make up the Wine & Ale Trail.
In late 2018, a Wine & Ale Trail fundraiser and tasting
festival was held at Summer Crush. Attendance was 550. In
mid-November, a second of what is now an annual event at
Summer Crush attracted about 1,100. Money raised goes toward
promotion of the Wine & Ale Trail, including the maps
of the trail and advertising in markets outside of the Treasure >>