The shell of this former winery stands in the Chesterfield County town of Patrick, the vats that once produced 500,000 gallons of wine now empty. Brothers Sal, Lukie, and Al Tenner established the business in neighboring Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1935. They moved the winery across the state border in 1953, attracted by a state tax incentive on wines made from South Carolina fruits. At the time, Tenner Brothers was the only winery in South Carolina.
In the mid-twentieth century the Tenner brothers owned the largest Scuppernong vineyard in the world, growing more than 300 acres of the grape. However, they also made wines from blackberries and peaches. By 1965 the vineyard and winery were acquired by the Canadaigua Wine Company, producers of the brand Wild Irish Rose.
The demand for wine made locally in South Carolina was never strong, and the Tenner Brothers Winery closed in the 1990s. A few local wineries are currently in operation, though the Tenner Brothers facility stands vacant in Patrick, unused for two decades.
My father was manager and oenologist with Keith Helms in the mid to late ’60s. My father’s name is Charles H Hawley. What I remember about the winery was the smell – I hated it when I first smelled it and really missed it when I left.
The owner lives in it now – has for a few years. He turned some of the office into living quarters. Parks his cars inside as well.
I worked at the Winery for two summers while going to high school. My favorite memory was that of donning chest waders and climbing inside redwood aging tanks to clean out the dried pulp and seeds left after the juice was drained out. After turning 18, I received a bottle of wine every Friday as a bonus. It was hard work, but I still remember the people I worked with and treasure the memories.
It’s a shame that this business closed. I just have good memories of making deliveries at the facility — I delivered CO2 (carbon dioxide) there several times. No mater what time of day or night, I was always treated with respect. Once after getting the bill of laden signed, I was treated to a sample. Good wine!
The airport was a landing strip very close to the winery, used primarily by the GM from Petersburg VA (Wink Lanier) who visited from time-to-time by himself and with high ranking corporate visitors. Marvin Sands was the owner of Canandaigua Wine Company at the time, a very employee friendly businessman from Canandaigua NY ( a resort town in western NY). Richard and Robert are his sons who eventually took over the business (publicly traded now as STZ) and a company-owned Trucking Company was named Robert’s Trading Corp, now moved to a non-trucking part of the business.
This is such fantastic information, thank you so much for taking the time to share it!
I am researching information about “Robert’s Wine Company” in Patrick, South Carolina. My friend found a bottle of peach wine that his father bought back in the ’80s. Before pouring it out we decided to give it a try. It tasted like a well aged sherry, not a great one but drinkable, with a hint of peach. We thought it might interest any surviving members of the winery. If you have any information it would be appreciated. I have a photo I can send if interested.
Hey Ralph, we did a search and haven’t found any information just yet but we are always interested in discovering the unknown if possible. We’d love to see the photo, our email is share@scpictureproject.org, thank you!
Oenophiles might recognize the elite vinicultural nomenclature “Richards Wild Irish Rose”. This is its original home from the 1960s(?). On Google there is still a listed a “Wild Irish Rose Airport” nearby and credited as owned by Tenner Brothers. An excellent source for information on Richards Wild Irish Rose is bumwine.com
I remember when Sun Country wine coolers were made in Patrick, SC. There were the 12 oz bottles and the 2 liter sizes. Many flavored, cherry,peach,tropical. I think I must have sold a few hundred cases when I lived in Vidalia,GA and sold for Coleman Sales,Inc.
The winery and all the land was auctioned off in 1999 or 2000. A company called the Land Center out of Camden purchased all of it for an investor. I was there representing them and placed the winning bid. The surrounding land was subdivided and sold off. When I left the company in 2001 the winery itself was still unsold and vacant. Not sure what became of it after that.
Thanks so much for this information, Ron! It is greatly appreciated.
The man who owns it lives there currently.
Good to know, we were unaware, thank you for the information! Do you know if the building has had any major changes inside?
Didn’t someone live there for a while?
Not that we are aware of but that certainly sounds possible. Do you know when that was?
Thanks I've always wondered what this building was with the vats. I bike down in the Sandhills occasionally and was just by there today.