Winery Application Made

Laurel Springs - Tom Burgiss, owner of grapestompers.com, has announced that he is forming a corporation that will make an application to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to create a winery in this mountaintop community of northwestern North Carolina.

"Assuming everything goes as planned, the name of our winery will be 'Thistle Meadow Winery'", said Burgiss.

Burgiss says he was inspired to come up with the name from the prickly, wild purple flower that grows in this area. "Yeah," mused Burgiss, "they're [thistles] pretty thick around here. They keep us busy with the bush hog during the summer. The cows won't eat them, so we have to mow them down."

Burgiss has hired a local lawyer to help with the winery application process. "It's not every day that you go out and try to make a winery from scratch," said Burgiss. "There are lots of rules and regulations, so I wanted to make sure we did it right from the start."

When asked how long the application process would take, Burgiss remarked that he was guessing it would take six months to a year. The reason, he said, was because the federal and state governments would have to approve his application.

"Don't worry," Burgiss assured. "We'll let you know when we hear something."

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