EASLEY, S.C. (WSPA) – When you think of wine, you usually think of grapes.  Lazy Bear Winery near Dacusville may change your mind.

Ira and Laura Barrett are retired from the Air Force.

They moved to Hester Store Road in Pickens County, and Ira said they were greeted by a plant that would start a hobby…that would turn into that winery. 

”When we bought the property it already had established blueberry bushes. We get about 100-125 pounds of blueberries every year and we got tired of eating blueberry muffins, waffles and pancakes. I said, you know, let’s try something different. So we found a blueberry wine recipe, made that, it came out really well. So seven years ago we opened this business.”

Their first bottle sits at the bar, unopened, as a memento. 

Now, you’ll find the Lazy Bear label in some area stores.

The name reflects on Ira.

“In the military my nickname was bear. So we were trying to think of a name and my son comes up and says well, now that you’re retired, you’re a lazy bear.”

All Lazy Bear wines are made with local fruit, whether it’s from plants grown on-site or it’s from other local farms.

“We specialize in fruit and berry wines. We wanted to try and break away from that traditional grape wine.”

That means a LOT of fruit.

For example, a 50-gallon batch of raspberry-based wine could mean 100-125 pounds of raspberries.

Their current best-selling wine, Jacquez, is actually a bit more traditional.

“It is our newest wine that we’ve come out with. It is a South Carolina original grape, and it has notes of raspberries and spiced plums.”

Their wines are a hit with customers. 

“We have had people in here from Spain, England, all over the United States.”

And the wine critics. 

“We have gotten multiple international gold medals.  Our oak-blueberry won a double gold in Berlin, Germany.”

Ira and Laura’s son, also named Ira, is a big part in the winery’s operations. He also contributes to the recipes.

“One of our international gold medal winners…it is our son’s recipe, and it is a peach/black cherry that’s made with a white-fleshed peach instead of a yellow peach because of a rosy aroma and subtle finish.”

The younger Ira has another medal winner in their Oak Blueberry. 

If you’re more into mead than wine, they’ve got you covered with the help of some special residents. 

“We started doing bees about eight years ago.  We decided we wanted to use our own honey for our meads. We do have three meads, a traditional mead, a black cherry mead, and a blueberry mead. We use our raw honey, and we also sell our honey.”

They also sell candles, with scents that match the wines.  

A lot to enjoy, making it a great setting for events, including some that support local artists and causes. 

“We have two different artists that come in and do paint and sips once a month. One of them actually a couple of months ago we did a fundraiser for Ride for Alzheimer’s.”

One family, putting smiles on the faces of other families. 

Enjoy responsibly.