Itawamba native turns hobby into business, opens county's first winery
Jun. 7—Magnolia Winery, Itawamba County's one and only winery is open for business.
Given that the winery has been selling its fruity fermentations since October of 2022 — with no advertising to speak of, gaining popularity strictly by word of mouth — it might also be one of the county's best-kept secrets.
Itawamba native William Snipes opened Magnolia Winery, located a literal stone's throw from his home near the Lee County line in Nettleton, about two years ago after almost a decade of making wine as a hobby. Snipes specializes in semisweet fruit wine, charging $12 a bottle for his creations. He said his wines ferment to about 14% alcohol almost without exception and have a shelf life of about 1.5 years.
The journey from hobby to profitable business has required patience, not unlike the three- to five-month process of making the wine itself. But Snipes has no shortage of patience, and with all of the red tape for commercial winemaking in Mississippi nearly cleared and distribution plans being set in motion, all his patience and work is about to bear fruit.
"I've come a long way since I first started," Snipes said.
How does an Itawamba County welder get into winemaking? For Snipes, it was encouragement from his late father, Perrin, that first inspired him to order a basic winemaking kit online and try his hand at making wine from tomatoes.
"My dad always raised a garden, with tomatoes to make vegetable soup and what not," Snipes remembered. "One day, he asked me, 'Why don't you make us some tomato wine?' I said, 'I don't have time for that.' But he kept on and kept on and talked me into it."
That tomato wine turned out surprisingly good, so Snipes next made another batch from Scuppernong grapes. That batch wasn't half bad either, and from there, he was hooked.
"As you go along, you always want to try to make everything better," Snipes said. "My wine now, I can always improve on it. It's just a never-ending process. I always think it can be better."
More than a decade of experimentation has resulted in a wide variety of different flavors, all made from fruits which include muscadines, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, strawberries, pears, apples, apricots, strawberries and even pineapples. Snipes has also made mead, using honey harvested from his own bee hives on site.
Snipes makes his wine the way he himself likes it, and so far, that approach has worked well for him. More often than not, folks who sample his various flavors can find at least one they really enjoy.
"Everybody's different," Snipes said. "Some people might just absolutely love the blackberry (wine) I make. Some others might absolutely hate it. People are just different."
The winemaking learning curve was no small challenge — Snipes said there was no telling how many gallons of wine from failed batches he's had to pour out over the years — but the results are undeniable. Through those many years of trial and error, Snipes has gradually improved and streamlined his winemaking process to the point that in some ways, it's become more art than science. Where once he used tools to measure the many variables which influence and facilitate the fermentation process, Snipes now knows his own tried and true process so well that some of those tools of the trade just aren't necessary any more.
"I've experimented a lot with it — fermenting with this flavor and this flavor, versus the same flavor with something else," he said. "There's a balance in all of it. I've pretty much landed on all the flavors that I'm going to do as far as fermenting different kinds of fruit together, but I'll probably experiment more, because it's hard to get away from.
"It's that pursuit of perfection," he added. "It's the only way you're going to be able to get it right is to experiment with it."
For years, Snipes shared the fruits of his labor only with family and friends, enjoying the process and the gratification of others appreciating something he had made with his own two hands. But in 2021, after a decade of those close to him praising his wine and with retirement on the horizon, Snipes began to more seriously entertain the thought of converting his hobby into a business.
"I had family and friends coming and try it, and they'd tell me, 'You ought to be selling this stuff. It's really good,'" he said. "My children are both grown, so I thought I may as well see what I can do. ... I'm getting a little older, starting to think about retirement. I told my wife I think I'll try opening up a winery, and that's what I'd do for my retirement."
Snipes' wife Cheryl, a grade school teacher, serves as both quality control and hostess for tastings. While Snipes is happy to give samples of his products himself, he seems most content being the man behind the curtain. For Snipes, it's all about the flavor.
"If somebody opens a bottle of my white muscadine or red muscadine and takes a drink of it, I want it to be like you're sitting there eating muscadines," Snipes said.
If all goes according to plan, Snipes' wines will be available not just at his winery, but also at liquor and package stores around the area sometime in mid-June. He has a number of stores already interested, with finalizing his commercial alcohol sales permits being the last major hurdle to cross before Itawambians can find Magnolia Winery wines on the shelves of their local store.
Snipes also aims to get his products more exposure by attending nearby wine festivals, such as the annual Tupelo Wine and Arts festival.
As Snipes' little winery makes its first plunge into the proverbial deep end, he remains focused on what has driven his winemaking for more than a decade: the pursuit of perfection in his product, and the gratification of others enjoying what he's made.
"I've put a lot into it so far, and I've still got a lot to put into it," he said. "... I want all my flavors to be as good as they possibly can be. To be able to go get a bottle of my wine, pull the cork out, pour a glass of it, sit there and smell it, taste it — it's very satisfying to know, 'I'm the one that made this.'"
For more information about Magnolia Winery, call William Snipes at 662-401-9710.
