Out Highway 61 between Maynardville and Luttrell, there's a small farm winery founded on a big dream. That dream belongs to Nicole "Nikki" Riddle, owner of The Winery at Seven Springs Farm. She leased 44 acres for a vineyard and winery from her parents, Donna and Rick Riddle, and opened the winery in 2015. Her fiance, Michael Coombs, is part of the winery as well.

Nikki's wines have won multiple awards, and the winery has remained successful. It's become a community gathering place with a loyal following, and the winery gives back to the community, too, supporting causes like Preservation Union County and the Union County Humane Society.

Those are just some of the reasons why it comes as no surprise to anyone but Nikki that she was named Tennessee Small Farmer of the Year by Tennessee State University and the UT Extension at the Small Farm Expo July 20. Nikki said she knew she was to receive the Alternative Enterprise Award, but she didn't expect to receive anything else.

"I am so very honored," she said. "It was a big surprise."

Nikki was nominated for the award by USDA agent Charles Morris. Union County Mayor Mike Williams and Julie Graham of the Middle East Tennessee Tourism Council wrote letters of recommendation for her.

The road to success for The Winery at Seven Springs Farm was made easier by grants and assistance from many agencies, including UT Extension, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, USDA Farm Service Agency, and the National Resource Conservation Service. Grants have helped pay for equipment, and the advice and support of these agencies is valuable to those looking to get a small farm business off the ground.

"We could not have done this without all the great programs and agencies we work with," Nikki said. "It just really gave us a leg up to start our own business. There's so many opportunities out there if you just want to look for them."

Nikki also thanked her parents "for giving us this opportunity to own our own business and work in the field that we love."

But it's not just the winemaking field that Nikki loves. It's also the fields of the family farm and the chance to make a living in agriculture. She mentioned other Tennessee family farm wineries like Cellar 53 and Northfield Vineyards and encouraged others to look at growing grapes and making wine.

"Vineyards and wineries are a great way to save family farms," she said.

Nikki is looking forward to a big, early harvest from the six acres of grapes she planted five years ago. The first harvest from her own grapes happened last year, but this year's crop looks to top last year by a good amount. That's great news, as it will enable The Winery at Seven Springs farm to keep producing estate wines made entirely with fruit grown on Seven Springs Farm. Earlier this year, the winery released Rooster Red, an estate-grown Chambourcin wine. Soon, another estate wine will add some bubbles to the Seven Springs lineup. Pink Sparkle will be the winery's first sparkling wine. Also estate-grown, it will feature Concord and Catawba grapes.

For more information about The Winery at Seven Springs Farm, visit www.wineryatsevenspringsfarm.com.