By JAMIE PILARCZYK

Keel and Curley Winery owner Joe Keel is moving on after lightning caused the storage facility at his Plant City winery to burn to the ground Aug. 3.

The South Tampa native who now lives in Plant City next to the 25 acres of blueberry bushes on Keel Farm, said horticulture has always been a hobby.

But how did Keel go from Beach Park to blueberries?

“My summers were spent in Illinois where my grandparents owned a farm,” said Keel, who watched his grandparents grow corn and soybeans.

“I’ve been selling plants since I was 19,” said Keel, 51, who has had the 5210 Thonotosassa Road farm since 1981. He had a landscape nursery before converting it to the blueberry business in 1996. Last year he sold 18,000 bottles of fruit wines and 150,000 pounds of blueberries between this farm and another in Lithia.

In the sale of his blueberries to places as far as Europe and Japan and as local as the Lakeland Publix, Keel had blueberries that didn’t make the aesthetic cut for market: some were a little too soft, too small or had scarring from the bushes.

“We had hundreds of pounds of blueberries we were throwing away,” said Keel, who met up with Chase Marden, an amateur blueberry wine maker who was looking for the right opportunity.

“I started making wine in my basement and giving it away in batches to friends and family,” said Chase of Pinellas Park. “I was getting a great response.”

While shopping for supplies at a Pinellas Park wine and beer making store, the two crossed paths and have been in business ever since, creating wines from mangos, black raspberries, key limes and tangerines. They also make grape wines.

While the fire caused the loss of nearly $500,000 in the 6,000-square-foot building, machinery and supplies, Keel’s insurance has allowed him to build on top of the ashes with a new building to be used as the winery which is set to be completed in the fall.

Keel also has plans to open a new 3,700-square-foot wine tasting and retail store on the property by Dec. 1, with a 3,000-square-foot deck that overlooks the pond. A gazebo will be offered for hosting wedding parties.

Big sellers of the Keel and Curley label are the strawberry Riesling and the sweet blueberry wines which are offered locally at stores such as Nature’s Harvest Market and Castellano and Pizzo Italian Gourmet Foods. The fruit wines retail for $14.99 and the grape wines for $18.99.

An upcoming free wine tasting Sept. 23 at Nature’s Harvest Market, 1021 N. MacDill Ave., will emphasize the blueberry’s antioxidant health benefits and is a way for owner David Taylor said he can help support independent business.

“We were one of their first retail outlets,” said Taylor, who is also a longtime friend of the Keel family. “We need to take care of our local suppliers. These kinds of relationships are fewer and farther between.”

The blueberry wine tasting will take place Sept. 23 from noon to 6 p.m. at Nature’s Harvest Market. For more information, go to www.naturesharvestmarket.com or www.keelandcurleywinery.com