The owners of Paducah’s Purple Toad Winery have collected the required number of signatures and turned in a petition for a special vote on whether to allow Sunday sales in their Lone Oak precinct.
Owner Allen Dossey said the petition required 25 percent of voters who turned out in this month’s general election, which amounted to only 70 signatures. The special ballot for Lone Oak Precinct 1 voters will be in the next 60 days, but Dossey said that McCracken County commissioners have the power to step in and approve Sunday sales in that precinct, saving thousands of dollars. Dossey said his winery is the only business in the precinct that would be affected.
Sunday sales typically account for around 22-32 percent of a winery’s revenue, according to Dossey.
“That’s the day most couples are off together," Dossey said. "Saturday, some of them are off together, but a lot of times they’ve got their kids and sports, soccer, baseball."
Dossey turned the petition in Monday, days after Purple Toad took home 26 medals in the third annual Kentucky Commonwealth Commercial Wine Competition - more than double the amount of the nearest competitor.
Purple Toad has won the medal count all three years since the competition moved away from the Kentucky State Fair. Notably, the winery took home the Commissioner’s Cup Award for Best Sweet Wine for its Allen’s Blueberry variety.
