Today, Thursday, Oct. 29, DelMonaco Winery & Vineyards at 600 Lance Drive is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Every donor leaves with a free ticket to a haunted attraction. Five days later the winery hosts a $5 music bingo night. Twelve days after that, it celebrates 18 years in business with a free blind tasting, free tours and live music.
For a place often described as the winery off the interstate, very little on that calendar asks for much money. Most of it is free, cheap, or comes back on a schedule. That pattern matters more than any single event. It explains how a winery in Baxter has lasted nearly two decades.
Today's blood drive sends you to Silver Point for Halloween weekend
The drive is called Blood Oath. Halloween Hollow, the American Red Cross and DelMonaco run it together, and Halloween Hollow describes it as the second annual Halloween blood drive. When you sign up through the Red Cross, the sponsor code is HHHBLOODOATH. The free General Admission ticket is good for Friday, Oct. 30, Saturday, Oct. 31, or Sunday, Nov. 1.
The haunt itself is not at the winery. Halloween Hollow is at 14400 Old Baxter Road in Silver Point. You donate on Lance Drive and use the ticket somewhere else. This is Halloween Hollow's "Fifth Year of Fear." It has been open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays this season, and its run ends Nov. 1, so the ticket only covers the last three nights.
The free ticket is worth something. On the Halloween Hollow ticket page, General Admission is $30, a Fast Pass is $60 and the RIP ticket is $90. A fortune-teller add-on called Madame Bastet costs $10, and taxes and fees may apply.
The winery has done this before. In 2025, DelMonaco hosted a Red Cross drive on Jan. 27 and called its drives semiannual. It held a Halloween drive with Halloween Hollow on Oct. 31, 2025. This year's drive moved to a Thursday, which leaves the free ticket good for a full weekend of haunt nights.
The next three weeks on Lance Drive
| Date | Event | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Blood Oath blood drive with Halloween Hollow and the American Red Cross | 11 a.m.–4 p.m. | Free, and donors get a GA haunt ticket |
| Tue., Nov. 3 | Singo Night, music bingo for all ages | 6–8 p.m. | $5 per ticket |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Cheers to 18 Years anniversary celebration | 1–4 p.m. | Free tasting and tours, 18% off a bottle |
As of today, the winery's events list has no December dates. Holiday plans haven't been posted yet.
Singo Night is worth a closer look. It's music bingo, open to all ages, for $5 a ticket, and wine and food are for sale on site. A $5 family night on a Tuesday is a local's event, not something built for travelers off I-40.
The tasting menu starts at zero
The same pricing shows up in the regular menu. DelMonaco lists three tasting tiers:
- Basic: free. You get samples of three house wines, or five samples for $5. Flights of four 2-ounce pours cost $10.
- Standard: $20 per person for a sample of all 14 wines.
- Premium: $35 per person for a tableside tasting of the full list, with a Sweetwater Valley Farm cheese and crackers board. It needs a reservation and at least four guests.
The free tier is the one that brings people back. Taking out-of-town guests can mean three free pours each and a bottle for the house. After a few visits you know your favorites, and the $20 full-list tasting is what you book when someone new joins you.
On weekdays, Happy Wine Hour runs Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. It's $30 for two flights and a shareable from the bistro-style menu. The tasting room is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Bistro menu changes, and DelMonaco posts current items on its Facebook page instead of a fixed list.
The vines cost nothing to see. Guided tours run on weekdays by reservation, but guests can walk the 20-plus acres of vineyard any day of the week. You can also ask a wine ambassador about the vineyard scavenger hunt, which ends with a prize. On a dry November afternoon, that walk is one of the easiest free outings in Baxter.
Eighteen years from a home winemaking hobby
The winery shares its story openly. Barbara and David DelMonaco started making wine at home in 2002. By 2006 they had moved to 52 acres in Putnam County. They planted the first 12 acres of vines and then spent two years building the winery. Six more acres went in during 2011. The 52 acres is the whole property. The "over 20 acres" figure on the winery's site counts only the vineyard.
The timeline matches the calendar. The Upper Cumberland Business Journal covered DelMonaco's 12th anniversary celebration in November 2020, which puts this month's party right at 18.
The wine list carries the place's history in its names. Whistle Stop Red and Conductor's Blend sit on the current menu with Chardonnay, Dulce Nectar Morado, Sweet Whisper Peach and Sweet Pickin's Strawberry. The railroad theme makes sense. Wine on the Rails has brought excursion trains to the winery, and DelMonaco says its venue hosts community events, fundraisers and weddings. In March 2025, the Upper Cumberland Home Builders Association held its home show there, according to a Herald-Citizen calendar listing.
Many of the newer wines trace back to one winemaker. According to the winery, Kyle Cochran joined in 2015, left for Oregon in 2020 and came back in 2022. He developed wines including Strawberry, Razzmatazz and Foxy Lady.
DelMonaco is also on two regional maps. It's a member of the Upper Cumberland Wine Trail. Tennessee Wines lists it as a Tennessee Wine Trail estate winery in Baxter.
What Nov. 15 adds to a regular visit
The anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 15, runs from 1 to 4 p.m. and builds on the regular menu. Every guest gets 18% off a bottle. There's a free blind tasting, and anyone who correctly names every wine wins a DelMonaco tasting glass. Free winery tours give a look behind the scenes, and Jessie Black plays live music.
The tours are the unusual part. Guided tours are normally weekday-only and need a reservation, so a free Sunday tour is rare. The winery says the tour schedule is "coming soon," so check the event page closer to the date before you plan around a time.
The blind tasting rewards people who already know the list. A guest who has used the free three-pour tier for years has a real chance at the glass.
If you're planning a DelMonaco afternoon for visiting family this month and want to talk over what else is close by in Baxter, I'm always happy to share what I know. Leslie Scott has called Cookeville home since 1998, and these local spots are part of what I love helping people discover. Let's Connect.
