photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Irvine's Just Beyond Paradise winery was awarded by the State of Kansas with a $22,026 grant Thursday through the Attraction Development Grant Program. The owners of the winery said they will use the grant money to upgrade a pizza oven, which can help expand the winery's offerings. Front row, from left: Ed Irvine Jr., Ed Irvine, Cindy Irvine and Bridgette Jobe, the Kansas tourism director.

A winery in rural Leavenworth County just northeast of Lawrence earned a grant worth just over $22,000 from the state to help boost tourism efforts, with the owner saying he hopes it can help its reach in the rural community.

Officials with the State of Kansas, Explore Lawrence and Leavenworth County were on hand Thursday morning at Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery, 13561 246th St., for the presentation of the $22,026 check to Ed Irvine, the owner of the winery. The grant was funded through the Department of Commerce’s Attraction Development Grant Program and was one of the $1 million in grants the state announced on Wednesday.

Irvine told the Journal-World the funds will help the winery build an upgraded performance space to better support events and expand its food offerings by adding in a new oven for wood-fired pizza. He said the winery initially did not offer food when it opened in 2020, but it added one pizza oven in 2023.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The current pizza oven for Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery can make just one pizza at a time, according to Ed Irvine. The winery will add a new pizza oven that can make six at a time with the help of a grant from the State of Kansas.

Irvine said being able to offer food along with its locally crafted wines added an “additional dynamic to our wine business” since it allowed for guests to linger longer, but with just one oven that could only make one pizza at a time, it meant longer service. The grant will allow the winery to buy a new wood-fired oven that can make six pizzas at a time, Irvine said, allowing for shorter wait time for guests and an opportunity for the winery to grow.

“I think it gives us more possibilities to grow and be a part of the community,” Irvine said.

Bridgette Jobe, the Kansas tourism director, said during the presentation that as part of the grant process, the state had $1 million to give but $4 million worth of grant requests. She said one of the key criteria for the potential grant recipients would be whether the new project would lead to something where visitors would “stay a little bit longer,” and she thought this project had a lot of potential.

“(This winery) is such a cool place,” Jobe said.

Jobe also said that adding the new upgrades for the winery would drive more visitors due to agritourism, something she thinks is super crucial in an agricultural state like Kansas.

Ed Irvine Jr., Irvine’s son who plays a key role in the wine production, said that the winery produces about 5,000 bottles of wine a year, and it likes to experiment in different types of wine and production methods. Although opening in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic was at first a real problem, he said that it gave them a crash course in learning other ways to sell than just visits. Irvine Jr. said they worked to grow their online sales and also would appear at farmer’s markets.

Although those sales helped, Irvine Jr. noted that the majority of the wine is sold during events or at the winery’s tasting room. That’s why being able to improve its in-person space is important for helping the winery expand.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Some of the wines on offer at the tasting room of Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery in Leavenworth County. Ed Irvine Jr. said the winery produces around 5,000 bottles each year.

Irvine said this was the first grant he had applied to, and while he had not gone through the application process before, he treated it “like going to school.” He would “sit in the front row” and ask questions throughout the process to make sure that he was in the best situation to get the award.

It also helped that he had received a lot of support letters from local organizations. Irvine said that typically one letter of support is good, but his request garnered six letters — including from the DoubleTree in Lawrence, Explore Lawrence and a Leavenworth County commissioner. Their support “adds credence” to the project and was a sign that his passion for the winery is in the right place.

“It means a lot to have that support,” Irvine said.

Irvine said that the new oven should come in “eight to twelve weeks,” and he is planning to build the new stage out of an old shipping container, which he felt works with the theme of the winery of a “Kansas castle” made out of reclaimed metal parts like silos.

Once the expansion is finished, the Irvines hope they can bring more people in to help. Irvine Jr. said the family has not hired anyone else to help out at the winery, and adding employees could add job opportunities. That reach is something that Irvine hopes will happen, as he said it is important to have a place for people to gather in the community.

“We’re trying to grow,” Irvine said.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

A table at the entry to the tasting room at Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

Vats and bottling equipment sit inside the production area at the Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery. The winery opened in spring 2020, and has gone from bottling four types of wine to 20.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The exterior of Irvine’s Just Beyond Paradise Winery, 13561 246th St., in rural Leavenworth County on March 12, 2026.