Guest Author - Kimberly Button

Nothing can make you feel like you’re living the high life like sipping a great glass of wine with an expert wine maker. Luckily for budget travelers, visiting wineries and sampling award winning wines is surprisingly easy on your travel budget in North Carolina. With over 50 wineries and ranking 12th in wine production in the U.S., North Carolina is a wonderful wine destination for those who appreciate good vino.

Winery tours usually cost $5 or less and many include a souvenir glass or a variety of wine tastings. Each winery is different, but the chance to talk to wine makers and enjoy the varied tastes of wine is an experience that will stay with you forever, no matter which winery you visit.

As home of the nation’s first cultivated wine grape, North Carolina was once a powerhouse in the wine industry, leading the country in wine production until federal prohibition was enacted. With the ban of alcohol, though, North Carolina’s wine industry took a devastating blow and even after prohibition was repealed, the state couldn’t seem to bounce back. In the 1970s, a resurgence started and the North Carolina wine industry began thriving again. The following wineries are located within a couple hours drive of the famous Blue Ridge Parkway in the NC mountains, just one part of the vast landscape of the state.

North Carolina’s largest estate-owned winery is Shelton Vineyards in Dobson. The winery is owned by two brothers whose wine hobby quickly became one of the largest estate-owned wineries on the East coast. Nearly 200 acres of vineyards produce grapes for the winery which can produce 30,000 cases of wine a year. Winery tours include a souvenir glass and five wine tastings and you can then create your own wine and cheese pairings by combining a bottle of Shelton’s wine with cheeses from Shelton Cheeses &Deli. (336) 366-4724; www.sheltonvineyards.com

For the ultimate in food and wine pairing, visit the Black Wolf Vineyards, also in Dobson. Their wines are just as famous as their highly acclaimed restaurant, The Wolf’s Lair, which uses the company’s wines in the gourmet delicacies they prepare from scratch each day. (336) 374-2532; www.blackwolfvineyards.com

Perhaps you would prefer to visit a smaller, family-run winery where you can actually speak to the people who produce award winning wines. At wineries such as Rockhouse Vineyards in Tryon (828/863-2784; www.rockhousevineyards.com), Cerminaro Vineyard in Kings Creek (828/754-9306; www.cerminarovineyard.com), Windy Gap Vineyards in Ronda (336/984-3926; www.windygapwine.com), Round Peak Vineyards in Mount Airy (336/352-5595; www.roundpeak.com), and Hanover Park Vineyard in Yadkinville (336/463-2875; www.hanoverparkwines.com), the owners will often be conducting the tours and hosting the tastings, giving you a unique experience and an appreciation of their labors of love. The smallest of these wineries is named, appropriately, The Teensy Winery. Proprietor Bob Howard runs the winery and tasting room in the basement of his home in Union Mills, and the vineyards are located behind his house (828/287-7763).

At the Old North State Winery in Mt. Airy, members of the Old North State Cooperative Association have joined forces to create their distinctive wines in a unique collaboration (336/789-9463; www.oldnorthstatewinegrowers.com).

At Waldensian Heritage Wines in Valdese, 250 years of combined winemaking experience come together to create their vino. The Waldensians were a religious sect from Italy who migrated to North Carolina in 1893 and established the town of Valdese. The descendants of the original settlers maintain their family heritage of winemaking skills which began in the Cottian Alps and the Western Piedmont of Italy. Their 1930 winery combines old and new practices of winemaking (828/879-3202).

If you have such a passion for wine that you want to learn how to make your own, Thistle Meadow Winery in Laurel Springs is the place for you. The owners share their knowledge of making wine through their week-long winemaker’s getaway which gives participants daily winemaking lessons (800/233-1505; www.thistlemeadow.com).

Farming heritage is an integral part of RagApple Lassie Vineyards in Boonville. The owner, Frank W. Hobson, Jr., is the third generation to farm family land which had previously been used for growing tobacco. When he decided to turn to the more profitable crop of grapes, Hobson designed his winery to resemble traditional farm buildings, complete with a silo. Even the name of the winery was influenced by Hobson’s farming background. RagApple Lassie was the name of a Holstein cow that Hobson had when he was young (336/367-6000; www.ragapplelassie.com).

For more information about North Carolina wineries, visit www.ncwine.org or phone the North Carolina Grape Council at (919) 733-7136.



Photos Courtesy of the NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development