11.01.2007
Touring Yadkin Valley’s vineyards
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Lake Norman wine lovers can now sit back and enjoy a tour of some of the region’s finest offerings.
On select Saturdays and Sundays, Carolina Wine Tours and Tastings arranges for transportation from Kenton Place in Cornelius to several North Carolina wineries. From there, participants are taken on a day-long adventure that combines fine food and wine and guided tours.
“Wine is a huge passion of mine,” Crocker said. “There are 64 vineyards in North Carolina, and most people know about the bigger ones, but we also offer the family-owned experience.”
Frank and Debra Perri were among those setting out last weekend on a tour of the Yadkin Valley.
“We wouldn’t have known about some of the smaller vineyards if we went by ourselves,” Frank said. “We didn’t have to worry about parking or directions. We could just get on the tour and enjoy ourselves.”
“They seemed to have done their homework,” Debra added. “You can see they’re trying to do it the right way.”
In that effort to get it right, Crocker did her research and traveled to Napa, Calif., to see how things are done.
“It’s really the same there, except there’s a lot more vineyards than North Carolina,” she said. “I would say we’re where California was 25 to 30 years ago.”
Old Stone, Salisbury
http://www.osvwinery.com
Old Stone — the first winery on the tour — is owned by Barbara and Mark Brown, who are originally from California.
“The label on the wine offered at Old Stone is hand-drawn by Mark,” Crocker said. “It’s also all bottled by hand, so it gives a personal feel.”
Located on Highway 52 in Salisbury, the small and homey-feeling vineyard offers an extensive and free tasting that includes 14 different varieties of red and white wine.
Sarah Harris, who assisted with the tasting, described what to expect from each wine before it was sipped.
“Our Riesling is a knock out of the park,” she said proudly. “It has a fruity, sweet taste with a dry finish.”
Some of the other varieties included their popular Peckerhead Red, a sweet muscadine that was harvested late so there was no need to add sugar, and a tart blackberry wine.
“You need to take two or three sips of the blackberry,” Harris said. “The first sets the palate, and then the second blends the tastes and it doesn’t taste at all like the first (sip).”
Childress, Lexington
http://www.childressvineyards.com
The second vineyard, Childress, is owned by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and located in Lexington.
“The second vineyard will be a total contrast to the first,” Crocker said. “They’re also opening another branch soon on I-40.”
When approaching the front doors of Childress, which opened in 2004, vines as far as the eye can see stretch out across the grounds. Rose bushes are planted in front of the vines.
Tours are offered every half an hour at Childress, and the knowledgeable guides share their extensive understanding of the winemaking process.
“The harvest is handpicked, put in plastic bins and put in the de-stemmer,” said Jason, a tour guide for Childress.
Then the white and red grapes are separated. The red is put into stainless steel tanks, with the skins on.
“We leave the skins on because that’s where the flavor comes from,” he explained.
The white grapes are sent to the de-juicer.
“It’s nicknamed ‘Lucy’ in the business, after that famous stomping episode,” he said with a smile.
The grape fermentation process, bottling and harvest were also covered over the course of the tour as he walked visitors through the facility.
Vicky, a tasting assistant, guided groups through a buttery chardonnay, a smooth blend Pinnacle, two medium-body Cabernets, among other specialties, with ease.
The tasting room offers three different sampler choices, Classic, Reserve and Signature, all with a souvenir glass.
Garden Gate, Mocksville
http://www.gardengatevineyards.com
The third vineyard, Garden Gate in Mocksville, is all natural. Owners Bob and Sonya Whittaker do not use pesticides on their grapes and produce 10 sweet and semi-sweet wines. The facility also allows children and their parents to pick buckets of grapes to keep.
“They’re passionate about keeping it at a farmer’s level,” Crocker said. “It’s not overly commercial.”
The winery was decorated in their signature dragonflies, which are also found on the glasses.
Sonya bakes fresh bread every morning to accompany the tasting and allows guests to sample each wine as many times as they wish. Raspberry, Blueberry and Strawberry are some of the specialties.
“The strawberry makes excellent sangria,” Bob said. The recipe, which you can sample while there, is given when you purchase the strawberry wine.
Raylen, Mocksville
http://www.raylenvineyards.com
The last stop, Raylen, is named for the owners, Joe and Joyce’s two daughters, Rachel and Len. Located in Yadkin Valley, the vineyard has been open since the late ’90s.
“They have a modest tasting room, and it’s a good way to end the day because it blends the best of both the large and home-grown vineyards,” Crocker said.
Johnny Marshall guided visitors through Raylen’s wine-making process, from plucking to bottling.
“This used to be a diary farm,” Marshall said as he kicked off the tour. “We have 115 acres and have a Virginia vineyard come in to bottle on site.”
The grapes are handpicked at Raylen as well and harvest time is from August to October.
“This year, there was a compressed season, due to the late frost and our reds seem to have a higher sugar level,” he said.
After the tour, visitors return to the tasting room and can choose one of three flights, White, Red or Reserve, which combines the two.
“We’re famous for our Category 5,” Marshall said as he poured. “We sell out of it first.”
The Category 5 is a special blend of Cabernet. The Reserve flight also offers a Chardonnay, a Meritage, and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
Childress Vineyards in Lexington is owned by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress.
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WANT TO GO?
Carolina Wine Tours and Tastings offers four different public tours in Yadkin Valley.
The first tour visits McRitchie Winery and Ciderworks, Grassy Creek Winery, Elkin Creek Vineyard and Restaurant and Brushy Mountain Winery.
Tour two travels to Old Stone Vineyard, Childress, then to Garden Gate and Raylen Vineyards.
Tour three goes to RagApple Lassie, Flint Hill, Black Wolf Vineyard and Restaurant, and lastly to Stony Knoll.
The fourth tour offered is Buck Shoals, Laurel Gray, Raffaldini and Shelton Vineyards.
Saturday tours leave Kenton Place in Cornelius at 9:30 a.m., and Sunday tours depart at 1:30 p.m. The cost for a Saturday tour is $69 per person, and the cost for Sunday tours is $49 a person. For more information, visit http://www.carolinawinetour.net or call 704-804-1547.