Author: Ashe County Livery

Younts Wine Farm: A Tobacco Field Becomes a Family Vineyard

Younts Wine Farm grew out of a very personal story. As a child, Tina Younts spent years helping her family raise tobacco on the same land outside Walnut Cove, North Carolina, that now supports the vineyard — and years later, she found herself living in the old farmhouse where she was raised. In the 1980s, Tina and her husband Bruce took a trip to Europe that exposed them to wine culture for the first time, and they came home with an idea: rather than let the family land grow over, they would plant a vineyard and build something that could stay in the family for generations.

The first Chardonnay vine went into the ground in the spring of 1996, with additional varietals added acre by acre in the years that followed until there was no more room to plant. In its early years, Younts Wine Farm sold its grapes to other North Carolina wineries; only later did the family build a small, garagiste-style winery on the property, working with local custom-crush facilities before eventually moving the whole process — harvest through bottling — onto the farm itself.

The Wines of Younts Wine Farm

Younts Wine Farm is a private vineyard and winery expanding across ten acres, planted with several French varietals. The vineyard is now managed by Tina and Bruce’s youngest son, Eric Younts, whose history with the land goes back to when the first vines were planted — he was four years old at the time, and he spent his childhood summers working the vineyard alongside his parents. Eric now oversees everything from pruning through harvest and leads the winemaking process himself, while continuing his formal education in Viticulture and Enology at Surry Community College, the same program behind the Surry Cellars label elsewhere on the Yadkin Valley Wine Trail.

Younts Wine began selling at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market, and today its wines can be purchased online and at Daily Basket in Germanton, North Carolina. The family has said they are actively looking to expand into more retail locations, so the list of places to find a bottle may grow over time.

Planning Your Visit

Location: Fowler Road, Walnut Cove, NC 27052, just off Main Street

Younts Wine Farm is a private, family-run vineyard rather than a winery built around daily walk-in tastings — we were not able to confirm regular public visiting hours or an on-site tasting fee in our research, so we recommend reaching out to the family through Facebook or Instagram before planning a stop here specifically.

• Reach out ahead of time — message Younts Wine Farm on Facebook or Instagram to ask about current visiting policy for groups.
• Buy the wine locally — Younts Wine is sold at Daily Basket in Germanton, NC, and online, if a farm visit does not line up with your schedule.
• Combine it with a Stokes County stop — Walnut Cove sits close to several other northern Piedmont wineries worth pairing on the same day.

A few practical notes we have learned from planning trips through this part of Stokes County: because Younts Wine Farm operates more like a small family vineyard than a public tasting room, we treat it as a “confirm first” stop rather than one we build a fixed itinerary around. If the family can accommodate a visit on your date, wonderful — but we always have a backup plan among the area’s other wineries in case the farm’s schedule does not allow for guests that day.

Where Younts Wine Farm Fits in Your Tour Route

Younts Wine Farm sits just outside Walnut Cove in Stokes County, close to a small cluster of wineries around Madison and Mayodan, including Dragon Glass Winery and Gioia dell’Amore Cellars at Autumn Creek Vineyards, with Old Homeplace Vineyard in Winston-Salem also within reasonable reach. This part of the state sits apart from the denser Surry County winery cluster, so we usually build a route around Stokes and Rockingham County stops together rather than mixing in wineries an hour away near Dobson or Elkin.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops, and check in with Younts Wine Farm ahead of your trip so you know whether a farm visit is part of the day or whether you will simply pick up a bottle at Daily Basket along the way.

Related reading

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Windsor Run Cellars: Grape to Glass, and Glass to Spirit

Along the Swan Creek Wine Trail in Hamptonville, Windsor Run Cellars describes itself simply: creativity is king. It is a fully integrated “grape to glass” operation — the estate grows, produces and sells its wine all under one roof (well, under two roofs, since the grapes themselves grow outside). Owner Chuck Johnson, a former logistics industry executive, also owns nearby Shadow Springs Vineyard, and the two properties share a winemaking team and an events calendar.

What makes Windsor Run especially interesting for a wine tour stop is what happens after the wine is made: the WRC Distillery, open for tours and tastings on-site, takes the same grapes and turns them into brandy and spirits. It is a genuinely rare chance to see the full production chain — from vine, to wine, to spirit — in a single visit.

The Wines of Windsor Run Cellars

Windsor Run’s lineup is unusually wide-ranging: estate reds and whites, rosé, sangria, meads, and fortified wines and brandies made in-house. The Yadkin Five is a dry white blend of five different varietals sourced from five different Yadkin Valley vineyards, while Fieldstone blends Valvin Muscat and Albariño into a lower-acid white with citrus and stone-fruit notes. On the red side, Ember is a young-style, minimally oaked Malbec meant to be served chilled, and Resolve is their dry, barrel-aged wine with bold tannin.

The fortified and specialty wines are where Windsor Run really stands apart: Midnight Run, a port-style wine made from Chambourcin and Petit Verdot and fortified with their own brandy, and the 2016 Midnight Run Grand Reserve, aged since 2016 at 18% alcohol. There is also an Apple Mead fermented with cider, honey and cinnamon, muscadine wines like Snow Cream and Plum Crazy, and even a G&J — a wine cocktail built around gin botanicals and Seyval grape juice. Windsor Run also runs a custom-crush program, making wine for other producers under its Vine to Wine Custom Crush service.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 6531 Windsor Road, Hamptonville, NC 27020
Tasting Room Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Sunday: 1pm – 5pm
Distillery: Open Saturdays and Sundays; closed major holidays

No reservations are required for groups of six or fewer walking in for a standard tasting. For a more immersive visit, Windsor Run offers The Grand Tasting Experience — a reservation-only, 2 to 2.5 hour guided journey across all three of Chuck’s properties (Windsor Run Cellars, Windsor Run Distillery, and Shadow Springs Vineyard), including curated flights, a behind-the-scenes production tour, locally sourced charcuterie, and a keepsake Riedel wine glass. It is limited to one session of four to eight people per weekend, so it needs to be booked well in advance.

• Standard Tasting Room Visit — walk-in friendly for groups of six or fewer, no reservation required.
• The Grand Tasting Experience — reservation-only, across all three Windsor Run/Shadow Springs properties.
• Distillery Tour — open weekends, showing how the same grapes become brandy and spirits.
• Annual Herb Festival — a Mother’s Day weekend event across four participating Swan Creek Trail tasting rooms, with wine, food and herb pairings (each ticket is good for two people).

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: because Windsor Run operates both a winery and a working distillery on one property, it is worth allowing extra time if your group wants to see both sides of the operation rather than just the tasting room. We generally recommend budgeting at least ninety minutes for a standard visit, and the better part of an afternoon if you book the Grand Tasting Experience across all three properties.

Where Windsor Run Fits in Your Tour Route

Windsor Run sits right on the Swan Creek Wine Trail in Hamptonville, in the same small cluster as Shadow Springs Vineyard (under the same ownership) and Dobbins Creek Vineyards and Laurel Gray Vineyards nearby — making this corner of the Yadkin Valley one of the easiest to string together into a single day without long drives between stops.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops, and consider grouping Windsor Run with its Hamptonville neighbors rather than trying to combine it with wineries on the far side of the valley.

Related reading

• Surry Cellars: The Wine Label Behind Surry Community College's Teaching Vineyard
• Gioia dell'Amore Cellars: A Sisters' Dream Born from Cancer, Kept Alive with Wine

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Weathervane Winery: Named for the Force Behind Every Vintage

Weathervane Winery takes its name from the single biggest variable in winemaking: the weather. From the earliest stages of grape development through the final phase of fermentation, weather shapes what ends up in the glass — and the Lexington, North Carolina winery built its identity around that idea, treating every vintage as a record of the season that produced it. It is a fitting name for a winery on the eastern edge of the Yadkin Valley wine region, close enough to Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point and Charlotte to draw visitors from all four cities for an afternoon.

What sets Weathervane apart from larger production wineries is the hand-made approach: nothing here is mass produced, there is no filtering, and there are no oversized storage tanks for aging. Everything is done by hand, from crush through bottling, with the goal of making sure every bottle delivers the best possible taste rather than the most efficient one.

The Wines of Weathervane Winery

Weathervane’s portfolio runs to 19 wines across dry whites, dry reds, rosé, fruit wines and sweet styles, so there is genuinely something for every palate in your group. On the white side, look for Ionosphere, their take on a Pinot Grigio with floral notes and a crisp, dry finish, and Evening Breeze, a Riesling and Semillon blend that is bold and fruit-forward. Harvest Moon, an estate Rosé made from the Chambourcin grape, is light, crisp and fruit-forward, while Cirrus White, their estate Traminette, is balanced with a pleasant lingering finish.

Tastings are guided by staff who walk you through each wine’s aromas, flavor profile, sweetness and body, along with food pairing suggestions — a nice touch whether you are a longtime wine drinker or trying your first flight. The winery describes its lineup as award-winning, and the range is built deliberately: dry reds and whites for guests who want a serious pour, plus fruit and sweet wines for anyone easing into wine tasting for the first time. After your tasting, the on-site gift shop and online wine shop make it easy to take a few bottles home, and Weathervane’s Wine Club offers regular pickups and discounts for repeat visitors.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 1452 Welcome Arcadia Road, Lexington, NC 27295
Tasting Room Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 5pm
Sunday: 1pm – 5pm

Weathervane keeps tastings simple and affordable: a guided flight of five wines, with the option to keep the glass. Walk-ins are always welcome during regular business hours, and reservations are recommended only for large groups or private events.

• Guided Wine Tasting — five wines, walk-in friendly, with staff walking your group through aromas, flavor and pairings.
• Wine-Down Fridays — seasonal live-entertainment events at the winery; admission varies, and wine club members and a guest are admitted free.
• Event Center Tour — Weathervane’s 2,400-square-foot event space seats 125–175 guests and is available Tuesday through Sunday, 9am – 10pm, for weddings, showers, and private parties.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: because Weathervane welcomes walk-ins for regular tastings, you generally do not need to lock in a reservation the way you might at wineries with seated, appointment-only experiences — but if your visit lines up with a Wine-Down Friday or another live event, it is worth checking ahead, since those nights draw a bigger local crowd. We recommend budgeting about an hour to ninety minutes here, longer if your group wants to relax on the patio or browse the gift shop.

Where Weathervane Fits in Your Tour Route

Weathervane sits on the eastern edge of the Yadkin Valley wine region, closer to Lexington and the Piedmont Triad than to the Surry County cluster of wineries most High Country groups think of first. That makes it a natural stop to pair with other wineries in the Lexington and Trinity area — including Childress Vineyards and Junius Lindsay Vineyard in Lexington, and Zimmerman Vineyards a short drive south in Trinity — rather than trying to combine it with wineries an hour or more away near Elkin or Dobson.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops. Because Weathervane’s tasting room opens at 11am most days (matching most of the Yadkin Valley), it fits comfortably into a route that starts around late morning and works its way through two or three eastern Yadkin Valley stops in an afternoon.

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• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Surry Cellars: North Carolina’s Teaching Winery

Surry Cellars is unlike any other stop on a Yadkin Valley wine tour, because it is not a family estate or a commercial winery at all — it is the wine label of Surry Community College’s Viticulture & Enology Technology program, based at the college’s main campus on South Main Street in Dobson. The wines poured and bottled under the Surry Cellars name are produced as part of the coursework that trains the next generation of North Carolina winemakers, right in the middle of the state’s most concentrated wine-growing region.

Surry Community College sits in Surry County, which is itself part of the Yadkin Valley AVA and home to one of the highest concentrations of wineries and vineyards in North Carolina. The college’s program has become a quiet but important part of the region’s wine industry — several winemakers and vineyard managers working at other wineries on this list have come up through Surry’s viticulture and enology classrooms, and a number of them mentioned that training when we talked with them about their own wines.

The Wines of Surry Cellars

Because Surry Cellars is a teaching label rather than a single estate with its own vineyard acreage, its wines come from student and faculty winemaking projects rather than one fixed vineyard site. Currently, Surry Cellar wines can be purchased at a number of locations around the region rather than exclusively from the college itself. We were not able to verify a current, detailed list of varietals, vintages, or specific retail locations at the time of writing — that information changes from year to year as new student classes come through the program — so we recommend checking with Surry Community College or the NC Wine & Grape Council directly for the current lineup before you go looking for a bottle.

Planning Your Visit

Location: South Main Street, Dobson, NC (Surry Community College’s Dobson campus)

Because Surry Cellars operates inside a college program rather than as a standalone tasting room, we were not able to confirm regular public tasting-room hours, a tasting fee, or a walk-in visiting policy in our research. If a public tasting or event is part of your group’s plan, we recommend confirming current details directly with Surry Community College before building it into your itinerary.

• Confirm before you go — call or check with the college’s viticulture and enology program for current tasting availability, hours, and where the wine is being sold locally.
• Pair it with a Dobson-area stop — Surry Cellars sits in the same small city as several other Yadkin Valley tasting rooms, so it is easy to build a route around it even on a day when the college program itself is not open to visitors.

A few practical notes we have learned from planning trips through this part of Surry County: because Surry Cellars’ schedule follows an academic calendar rather than a typical winery’s daily hours, it is the one stop on this list where we always confirm details with the college directly before a group’s tour date, rather than assuming it will operate like the family-run wineries nearby. If you are set on tasting Surry Cellars wine specifically, budget some flexibility into your day rather than counting on a fixed visiting window.

Where Surry Cellars Fits in Your Tour Route

Surry Cellars sits in Dobson, in the same small city as Stony Knoll Vineyards and several other Surry County tasting rooms, which makes it easy to fold into a Dobson-focused day even if its own hours do not line up with your visit. Surry County has one of the densest clusters of wineries anywhere in the Yadkin Valley, so this is a part of the region where you can move between stops quickly.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time for the tasting rooms on your itinerary, and treat Surry Cellars as a bonus stop to check on the day — if the program has a tasting or event open to the public, it is worth the short detour; if not, Dobson still has plenty of family-run wineries to fill your day.

Related reading

• Windsor Run Cellars: Grape-to-Glass Wine, Plus an On-Site Distillery
• Gioia dell'Amore Cellars: A Sisters' Dream Born from Cancer, Kept Alive with Wine

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• Yadkin Valley Wine Tours — Explore NC’s premier wine region
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• Airport Transfers — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI
• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Stony Knoll Vineyards: A Century Farm Turns From Tobacco to Wine

Stony Knoll Vineyards sits on a North Carolina Century Farm that has been in the same family since 1896, when the ancestors of Kathy Coe bought a tract of land in southern Surry County. For most of the twentieth century the farm’s cash crop was tobacco — cleared by hand tools and domesticated animals in the early 1940s, and worked that way until the early 1980s, when the family shifted to cattle and hay. It was Van Coe, in the late 1990s, who had the idea to put the land into a very different kind of cultivation, with an eye toward preserving the farm for future generations.

In April 2001, 5.25 acres of grapevines went in where tobacco once grew — Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Niagara among the first plantings — and the tasting room and winery opened in 2004. Today Stony Knoll still describes itself simply as a multi-generational family farm that converted from tobacco to grapes, and that heritage is very much part of the appeal: this is a working Century Farm in the Yadkin Valley AVA, not a manufactured attraction.

The Wines of Stony Knoll Vineyards

The vineyard has grown from that original 5.25-acre planting to 10 acres of vines today, adding Merlot, Chambourcin, Viognier, Arandell and Corot Noir alongside the original varietals. The lineup spans dry whites, dry reds and sweet wines: a no-oak Stainless Steel Chardonnay and a Barrel Fermented Chardonnay split between neutral French and new American oak, a 2023 Viognier with honeysuckle and pear notes, and the Vintner’s Bliss Rosé made from 100% Chambourcin.

On the red side, the Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon anchor the dry lineup — the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are both aged three years in French oak. For guests who prefer something sweeter, Stony Knoll also pours a semi-sweet Red Table Wine, the strawberry-and-cherry Patricia Pink, and Ardella, a soft white table wine made from the American Niagara grape and named for a member of the family.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 1143 Stony Knoll Road, Dobson, NC 27017
Tasting Room Hours: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10am – 6pm
January & February (Winter Hours): Friday & Saturday only, 10am – 6pm

Tastings at Stony Knoll are simple and reasonably priced: choose a wine tasting or flight (with the option to keep the glass), or order wine by the glass, including their limited-release MEBOS. Cases are discounted 10% off regular pricing.

• Guided Tasting/Flight — sample the dry whites, dry reds, and sweet wines at your own pace.
• Wine by the Glass — a relaxed option if your group just wants to settle in on the property.
• Picnic on the Grounds — bring your own lawn chairs and a picnic; Stony Knoll also keeps a limited selection of snacks for purchase.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: this is a farm first, so hours are tighter than at some of the larger Yadkin Valley wineries — note that Stony Knoll is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and January/February hours shrink to weekends only, so it is worth confirming the calendar before you build it into a tour date. Dogs are welcome on the property on a leash but not inside the tasting room. We generally recommend budgeting about an hour here, longer if your group wants to spread out a picnic and enjoy the farm views.

Where Stony Knoll Fits in Your Tour Route

Stony Knoll sits in Dobson, in the heart of Surry County and a genuine cluster of Yadkin Valley tasting rooms — it pairs naturally with other Dobson-area stops rather than requiring a long drive between wineries. Because its hours are more limited than most, we like to anchor a route around Stony Knoll’s open days and build the rest of the day’s stops around it.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops, and confirm Stony Knoll’s current open days before locking in your itinerary. Because the tasting room here is smaller and more personal than some of the Yadkin Valley’s larger estates, we like scheduling it earlier in the day, when there is more time for the family running the tasting room to talk through the property’s history and the differences between the older varietals planted in 2001 and the newer additions.

For groups planning a full day of tasting, Dobson’s cluster of wineries means you can visit two or three stops without much time lost to driving between them — a real advantage over parts of the Yadkin Valley where wineries are spread farther apart. That makes Stony Knoll a good anchor stop for a Surry County-focused itinerary rather than a single stand-alone destination.

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• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Stardust Cellars & Taproom: NC’s First Biodynamic Winery, Foot-Stomped and Award-Winning

Stardust Cellars bills itself as North Carolina’s first biodynamic winery, and the small-batch approach shows up in how the wine actually gets made: grapes are foot-stomped and basket-pressed in craft-sized batches rather than run through industrial equipment. The winery has earned the Triple Dogwood sustainability rating from NC GreenTravel, recognizing an in-house bottle recycling program, a composting system aimed at a zero-waste stream, vineyards farmed without irrigation or chemical sprays, and sanitizing done with ozone and biodegradable cleansers instead of harsher chemicals.

That sustainability commitment is not a marketing add-on here — it runs through every stage of production, from how the grapes are farmed to how the empty bottles are handled after the wine is gone. For a region built mostly around conventional estate wineries, Stardust’s biodynamic-first identity makes it one of the more distinctive stops on a Yadkin Valley itinerary.

Alongside wine, Stardust has built a strong name in mead — its flagship Honey Buzzed, a tart, semisweet session mead blending ginger spice and sour lemon into wild-fermented, “funky” honey, won a Gold Medal at the 2024 National Meadcrafters Competition. Stardust now welcomes visitors at its brand-new tasting room at 228 N Main St in downtown Mooresville. The original North Wilkesboro meadery, set in a converted former Round Up building along Statesville Road, also produces cider and both domestic and craft beer, and it is now open by appointment only.

The Wines & Meads of Stardust Cellars

The North Wilkesboro meadery is where the mead is made, from local Foothills honey and the property’s own well water, alongside wine, cider, and beer. The biodynamic, low-intervention approach means small production runs and batch-to-batch variation is part of the character rather than something to be engineered out. Stardust’s meads are also available at Lowe’s Foods locations across North Carolina.

The mead program in particular sets Stardust apart from most of the estate wineries in the Yadkin Valley. Wild fermentation means the bees, not a lab strain, largely determine the character of each batch — which is part of why Honey Buzzed earned its gold medal, and why regulars come back specifically to see what a new batch tastes like. Stardust also produces its own ciders in-house, giving visitors who prefer something other than wine or mead a reason to linger in the tasting room.

Planning Your Visit

Tasting room: 228 N Main St, Mooresville, NC — Stardust’s brand-new tasting room and the place to visit.

Meadery: 4780 Statesville Road, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 — by appointment only. Stardust loves hosting tours here: when one of our groups plans to visit the meadery, we let Stardust know ahead of time and they make sure it is staffed.

• Mead & Wine Flights — a sampling of Stardust’s mead and wine lineup, available in the Mooresville tasting room.
• Private Events — the venue can be rented for weddings, birthdays, corporate retreats, and galas.
• Live Music & Trivia — regularly scheduled events; check the winery’s calendar and social channels before you go.
• On-Site Camping — camping is available for anyone who wants to turn a visit into an overnight.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: Stardust is genuinely pet-friendly — dogs, cats, birds, and even the occasional lizard are welcome inside — and the taproom is kid-friendly too, with non-alcoholic drink options on hand. Tasting room hours can shift seasonally and by event schedule, so we always confirm current hours directly with Stardust before building it into a tour, and for the appointment-only North Wilkesboro meadery we set the visit up with Stardust in advance. Because there is often live music, trivia, or a private event on the calendar, budget at least 90 minutes here and check ahead if you want a quieter visit. Groups looking for a distillery-adjacent, low-key experience tend to enjoy this stop the most — it reads less like a formal winery tasting and more like a neighborhood taproom that happens to make some genuinely award-winning mead.

Where Stardust Fits in Your Tour Route

Stardust’s new Mooresville tasting room sits in downtown Mooresville near Lake Norman, south of the Yadkin Valley, so it is an easy stop for groups based around Charlotte and Lake Norman. Its North Wilkesboro meadery (by appointment only) sits toward the western edge of the Yadkin Valley wine region, close enough to Wilkes County’s Ronda-area wineries — including Raffaldini Vineyards and Sotrio Vineyards — and to Jones Von Drehle Vineyards further east that it works well as an anchor for a route through the valley’s western half. Because it sits a bit apart from the denser Elkin and Hamptonville clusters, it pairs best with two or three stops rather than a full five-winery day.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time, and note that Stardust’s biodynamic, small-batch approach means the tasting room experience can move a little differently than a typical estate winery — give yourself room in the schedule rather than rushing straight through. For groups coming down from the High Country, a scheduled meadery visit in North Wilkesboro also makes a convenient first or last stop, since the meadery sits closer to the mountains than most of the Yadkin Valley’s better-known estate wineries further east.

Related reading

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• Airport Transfers — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI
• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Slightly Askew Winery: Elkin’s Playful, Pet-Named Wine List

Slightly Askew Winery describes itself plainly: “not your typical winery, we’re a ‘slightly’ different Yadkin Valley winery.” The tasting room in downtown Elkin, North Carolina blends wine made from local juices with juices sourced from some of the best wine regions in the world, and the personality of the place shows up right there on the wine list — several bottlings are named after the winery’s own dogs. “Penny for your Thoughts,” a stainless Chardonnay, takes its name from a dog named Penny, and “Blackjack ‘BJ’,” a blackberry Merlot, honors a past field champion dog that has been a family favorite since the wine’s earliest vintage.

The winery is also a stop on the Elkin Vine Line, a hop-on-hop-off wine tour that passes by on Saturdays and Sundays — a sign of how central Slightly Askew is to the Elkin tasting-room scene.

The Wines of Slightly Askew Winery

The lineup splits cleanly between dry and sweet drinkers. Dry-side pours include Jumpin’ Jazzmine (a Riesling with apricot and tropical fruit notes), Camp Creek Clear and Penny for your Thoughts (both stainless Chardonnays), Stump Farm (Petit Manseng), Mountaineer Pride (Cabernet Franc), Roaring River Red (Merlot), Cordeaux “Big Red” (a Petit Verdot, Tannat, and Merlot blend), and Mystic Vision (an Argentina Malbec, Bonarda, Syrah, and Merlot blend). On the fruit-wine side, look for flavors like raspberry white zinfandel, green apple Gewürztraminer, cranberry Chianti, and peach Chardonnay, alongside the winery’s playfully named blackberry, blueberry, and tropical-fruit blends. Beyond the tasting room, Slightly Askew’s wines are also carried at a handful of local retailers and restaurants around Elkin and Mount Airy.

What stands out about this list is how personal it is. Rather than naming wines after the grape blend alone, Slightly Askew names many of them after the winery’s own dogs, local landmarks like Camp Creek and Stump Farm, and inside jokes that only make sense once the tasting room staff tells you the story. It is the kind of wine list that rewards asking questions — nearly every bottle has a short story behind the name, and the staff are happy to share it if you ask while you taste.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 913 North Bridge Street, Elkin, NC 28621
Tasting Room: Thursday – Saturday, 1pm – 6pm; Sunday, 1pm – 5pm

• Tasting Flights — a walk-in sampling of the dry and fruit wine lineup, poured in the downtown Elkin tasting room.
• Retail Shop — gifts, snacks, cheese, t-shirts, and other souvenirs alongside the wine list.
• Elkin Vine Line Stop — the winery sits directly on this weekend hop-on-hop-off wine tour route, so the tasting room can get lively on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: this is a smaller, more casual tasting room than some of the estate wineries nearby, so it works well as a quick, fun stop rather than a full sit-down experience. Because it is directly on the Elkin Vine Line route, weekend afternoons can be busy with walk-up traffic from that tour, so we plan around that if a quieter visit matters to your group. Budget about an hour here — enough time to taste through the list and pick up a bottle or two. If your group likes a wine list with a sense of humor rather than a formal tasting menu, this is one of the more memorable stops on a Yadkin Valley route, and it tends to be a favorite with bachelorette and birthday groups looking for something a little different from the bigger estate wineries.

Where Slightly Askew Fits in Your Tour Route

Slightly Askew sits right in downtown Elkin, alongside Elkin Creek Vineyards, Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery, and Adagio Vineyards & Winery — all within a few minutes’ drive. That makes Elkin one of the most walkable, tightly clustered stretches of the Yadkin Valley for a group that wants to taste at several small wineries without spending the whole day in the car.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time, though Elkin’s cluster of small tasting rooms can move a little faster than the larger estate wineries. Most Yadkin Valley tasting rooms open by noon, and Slightly Askew’s 1pm opening pairs well as a second or third stop after starting elsewhere in Elkin.

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Shadow Springs Vineyard: 20 Years From Tobacco Land to Wine and Spirits

Shadow Springs Vineyard exists because its founder, Chuck, missed one too many of his sons’ baseball games. He left his corporate job and moved the family back to North Carolina to start a vineyard, planting four acres of Merlot and Cabernet Franc on old tobacco land in the spring of 2005. The tasting room opened with the winery’s first vintage in the summer of 2008, and the vineyard has since grown to nearly eleven acres of red and white grapes.

That family-first, no-pretension founding story still shapes how the winery describes itself today. Shadow Springs makes a point of calling out that there is “no stuffy atmosphere, no pretentious founders, and no intimidating wine jargon” in its tasting room — a direct reflection of Chuck’s own reason for starting the place, which was to build something the whole family could be part of rather than a formal wine business.

In 2011, the family purchased the old Buck Shoals Vineyard & Winery from the Crater family — a property just half a mile down the road — and turned it into Windsor Run Cellars, a 15,000-square-foot winemaking facility. Today that building produces wine for Brandon Hills Vineyard, Divine Llama Vineyards, Sanders Ridge, Medaloni Cellars, Point Lookout Vineyards, and Roaring River Vineyards, in addition to Shadow Springs and Windsor Run themselves. When North Carolina passed a 2015 law allowing craft distilleries to sell directly to customers on-site, the team launched WRC Distillery, producing small-batch spirits including White Widow, Killer Bee, and Shadow Hawk. Shadow Springs recently celebrated its 20th anniversary — a milestone the family says most small wineries never reach.

The Wines of Shadow Springs Vineyard

Shadow Springs describes itself as “a traditional winery with a decidedly non-traditional attitude” — no stuffy atmosphere, no wine jargon, just wines built for classic dry drinkers and sweeter palates alike. Current releases include a Tangled Oak Blanc (Chardonnay-Chardonel blend aged in French oak and brandy barrels), a Stainless Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Seyval Blanc, dry Rosé, Cabernet Franc, and Chambourcin.

The Windsor Run connection matters here beyond ownership history. Because the same 15,000-square-foot facility produces wine for half a dozen labels in the immediate area, Shadow Springs’ winemaking team has an unusually deep, hands-on familiarity with this specific stretch of Yadkin Valley terroir — they are literally making the wine for several of the neighboring tasting rooms you might also visit on the same trip.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 5543 Crater Road, Hamptonville, NC 27020
Tasting Room: Wednesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm; Sunday, 1pm – 5pm (January – February, weekends only)
Reservations: Not required for groups of six or fewer

• Wine Flight — choose four wines, 2 oz pours each, served with a stemless glass.
• Cellar Select Tasting — a pour of the winery’s four best wines (two reds, one white, and a Blanc de Blanc sparkling), with your choice of a red or rosé/sparkling Riedel glass.
• Large Group Tastings — available for groups larger than six with at least 24 hours’ notice; reservations cannot be made past 3:30pm and are not guaranteed for groups arriving more than 30 minutes late.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: no outside alcohol is permitted, and reservations for larger groups need to be locked in the day before rather than the morning of. The tasting room is genuinely relaxed — bring a picnic lunch and settle in. Because Shadow Springs sits on the Swan Creek Vineyards wine trail alongside several sibling wineries produced at Windsor Run, we budget at least 90 minutes here, more if your group wants to walk over to Windsor Run Cellars as well.

Where Shadow Springs Fits in Your Tour Route

Shadow Springs sits right in the middle of a cluster of Hamptonville-area wineries, with Windsor Run Cellars literally half a mile away and Dobbins Creek Vineyards and Laurel Gray Vineyards just a short drive further. This makes Hamptonville one of the easiest pockets of the Yadkin Valley to build a tight, no-backtracking route around.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time. Shadow Springs opens at 10am most of the year, so it works well as a first stop before moving on to neighboring tasting rooms that open at 11am or noon.

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• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Serre Vineyards: Blue Ridge Views and a No-Pretension Pour

Serre Vineyards — the name rhymes with “share” — opens with a simple philosophy: wine should be approachable, and you should not have to know how to pronounce Beaujolais to enjoy a glass of it with friends. Tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Mount Airy, North Carolina, this family-run winery built its tasting room around exactly that idea, welcoming seasoned sommeliers and total beginners with the same pour.

The property sits on nearly 70 acres with sweeping views of Skull Camp Mountain, Paradise Mountain, and Raven’s Knob Mountain, backing up to the wider Blue Ridge range — the kind of backdrop that makes Serre a popular stop for our wine tour groups looking for scenery as much as wine.

What sets Serre apart from some of the more formal Yadkin Valley tasting rooms is how deliberately low-key the whole operation is. There is no dress code, no assumed wine vocabulary, and no sense that you need to have visited before to feel comfortable walking in. That casual confidence carries through the property’s other offerings as well, from the food-truck weekends to the live music that shows up throughout the year.

The Wines of Serre Vineyards

Serre pours a range of dry red, dry white, sparkling, sweet, and fruit wines, aimed squarely at making the tasting room feel unintimidating rather than exclusive. The winery works with Yadkin Valley fruit to produce what it calls “a truly elevated North Carolina wine experience,” and the tasting room leans into that with an inviting, unfussy atmosphere rather than a formal program.

Because the winery does not gate the experience behind a lot of process, the tasting room itself does most of the talking — a relaxed bar where you can work through a flight, order a glass of whatever sounds interesting, or settle in with a bottle and stay awhile. That last part is not incidental; Serre’s own materials describe the goal as making people want to linger, whether that means an afternoon on the patio or an overnight in the property’s suite.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 364 Beast Trail, Mount Airy, NC 27030
Tasting Room: Thursday – Monday, 12pm – 8pm (closed Tuesday & Wednesday)
Reservations: Not required

• Walk-In Tasting — no reservation needed, any day the tasting room is open.
• Weekend Food Truck — The Pairing Plate serves light bites and snacks on weekends alongside the wine.
• A Suite with a View — an on-site private suite with its own entrance, a two-person soaking tub, waterfall rain shower, and firepit looking out over the mountains — a good option if your group wants to turn the visit into an overnight.
• Weddings & Private Events — the vineyard books as a wedding venue; ask ahead for available dates.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: Serre is genuinely family-friendly — well-behaved leashed dogs and kids are welcome, and the team means it when they say they love having families visit. Weekday food options are limited to snacks, so if your group wants a real meal, plan around the weekend food truck or eat before you arrive. Because there is no reservation system, walk-ins are the norm, but we still budget at least 90 minutes here to account for a wait during weekend rushes. If your group is celebrating something specific — a bachelorette weekend, an anniversary, a reunion — the combination of live music, a relaxed no-reservation policy, and the option to book the suite for the night makes Serre one of the easier wineries to build a whole evening around rather than just an afternoon stop.

Where Serre Fits in Your Tour Route

Serre sits in the same Mount Airy 27030 corner of Surry County as Round Peak Vineyards, making the two an easy pairing without much drive time between them. From there, Golden Road Vineyards and Stony Knoll Vineyards, both closer to Dobson, extend the route further south without doubling back.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time. Because Serre’s tasting room does not open until noon, it pairs well as a midday or afternoon stop rather than the first winery of the day. Given that the tasting room stays open until 8pm four days a week, it also works well as a last stop on a longer route — you are not racing a 5pm closing time the way you are at many Yadkin Valley wineries.

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• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Sanders Ridge: A 180-Year Tobacco Farm Turned Yadkin Valley Winery

Sanders Ridge Vineyard & Winery sits on land the Shore family has worked for more than 180 years. The original 800 acres were settled in the 1840s by John Benjamin Shore, and today Neil Shore — Shore’s great-great-grandson and the fifth generation of the family to farm this particular tract, known as the Big Woods farm — is the one pouring the wine. Neil farmed traditional crops here for 44 years, mostly tobacco, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, and timber, before planting a 15-acre vineyard in 2001. That was also his last year growing tobacco; a hand of that final crop still hangs framed behind the tasting room register.

Neil opened the winery itself in June 2009, in a rustic, towering post-and-beam building constructed from lumber and stone harvested right off the farm. Family photos and farming artifacts are scattered throughout the tasting room, and a portrait of Sanders Shore himself hangs above the bar.

The Wines of Sanders Ridge

The winery farms its own 15-acre vineyard within the broader 150-acre century-designated farm, growing Viognier, Chardonnay, Muscat Canelli, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chambourcin, and two muscadine varieties, Carlos and Noble. All of the wines are made exclusively from grapes grown on-site, and the lineup runs from dry, food-friendly reds and whites to fruitier, sweeter styles — up to 16 to 20 varieties available year-round. Since 2006, the property has also grown USDA-certified organic vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers at the adjoining Farm at Sanders Ridge.

That working-farm identity carries through everything Sanders Ridge does. This is not a vineyard built from scratch on land bought for the purpose — it is a farm that added grapes to a 180-year rotation of tobacco, corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, and timber, and the wine program grew up around a family that already knew this soil intimately. It shows in details like the frame of tobacco leaves behind the register and the old-growth timber and stone worked into the winery building itself.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 2300 Round Hill Road, Boonville, NC 27011
Tastings & Lunch (April–December): Daily, noon – 5pm
Tastings & Lunch (January–March): Monday, and Friday–Sunday, noon – 5pm

• Wine Tasting Flight — choose any five wines, 2 oz pours, served daily noon–4:30pm.
• Lunch & Sunday Brunch — a seasonally influenced lunch menu served daily, plus a dedicated Sunday brunch, both alongside your wine.
• Cabin Rental — a private cabin on the property, available year-round, that comes with a complimentary tasting or glass of wine for two.
• Weddings & Private Events — a Wedding Wire 2019 Couples’ Choice Award winner, with a waterfront gazebo ceremony site steps from the timber-frame winery.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: reservations are recommended for lunch and required for parties of six or more, so call ahead if your group is larger than a couple. Sanders Ridge does not allow outside picnics, coolers, or alcohol, but leashed pets are welcome on the outdoor patio. Because there is a full lunch menu, a working farm, and grounds worth walking, we recommend budgeting at least two hours here if your group plans to eat. Sunday brunch in particular draws a crowd, so if that is the plan, build in extra buffer time and confirm a table before you arrive rather than hoping to walk in.

Where Sanders Ridge Fits in Your Tour Route

Sanders Ridge sits just west of Boonville, about 25 minutes from Winston-Salem, which makes it a natural anchor for a route that also takes in the Yadkinville-area wineries — Brandon Hills Vineyard and Hanover Park Vineyard are both a short drive away, and Windsor Run Cellars is close enough to fold into the same afternoon. Coming from the High Country, we usually treat Sanders Ridge as a midday stop, with lunch built into the schedule since the on-site restaurant is one of the better reasons to slow down here.

Because Sanders Ridge also books weddings and offers a cabin rental, some of our groups treat it as more than a single stop — a rehearsal dinner the night before a wedding at the property, for instance, or an overnight stay bookended by tastings at neighboring wineries the next day. If your itinerary has any flexibility, it is worth asking what is happening on the property that week before you lock in a route.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time, or longer at Sanders Ridge if lunch is part of the plan. Most Yadkin Valley tasting rooms open by noon, which lines up well with Sanders Ridge’s own hours.

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Explore More from Ashe County Livery

• Yadkin Valley Wine Tours — Explore NC’s premier wine region
• High Country Wine Tours — Mountain winery service
• Wedding Transportation — Luxury transportation for your big day
• Airport Transfers — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI
• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350