Category: Wine Tours

Black Mountain Cider + Mead runs its taproom and production facility out of a corner of a reclaimed furniture factory in Black Mountain, NC — a former manufacturing building now shared with a distillery and a brewery, about fifteen miles east of Asheville. It’s a working cidery, not a polished tasting room built for tour groups: you walk in among fermentation tanks, order a flight, and if you ask a question about the process you’ll usually get an answer from the person who actually made the cider.

Two Former English Teachers and a Trip to Britain

David and Jessica Bowman started Black Mountain Ciderworks + Meadery after a 2009 trip to England, where they tasted the dry, complex ciders of the West Country and couldn’t find anything like them back home. Both had backgrounds as English teachers and hobbyist brewers and winemakers, and the trip turned into a project: sourcing apples from nearby Henderson County — which grows roughly 65% of North Carolina’s apple crop — instead of importing juice concentrate the way many commercial “cider” brands do. Their first batches were pressed on an old hand-cranked farmer’s basket press, the kind of tool you’d expect next to a butter churn. By 2014 they were making enough cider to open a taproom to the public, and the business has been running in Black Mountain since. (Source: Edible Asheville, “Cider City, USA.”)

The company’s roots go back further on paper — state registration records list the business as founded in 2013 — but the throughline in every account of the Bowmans’ story is the same: a couple who wanted North Carolina apples to taste like North Carolina, the way wine grapes are supposed to express the soil and elevation where they’re grown.

What’s in the Glass

Black Mountain’s ciders are fermented in small batches from heirloom and local apples, never filtered, pasteurized, or built from concentrate — a point the Bowmans are vocal about, since a lot of mass-market “hard cider” is closer to an alcoholic apple soda than a fermented fruit beverage. Their lineup changes with the harvest: early fall brings brighter, more acidic ciders from Ginger Gold and Golden Delicious apples, while cooler months bring spiced and flavored releases — cider brewed with chai spice, and one built around sweet potato, have both been part of their seasonal rotation. On the mead side, the taproom focuses on hydromels — lower-gravity, sessionable meads around 6–8% ABV that are less sweet and more approachable than traditional high-gravity mead. Flavors have included coffee, almond, pistachio, sweet potato and beet, made with honey sourced mostly from beekeepers in Buncombe and McDowell counties. Because both cider and mead are naturally gluten-free and the taproom doesn’t serve beer, there’s no cross-contamination risk for gluten-sensitive drinkers — one of the more practical reasons cidery-only stops appeal to mixed groups. (Sources: Black Mountain Ciderworks + Meadery website, cider process and FAQ pages.)

The Setting: A Reclaimed Furniture Factory

The taproom sits inside Eastside Business Park, a multi-tenant industrial complex built out of a former furniture manufacturing building dating to sections built in 1926, 1932 and 1967, now home to around 40 small businesses. Black Mountain Cider + Mead shares the site with Pisgah Brewing Company and Oak & Grist Distilling, and there’s often a food truck parked next door, since the cidery itself doesn’t serve food — you’re welcome to bring your own or order delivery. Both kids and pets are allowed in the taproom, and no reservation is required. The taproom and the production tanks are in the same room, so there’s no separation between where the cider is made and where it’s served — ask about the apples in your glass and you’re often talking to the person who pressed them. (Sources: Eastside Business Park website; Black Mountain Ciderworks + Meadery FAQ page.)

What Else Is Nearby

Downtown Black Mountain is a short drive from the taproom and worth the extra half hour if your group has time: it’s a compact, walkable Main Street with more than 20 locally-owned shops and over 20 restaurants, plus long-running craft galleries like Seven Sisters Gallery, which has been showing regional fine art and craft since 1981. The town sits right off I-40 about 15 miles from Asheville, so it’s an easy add-on if your day already includes stops in Asheville proper. (Sources: Visit Black Mountain; Seven Sisters Gallery.)

Planning Your Visit

Be honest with yourself about the drive: Black Mountain is roughly 105–115 miles and about 2 hours from Boone by the fastest routes (typically via US-221/I-40), and a similar range from Banner Elk or Blowing Rock. That distance makes this a full-day trip rather than a quick afternoon out — most groups from the High Country pair it with one or two other Asheville-area stops (like Bold Rock Cidery or Botanist and Barrel) rather than making the drive for a single tasting. Because the taproom is small and informal, it works well for groups of a handful of people rather than a large party; there’s no official tour schedule, but staff are happy to talk through the production process when things aren’t busy. Confirm current hours directly with the taproom before you go, since cideries this size sometimes adjust days seasonally.

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Mead — honey wine — is the oldest fermented beverage in the world, and it’s having a real moment in North Carolina’s High Country. Williamson Mead and Brewing, tucked into Glade Valley in Alleghany County about an hour from Boone, is one of the small stable of producers keeping that tradition alive, and in 2024 the state took notice: their honey-strawberry-black cherry mead “Freya” was named Best Mead at the North Carolina Wine Competition.

Reviving an ancient craft in the mountains

Williamson describes itself as having been established in Alleghany County to craft mead and cider “in the heart of North Carolina’s wine country,” combining old-world honey-wine tradition with what they call a proprietary, faster fermentation process. It’s a small, community-rooted operation — the tasting room sits right on the family property on Shawtown Road, and the winery has become one of the stops on the NC Mead Trail, a statewide list curated by the NC Mead Alliance to spotlight the state’s growing mead scene.

What to taste

The lineup runs across meads, ciders and a few beers, with honey as the throughline. Their award-winning “Freya” blends honey with strawberry and black cherry, and the broader menu of meads and ciders is built to appeal to both first-time mead drinkers and long-time enthusiasts — expect fruit-forward, approachable pours rather than the heavy, syrupy meads some visitors expect. Because the lineup rotates with the seasons and what’s fermenting at any given time, ask what’s currently on tap when you arrive rather than expecting a fixed menu.

The tasting room experience

The Glade Valley tasting room is designed as an unhurried, welcoming space — described by the winery as a warm spot for the community as much as for visitors passing through. It’s the kind of stop where you can take your time working through a flight of meads you’ve likely never had anywhere else, since most tasting rooms in the region pour wine, not honey wine. Reviewers frequently note the staff’s willingness to walk newcomers through the differences between mead styles, which is worth taking advantage of if this is your first time trying it.

Why mead is worth the detour

Most High Country tasting rooms pour grape wine or apple cider, so a dedicated meadery is a genuinely different stop on a wine-tour day. Mead starts from fermented honey rather than fruit, which gives it a different body and sweetness curve than either wine or cider — some styles come out light and floral, others rich and almost port-like, depending on the honey and what’s blended in. Williamson leans into that range rather than making one “safe” style, and the fact that a panel of judges picked their mead over the state’s cider and wine entries for Best Mead in the 2024 NC Wine Competition says something about how seriously they’re taking the craft. If your group has already done a few tastings at grape-based wineries, this is the stop that resets the palate and gives people something to talk about on the ride home.

Nearby and worth combining

Glade Valley sits in Alleghany County near Sparta, on the northern edge of the High Country wine map — a different pocket from the Boone/Watauga cluster, which makes it a good candidate to pair with a day that also includes Ashe County stops like Molley Chomper in Lansing or a swing through West Jefferson. It’s mountain country the whole way, with the kind of two-lane, curving roads that make a dedicated driver worth having if you’re planning to actually enjoy what you taste. Alleghany County itself is worth a slower look if you have the afternoon — Sparta’s small downtown and the surrounding farmland make for an easy walk or a short stop before or after your tasting.

Planning the drive

From Boone, Glade Valley is roughly an hour’s drive — about 57 miles by road — so it’s a full outing rather than a quick detour. Hours have varied by season on their site, with recent listings showing Wednesday through Friday afternoons and longer weekend hours, so check their current schedule or call ahead before you head out, particularly midweek. Because it’s a bit further out than some of the Watauga County wineries, it works well as an anchor stop for a half-day trip rather than one of several quick pours.

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The Vineyard at High Holly sits on nearly 30 acres of the Highlands Plateau in far western North Carolina, on Scaly Mountain between Highlands, NC and Dillard, GA. It’s worth being upfront about geography: this is not a quick trip from Boone. It’s a destination in its own right, in a different corner of the mountains entirely, and it’s best treated as a full day or overnight excursion rather than a stop you tack onto a Boone-area wine afternoon.

A family project on the Highlands Plateau

The vineyard is run by Connie and Jim Mercer along with their daughter and son-in-law, Lesley and Eric Galloway, who bought the property and now live there full-time raising their family on-site. The Mercers split their time between Florida and North Carolina. The Galloways describe the place as centered on a working vineyard, and the property has grown to include an award-winning dahlia garden, tennis courts, a pond with waterfalls, an event pavilion and walking trails across the hillside — more a full mountain retreat than a simple tasting room.

What to taste and eat

On-site, Barrel & Vine is the vineyard’s restaurant and bar, pouring wines by the glass, bottle and curated flight alongside a seasonal, chef-driven food menu of light bites, entrées and desserts. There’s live music and themed dinners on the events calendar, and the restaurant operates without reservations, so you can show up, taste, and stay for a meal without planning weeks ahead. Because it’s also a working vineyard, the pours you get in the tasting room are tied directly to fruit grown on the property.

The setting

What sets High Holly apart from most High Country tasting rooms is the sheer scale of the property. Guests can walk the grounds, sit by the pond, wander the dahlia garden, or play tennis or cornhole in a community area built around a fire pit. The vineyard is family- and pet-friendly, and there’s on-site lodging if you want to turn a visit into a stay: five cottages that each sleep 4–6, a farmhouse that sleeps 4–6, and a restored 1890s homestead cottage for two. Because the property regularly hosts weddings and private events, it’s worth checking their calendar before you go — they note the vineyard may be closed some Saturdays for exactly that reason.

What else is nearby

The Highlands and Scaly Mountain area is its own outdoor destination, with ziplining, hiking, waterfalls, horseback riding, rafting, fishing and golf all within about 30 minutes of the property, plus the shops, restaurants and antique stores of downtown Highlands a short drive away. If you’re making the trip out from the High Country, it makes sense to build in at least a night in the area rather than treating it as a single stop.

Planning the trip from Boone

This is the honest caveat: Scaly Mountain sits on the opposite side of western North Carolina from Boone, closer to Highlands, Cashiers and the Georgia border than to the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor. Straight-line driving estimates between Boone and the Highlands area run in the range of three to four hours depending on route, so this isn’t a same-day add-on to a Watauga or Ashe County wine day — it’s a separate trip, and one best paired with an overnight stay either on-site or nearby. If a group is already planning an extended High Country getaway that includes a swing toward Asheville and beyond, High Holly is a worthwhile detour; if you’re looking for a winery stop within an hour or two of Boone, the other producers on our list are a better fit for a single afternoon.

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Old Barn Winery sits on Beaver Creek School Road just outside West Jefferson, NC, on land the Sexton family has farmed for more than a hundred years. It isn’t a winery that showed up chasing a trend — it grew, almost literally, out of a Christmas tree farm, and that backstory is part of what makes an afternoon there feel different from a typical tasting-room stop. You’re drinking wine made by the same family that planted the fir trees on the ridge behind you.

From Tobacco to Christmas Trees to Wine

The Sexton family’s farming roots in Ashe County trace back to Byron Sexton, born in 1912, who started out growing tobacco like most mountain farmers of his era. In 1960 Byron made a bet that reshaped the family’s future: instead of planting a cautious one-acre trial plot of Fraser fir seedlings as advised, he planted 80 acres. That decision helped position Ashe County as what would become known nationally as the Christmas Tree Capital of the United States. Byron’s son Kenneth carried the tree business forward through the 1970s and 80s, and by the 2000s a third generation — brothers Greg and Jimbo Sexton, working alongside their mother Joann and Greg’s wife Robin — was running the farm.

The wine side of the story starts in the mid-2000s, when Greg and Robin began experimenting with homemade wine with friends, learning fermentation as a hobby before it became anything more serious. They started planting grapevines on the farm to see what the mountain soil could do. Old Barn Winery officially opened its doors on July 4, 2022, in a barn on the same property where the family’s Frosty’s choose-and-cut Christmas tree farm operates — a fourth-generation Sexton project sitting on land the family has worked since before the Great Depression. (Source: Old Barn Winery’s own “Our Story” page.)

What to Taste

Old Barn’s list is organized simply: reds, whites, sweet and fruit wines, plus a specialty lineup of ciders, meads and sangrias, and non-alcoholic options including TÖST and a non-alcoholic sangria. The winery describes its reds as ranging from easy-drinking to bold and complex, its whites as bright and citrus-forward with both dry and off-dry options, and its sweet wines as berry-driven and built for casual sipping. There’s also a rotating “previous wines” archive of bottles that get retired and occasionally brought back — a sign of a working, evolving list rather than a fixed set of six wines that never change. As with any small winery, exactly what’s pouring on a given weekend shifts with the season, so it’s worth checking their current wine menu online before you go.

The Setting and the Experience

The winery occupies a working farm with mountain views, and the property still grows Christmas trees and grapevines side by side — the same barn that anchors Frosty’s tree farm each winter is the building that now houses the winery. Old Barn also leans into live music, with a regular calendar of afternoon sets that lately has included a strong TropRock/Jimmy Buffett-inspired lineup — the kind of laid-back, beachy sound paired with a wine slushie that feels a little unexpected at 3,000 feet in the Blue Ridge. They’ve also run food collaborations with Bocca Bistro for wine-and-dine evenings. None of this is loud or produced — it’s a family farm that added a tasting room, and it still feels like one.

What Else Is Nearby

West Jefferson itself is worth building time around. The town is known locally as the “Town of Murals,” with a self-guided walking tour of more than a dozen colorful downtown murals depicting mountain life and Ashe County history, plus working artist studios and galleries in its small Arts District. If your group wants to turn a winery stop into a full afternoon, pairing Old Barn Winery with a wander through downtown West Jefferson’s murals and shops is an easy add before or after your tasting.

Planning Your Visit

Old Barn Winery is roughly 20–25 minutes from Boone by car via US-221, and a similar short hop from Jefferson. From Banner Elk or Blowing Rock, plan on more like 35–45 minutes depending on route and season — mountain roads and Blue Ridge Parkway traffic can add time in summer and fall. The winery has told visitors it’s open every day, but hours, tasting fees and live music schedules change seasonally, so confirm directly with Old Barn Winery before you go. For groups, note that a single vehicle keeps everyone together for the drive back down winding two-lane roads after a tasting — worth factoring in if your group is splitting across multiple cars.

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Molley Chomper Cider set up shop inside the old Lansing School, a fitting home for a cidery built around the idea of putting a small mountain community’s fruit — foraged, farmed and forgotten varieties alike — into the bottle. It’s about 25 minutes from Boone in Lansing, in Ashe County, and it has become one of the more distinctive stops in the High Country precisely because it isn’t trying to make wine taste like cider or cider taste like beer. It’s doing its own thing with real, whole fruit from real regional farms.

From farm to old schoolhouse

The cidery grew out of Bent Apple Farm, the Ashe County property where the founders first got curious about the apple trees already growing on their land and started a small experimental orchard they now call The Little Orchard. What began as a way to make a small farm work turned into a full cidery and wine bar housed in the old Lansing School building on Piney Creek Road. Cidermaker Tim Arscott has described the sourcing side of the business simply: “Farmers keep showing up with wonderful stuff. Foraged apples, pawpaws, purple raspberries, trailer loads of pumpkins.” That relationship with small growers is the backbone of everything they make — in 2024 alone they fermented 109 different apple varieties, and more than 90% of their fruit came from farms within 60 miles of the cidery.

What to taste

Because Molley Chomper works on a harvest cycle rather than a fixed recipe, the lineup changes year to year, but a few ciders have become signatures. Mountain Maelstrom blends more than thirty apple varieties sourced from small farms across Ashe, Watauga and Avery counties. Barrel 19 uses old-fashioned Winesap apples grown at Bent Apple Farm, left to spontaneously ferment on the pomace before aging in barrel — dry, a little funky, with deep red-apple character. Carpenter Hill is made with organic purple raspberries grown along Helton Creek in Ashe County, using a heirloom variety developed by a local family in the 1960s. There’s also Old Orchard Creek, a bubbly fruit wine built on Ashe County blueberries and blended with long-aged cider, and a ginger cider made with fresh ginger pressed from a Zionville, NC farm. None of it uses concentrates, aseptic purees or artificial flavoring — everything starts as whole fruit.

The setting

The cidery occupies the old Lansing School, with a dog-friendly patio and a policy of welcoming outside food, so it’s an easy place to turn a tasting into an afternoon. Alongside their own ciders and fruit wines, they pour a curated selection of natural and organic wines by the glass or bottle — recent visits have featured Jones von Drehle, another North Carolina winery, as a rotating guest pour. Bottles are available to take home, and cider club members get first access to limited releases.

Beyond the tasting room

Lansing sits close to both West Jefferson and Boone, in a stretch of Ashe County known for hiking, fishing and cycling, and Molley Chomper’s own Bent Apple Farm has a rental cottage available for guests who want to stay in the area overnight. If you’re spending a day in Ashe County, this is a natural anchor for a farm-to-glass afternoon that doesn’t require a formal wine-tour itinerary to enjoy.

Planning your visit

Current posted hours show the cidery closed Monday and Tuesday, open afternoons into evening Wednesday through Sunday — but hours have shifted between seasons on their own site, so confirm before you drive out, especially midweek. From Boone it’s roughly 30–40 minutes depending on route, and it pairs naturally with a swing through West Jefferson or a stop at another Ashe County producer on the same trip.

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Fifteen minutes north of downtown Boone, past Lowe’s Foods and out along Tom Jackson Road, a working vineyard and orchard now sits on a stretch of land that Native American hunters once used to track bison through the mountains. That history is the whole point of Mill Camp Wines & Ciders: it’s a newer tasting room, but it’s built on genuinely old ground, and the Jolley family that runs it wants you to feel that when you walk in.

A family farm, not a franchise

Mill Camp is owned and run by the Jolley family — Christopher Jolley handles the winemaking, his brother Mark Jolley makes the ciders, and Taylor Zinda, a sommelier, runs the beverage and guest experience. The family planted the vineyard and orchard themselves, on land they describe as sitting along an old Buffalo Trail once used by bison, the Native Americans who hunted them, and later by fur trappers moving through the Blue Ridge. They left other careers to build this place, and the tasting room officially opened to the public in September 2025, with a full grand-opening celebration in October that year drawing the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce out for a ribbon cutting.

What’s in the glass

The list splits cleanly between wine and cider, and both sides are made on-site in small batches. On the wine side you’ll find a stainless-steel Chardonnay built for crispness rather than butter, a high-acid Sauvignon Blanc, a 60/40 Merlot–Cabernet Franc rosé (still and sparkling versions), an off-dry Vidal Blanc, a Traminette with honeysuckle and rose notes, and reds that include a barrel-aged Mill Camp Red field blend and a two-year-barrel Malbec. The ciders lean into the farm’s own fruit: High Country Apple is made from apples grown at 3,300 feet on the property, Tart Cherry is the tasting room’s best-seller, and Old Buffalo Trail and Hewes Crab ciders use heirloom apple varieties pressed right there. The orchard and vineyard sit on steep, south-facing slopes with a granite-based Clifton loam, which the family says shapes both the grapes and the apples that come off the land — and beyond wine and cider, they also tap maple syrup, harvest birch bark for birch beer, and keep bees for their own honey.

The setting

The tasting room itself is set up as a gathering spot rather than a formal wine bar — there’s an indoor stone fireplace for cooler days and outdoor seating that looks out over pasture and mountain ridgeline. Kids and well-behaved dogs are both welcome, food is allowed in (they also sell some in-house), and outside beverages are the one thing they ask you to leave in the car. It’s a low-key, unhurried kind of place, closer in feel to a farm gathering than a formal tasting counter, which fits the “rural escape” the family set out to build.

Beyond the tasting room

Mill Camp sits along the route to some of the region’s better outdoor recreation — fly fishing, tubing and kayaking on the New River are all a short drive from the property, and the farm itself backs up to land used historically for hunting and travel through these mountains. If you’re building a High Country day around water and wine, this is a natural stop on the way.

Planning your visit

Mill Camp is open Thursday through Monday, roughly noon to 7 p.m. in the warmer months (Tuesday and Wednesday are closed) — but hours shift seasonally, so confirm on their site or by calling ahead before you go, especially outside summer. Groups of eight or more are asked to call or text in advance so the team can prepare. The property has a gravel parking lot with designated accessible spaces, and the tasting room and patio are wheelchair accessible. From downtown Boone it’s a straightforward 12–15 minute drive north on NC-194, and it’s an easy add-on if you’re also headed toward West Jefferson or the New River corridor for the day.

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Little Switzerland Orchard and Winery is a family-run farm, campground, and tasting room perched near the village of Little Switzerland in Mitchell County, at around 3,455 feet of elevation just minutes off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is not a polished vineyard estate — it is chickens, horses, hiking trails, and a small-batch orchard operation making wine, cider, mead, and beer — and that unpolished, come-hang-out feel is exactly why it has built a loyal following. Nearly every recent review mentions the same thing: the drive up a steep gravel road is a little rough, and it is completely worth it once you arrive.

A Mom-and-Pop Farm That Grew Into a Destination

The property describes itself as a mom-and-pop orchard, cidery, winery, brewery, and campground, built on a mountaintop in the village of Little Switzerland. A newer organic orchard and residence opened in fall 2023, expanding what visitors now call a “mountain-top oasis.” It is run by an owner reviewers know simply as Tony (Anthony), along with his wife, and the small scale shows in the best way — this is a place built and maintained by the people who also pour your drink and feed the chickens.

What to Taste

The lineup spans small-batch wines, ciders, meads, and beers, all made on-site. Ciders are the clear specialty: flavors like “Just Peachy” (apple cider fermented with peaches, available sweet or dry), a “Chai in the Sky” spiced cider, and playful varieties along the lines of pickle cider and a riff on the classic Johnny Appleseed profile show up repeatedly in reviews and drink-tracking apps. The orchard also makes cider margaritas, and there are house wines and mead alongside the cider list for anyone who wants to build a full flight. Expect the menu to rotate with the season and the harvest, since this is a genuinely small production operation rather than a large commercial winery.

The Setting

The roughly seven-acre property has room to walk, sit by a fire, and explore — there are hiking trails on-site, a clubhouse, and farm animals including horses and chickens that visitors are welcome to admire (feeding them is generally left to staff). It also operates as a working campground with RV sites, hot showers, and a clubhouse with Wi-Fi, so day visitors share the space with overnight guests. Live outdoor music, ghost-story campfires, and other seasonal events show up on the calendar from time to time. Dogs are welcome with proof of vaccination. Because the last stretch of road is gravel and includes a steep section, larger vehicles and trailers sometimes need four-wheel drive, and the drive itself is part of the adventure rather than an inconvenience to be avoided.

Nearby and Worth Combining

Little Switzerland sits on the Mitchell County side of the Avery County wine cluster, close enough to Linville Falls Winery to combine the two in one loop, with Archaic Alcohols in Banner Elk and Eagles Nest Winery near Elk Park both reachable as a longer add-on if your group wants a fuller day of tastings across two counties.

Planning the Trip

Plan on roughly 45 minutes to an hour from Boone or Banner Elk, most of it on the Blue Ridge Parkway or connecting mountain roads, plus the gravel driveway itself at the end. Days and hours have varied across different listings and seasons — some show a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule, others a five- or six-day week — so check current hours directly with the orchard before you drive up, especially if you’re coming a distance for a specific day. Because the approach road takes some care and the setting encourages a slow, multi-hour visit with food, drinks, and animals to see, this is an easy stop to enjoy fully when someone else is handling the driving, both up the gravel and back down the mountain afterward.

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Linville Falls Winery sits on US 221 just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Linville Gorge, on a 40-acre farm that grows wine grapes, Christmas trees, and berries side by side at roughly 3,200 to 3,400 feet of elevation. It is worth the drive for the story as much as the wine: it is the winery Jack Wiseman built at 80 years old after decades of running a Christmas tree operation on the same land, and it has become one of the more relaxed, unpretentious tasting rooms in the Appalachian High Country.

A Lifelong Dream, Fulfilled Late

Jack Wiseman was raised outside Crossnore, served as a U.S. Army medic during the Korean War, and later built a large Fraser fir Christmas tree business by buying up mountain farmland between Charlotte and Avery County over many years. He started planting wine grapes on part of that land around 2005, and after roughly seven years of tending vines, he opened Linville Falls Winery in October 2012 — a lifelong dream realized at 80 years old. Today the winery is still family-run, with Jack’s grandchildren taking on more of the day-to-day work while he continues to be involved. The name comes from the small community of Linville Falls, itself named for the waterfall a few minutes’ drive away near mile marker 316-317 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

What to Taste

The winery grows Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Noiret, Marquette, Petit Verdot, and Marechal Foch on the property, with Riesling as its flagship grape, all part of the Appalachian High Country American Viticultural Area. The tasting list runs from a dry Riesling and sweet Riesling to a chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, rosé, several red blends including a brandy barrel-aged cabernet sauvignon, and fruit-forward options made from the farm’s own blueberries and blackberries. The Cherry Bounce — a fortified cherry wine — comes up again and again in visitor reviews as a favorite, even among guests who normally prefer dry reds. Wine is available by the glass, bottle, or as a flight of four to five pours, and seasonal extras like wine slushies and spiked hot cider show up when the weather calls for them.

The Setting

Reviewers consistently point to the same things: an outdoor wood-burning fireplace, plenty of seating between the tasting room and the grounds, live music on busy weekends, and a pizza food truck that shows up regularly. The property still functions as a working farm — there’s a red barn where visitors can pick up free apples in season, and the Christmas tree fields are visible from parts of the grounds. It photographs well enough that an episode of Southern Charm reportedly filmed there. Because it’s a genuinely working farm rather than a manicured event venue, expect a casual, come-as-you-are atmosphere rather than a polished wine-country production.

Nearby and Worth Combining

Linville Falls Winery sits centrally enough in Avery County to anchor a whole day of tastings. Archaic Alcohols’ meadery in Banner Elk and Eagles Nest Winery near Elk Park are both a short drive north, and Little Switzerland Orchard and Winery over the county line in Mitchell County adds cider and mead to round out a longer route.

Planning the Trip

Expect roughly 35 to 45 minutes from Banner Elk and closer to an hour from Boone, most of it on scenic but winding mountain roads. The winery has generally run daily hours in the noon-to-six range, though exact hours and any seasonal closures should be confirmed on their site before you go, especially around the annual fall Grapestomp event when hours and crowds both shift. With live music, a fire pit, and flights meant for slow sipping, this is a stop where you want your group relaxed and unhurried rather than watching the clock — which is much easier when nobody in the car is also the designated driver home.

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Fae Nectar is a fantasy-themed meadery and event venue at 2984 Memorial Highway in Lake Lure, NC, tucked between the Blue Ridge foothills and Lake Lure itself, roughly two hours southeast of Boone. It bills itself as North Carolina’s “premiere fantasy themed Meadery,” and the branding is not subtle — a Medieval Tavern, a vaulted Great Hall, and a festival lawn built for costumed events sit alongside the actual mead production. If your group wants a tasting room that’s also a destination in its own right, this is one of the more distinctive options within a couple hours of the High Country.

What Fae Nectar actually makes

At its core, Fae Nectar is a working meadery: small-batch mead brewed from honey, described on their own site as blending “ancient tradition with modern imagination.” The mead is served on tap in the Medieval Tavern, alongside a curated selection of other local beers, wines and ciders for anyone in the group who isn’t a mead person, plus non-alcoholic options like craft sodas and sparkling water.

The venue doesn’t publish a detailed, dated tasting menu of every mead style on offer, so the reliable way to know exactly what’s pouring on a given weekend is to check their tavern hours page or call ahead — the lineup appears to rotate along with the venue’s event calendar and seasonal offerings.

The Medieval Tavern experience

The tavern itself leans into an “Olde-World” theme — candlelight, rustic timber, and a menu the venue calls the Celtic Kitchen: burgers, bratwursts, sandwiches, fries, a hummus plate and a rotating beef stew finished with a stout broth. It’s built for groups to settle in rather than taste-and-leave, and Fae Nectar publishes current tavern hours (Thursday through Sunday, with Saturday running longest) directly on its site — worth checking before you go since these can shift seasonally.

Beyond the mead: events and the setting

Fae Nectar’s calendar goes well past a standard tasting room. The venue hosts recurring immersive fantasy events — masquerade balls, pirate parties, D&D nights and larger fantasy festivals with craft vendors and cosplay — plus live music in the Great Hall and weddings on the grounds near the lake. For a group planning a milestone weekend (a birthday, a bachelorette trip, an anniversary), timing your visit around one of these events can turn a single tasting stop into most of an evening’s entertainment.

The physical setting is a real part of the draw: the property sits between the Blue Ridge Mountains and Lake Lure’s shoreline, and the wedding-facing side of the business markets the grounds as a backdrop for everything from an “elven forest gathering” to an intimate ceremony by the water. Even if you’re not there for a wedding, that same setting is what makes the tavern’s patio and grounds worth lingering on rather than treating the stop as a quick tasting-and-go.

Planning your visit

Lake Lure sits well south of the High Country wine corridor, so treat Fae Nectar as its own day trip rather than a stop you tack onto a Boone-area itinerary — the drive alone is a meaningful chunk of the day. Check the venue’s events calendar before you go; if a private wedding or ticketed fantasy event is running, tavern access may be limited to guests of that event. For a private group outing, Fae Nectar’s site notes that its events coordinator can help set up custom food and drink options for parties booking the tavern or Great Hall directly.

Fae Nectar tends to reward groups who lean into the theme rather than treat it as a standard tasting-room stop — think costumed birthday parties, themed bachelorette weekends, or anyone who wants a genuinely different afternoon than another vineyard porch. Given the drive and the venue’s event-driven calendar, it pairs best as an overnight or full-day trip built around Lake Lure’s other attractions, rather than a same-day loop with High Country stops near Boone.

Explore More from Ashe County Livery

• High Country Wine Tours — Mountain winery shuttle service
• Yadkin Valley Wine Tours — Explore NC’s premier wine region
• Wine Loop Shuttle — Hop-on hop-off winery tours
• Wedding Transportation — Luxury shuttles for your big day
• Wedding venues we serve — 40+ High Country venues
• Airport Shuttle Service — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI transfers
• Airport shuttles by town: Boone · Blowing Rock · Banner Elk · West Jefferson · Linville · Beech Mountain
• Ashe County Livery — Premium transportation in NC’s High Country
• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350

Eagles Nest Winery sits inside the gated Eagles Nest community above Elk Park, North Carolina, at roughly 4,000 feet of elevation on Old Beech Mountain Road. It opened its doors in late September 2020, and what makes it worth the drive is the contrast: a rustically elegant converted barn perched on a ridgeline, pouring California-style wines a few switchbacks above the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor. You will not find estate-grown Appalachian grapes here — the winery ships premium juice and grapes in from California in first-use barrels, then blends and bottles everything on-site — but the setting, the views, and the food menu make it one of the more polished tasting-room experiences in Avery County.

From a Neighborhood Idea to a Working Winery

Eagles Nest is a private mountain community built around outdoor recreation — ATV trails, hiking, a fitness center — and the winery grew out of that same instinct to give residents something to do close to home. According to the community’s own account, winemaker Jeff and his team started distilling, blending, and bottling wine using imported West Coast grapes and juice, aiming for Napa Valley quality without leaving the High Country. The winery is home to a variety of ever-evolving reds and whites, including a couple of cabernet variations, a pinot noir, a sauvignon blanc, and a chardonnay, and the lineup keeps shifting as new blends are introduced. Dean Williamson, who fell for the property on his first visit in 2020, has continued that direction, with an emphasis on award-recognized blends and a growing sense of community among regulars.

What to Taste and Eat

A day pass for non-members runs $25 per person and includes a tasting, or $10 off a bottle if you would rather skip straight to a favorite. The kitchen turns out chef-prepared dishes built around the wine list — wood-fired pizzas (the hot peppers and hot honey combination gets called out often in reviews), charcuterie boards, salads, and seasonal desserts. If you cannot make it in person, the restaurant will take to-go orders by phone. This is a tasting room built for lingering over a full afternoon rather than a five-minute pour-and-go.

The Setting

The barn itself has a grand fireplace for cooler evenings, custom wood tables for groups, and nine separate outdoor areas with fire pits and mountain views, all just past the community’s North Pavilion near the highest point of Eagles Nest. Live music runs Friday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m., with Saturday afternoon sets in summer. Because the winery sits inside a gated residential neighborhood rather than along a public highway, first-time visitors should expect a bit more navigating than a standard roadside tasting room — part of why a driver who already knows the gate and the road is genuinely useful here.

Good to Know Before You Go

The winery is generally open Thursday through Sunday, closed Monday through Wednesday, with evening hours Thursday and Friday and earlier openings on the weekend. It skews adult: children are welcome only on Saturdays from November through May and on Sundays year-round, with the space otherwise restricted to guests 16 and older. Hours, pricing, and the age policy can all shift with the season, so confirm directly with the winery before you plan a visit.

Nearby and Worth Combining

Elk Park sits close to several other Avery County pours, which makes it easy to build a half-day loop rather than a single stop. Archaic Alcohols’ meadery in nearby Banner Elk and Linville Falls Winery’s vineyard south toward Newland both pair naturally with an Eagles Nest visit, and if you want to push a little farther into Mitchell County, Little Switzerland Orchard and Winery adds a completely different, off-the-grid farm vibe to the day.

Planning the Trip from Boone or Banner Elk

Eagles Nest is roughly a 30 to 40 minute drive from Boone and closer to 15 to 20 minutes from Banner Elk, depending on traffic through Elk Park, though the last stretch inside the gated community adds a few extra minutes of careful driving on narrow roads. Groups of any size beyond two or three do better with a private vehicle: gate check-in is smoother when a driver who knows the property handles the details, nobody has to track who is pouring what, and the ridge-top roads are far more relaxing to ride than to navigate after a few tastings.

Explore More from Ashe County Livery

• High Country Wine Tours — Mountain winery shuttle service
• Yadkin Valley Wine Tours — Explore NC’s premier wine region
• Wine Loop Shuttle — Hop-on hop-off winery tours
• Wedding Transportation — Luxury shuttles for your big day
• Wedding venues we serve — 40+ High Country venues
• Airport Shuttle Service — CLT, AVL, GSO & TRI transfers
• Airport shuttles by town: Boone · Blowing Rock · Banner Elk · West Jefferson · Linville · Beech Mountain
• Ashe County Livery — Premium transportation in NC’s High Country
• Request a free quote — or call (336) 484-1350