Category: Wine Tours

Burntshirt Vineyards sits on Sugarloaf Road just outside Hendersonville, NC, on a working vineyard that grows every grape in its own wine — no purchased fruit, no shortcuts. The name comes from local legend: workers clearing land on Burntshirt Mountain reportedly tossed their shirts into a fire for good luck before the fields yielded a strong harvest, and the story stuck to the mountain and, eventually, the winery. It’s a genuinely different kind of NC wine stop — high elevation, estate-only grapes, and a production history that goes back to the mid-2000s.

How It Started

According to Burntshirt’s own account of its history, owners Lemuel and Sandra Oates recognized the quality of the fruit growing on their land and decided to move from growing grapes to producing their own estate wines. The Hendersonville vineyard was initially planted starting in 2009, the vines matured for a few years, and the first harvest came in 2011, per contemporary local news coverage. The winery built a dedicated, state-of-the-art wine production facility on the Sugarloaf Road property that opened in September 2013, allowing Burntshirt to make all of its wine minutes from where the grapes are grown.

What to Taste

Burntshirt grows its grapes across two vineyard sites at different elevations — one near 2,200 feet and a second, higher site on Burntshirt Mountain at roughly 3,400 feet, among the highest-elevation vineyards on the East Coast. That elevation split lets them grow both red Bordeaux varietals and white and hybrid varieties, including Gruner Veltliner, an Austrian white grape that’s uncommon in the United States. The wines have picked up recognition over the years: Burntshirt’s Gruner Veltliner and a Merlot medaled in the 2012 International Women’s Wine Competition, and the winery has continued entering and placing in wine competitions in the years since, according to its own site and local press coverage. Ask in the tasting room about what’s currently pouring — an apple wine has also been called out by regional tourism write-ups as worth trying.

The Setting

The Hendersonville property is a full vineyard-and-winery experience: a tasting room, an on-site restaurant (the Vintner’s Table), a vineyard you can walk through, a meadow for picnicking, a private gazebo, and a barn used for photos and small events. Burntshirt’s site describes free vineyard tours offered daily. The property backs up against Burntshirt Mountain to the south and sits near Chimney Rock to the east, with a natural spring-fed pond and wildlife including wild turkey, deer and the occasional bear sharing the land, per the winery’s own description. Live music is a regular fixture, and the winery runs an events calendar for its Hendersonville location separately from its now-closed Chimney Rock outpost.

Note: Burntshirt also operated a Tasting Room & Bistro location in Chimney Rock Village, but that location remains closed as of mid-2026 due to building and infrastructure damage from Hurricane Helene — local reporting from spring 2026 lists it among the last Chimney Rock businesses still working toward reopening. The Hendersonville vineyard and tasting room were not affected and are operating normally.

What Else Is Nearby

Downtown Hendersonville’s Main Street is a short drive from the vineyard and worth pairing with a tasting — it’s a walkable historic downtown known for its public art (the “Bearfootin’” bear sculptures), seasonal festivals like Art on Main, and a strong local restaurant and shop scene. If your group wants a full day, a late-morning tasting at Burntshirt followed by lunch and a wander down Main Street is an easy combination.

Planning Your Visit

Hendersonville sits well south of the High Country proper — plan on roughly two hours from Boone, and similar drive times from Banner Elk or Blowing Rock, mostly via I-40 and I-26. That distance makes Burntshirt a better fit for a full-day trip or an overnight than a quick afternoon stop, especially if you’re pairing it with other Hendersonville-area wineries or Asheville. As with any working vineyard, hours vary by season — Burntshirt’s own site lists tasting room hours that differ between weekdays and weekends and change around major holidays, so confirm current hours directly with the winery before you plan your drive.

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B&C Winery is a small, husband-and-wife-run wine shop and tasting room on Soco Road in Maggie Valley, NC, roughly a two-hour drive southwest of Boone. It’s not a vineyard in the traditional sense — the winery buys grape juice and skins from vineyards around the world and ferments them on-site — but it’s a genuine, working small-batch winery with a loyal local following, a dog-friendly tasting room, and a menu of nearly 40 wine varieties.

The story: Bob and Chris

The name comes from its founders, Bob and Chris — Chris is the winemaker, and the business describes Bob as her “silent partner,” helping with everything from washing glasses to sanitizing equipment. Chris’s path into winemaking started outside the wine industry entirely: she trained as a pharmacy technician, working up to specialized sterile compounding, and the winery credits that background — precise measuring, weighing and “thinking outside the box” — with shaping how she approaches recipe development. Her interest in wine grew out of that pharmacy background in the late 1980s and crystallized around 1998, and it’s stayed a hands-on, small-scale operation since.

What to taste

B&C sources fruit and juice from wine regions across California, Washington State, Australia, Italy, Chile and Argentina, then finishes the wines with fresh mountain spring water on-site in Maggie Valley. The catalog spans red table wines (Old Vine Zinfandel, Argentine and Chilean Malbec, Italian Chianti among them), white table wines (Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay), and a notably deep dessert-wine line — fruit-forward blends like Blackberry Blast Merlot, Strawberry White Merlot and Peach Apricot Chardonnay. Wine flights run three pours for a modest price, and the winery also does custom wines for people who want to build something to their own taste.

The house’s named bottlings — wines like Blue Grass, Golden Rapture in Red, Colorful Wings, Winter’s Warmth, and Rapid Rocks — rotate as best sellers, and the winery periodically introduces limited-run “Limited Edition” wines that are only available for a few weeks at a time. If a particular named wine catches your eye online, it’s worth calling ahead to confirm it’s currently in stock, since B&C’s inventory shifts more often than a large commercial winery’s would.

Beyond the tasting counter

B&C runs regular Paint & Sip events in its tasting room — a wine-and-art class format where the project and materials are included in the ticket price — alongside its standard tasting hours. The shop also carries local specialty foods, including a full line of cheeses from Ashe County Cheese, North Carolina’s oldest cheese maker, so you can build a simple charcuterie pairing on the spot rather than bringing your own snacks.

Planning your visit

B&C is closed Sunday through Tuesday, with shorter hours mid-week and slightly longer hours Friday and Saturday — but as always, confirm current hours directly with the winery before you go, since small operations like this adjust their schedule seasonally. The winery recommends calling ahead for groups of six or more so they can prepare, which is worth doing if you’re arriving by private vehicle with a full group in tow.

Because Maggie Valley sits well outside the immediate Boone/Banner Elk corridor, this is a full-day destination rather than a quick stop between two nearby tasting rooms — plan for real drive time each way and build the rest of your day around it, checking current road conditions on mountain routes before you set out.

If you’re already planning to spend a day around the Maggie Valley / Waynesville area — hiking, a Blue Ridge Parkway drive, or visiting nearby shops — B&C is an easy, low-key add-on rather than the whole reason for the trip. It works especially well for a smaller group that wants a relaxed, unhurried tasting rather than a big production: this is a personal, family-run shop, not a large event venue, and the pace of a visit reflects that.

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Archaic Alcohols is not a vineyard with rolling rows of grapes — it is a small, husband-and-wife meadery built into a shop on Sugar Mountain Drive in the Banner Elk / Newland corner of Avery County, and it makes some of the most distinctive honey wine in the High Country. If you want a tasting experience that leans into dark humor and horror-movie branding rather than mountain-vineyard elegance, and you want to try mead and cyser (a mead-and-hard-cider hybrid) instead of grape wine, this is the stop worth the detour.

A Pandemic Hobby That Became a Business

According to the founders’ own account, Ryon and Liz started making mead as a pandemic-era hobby after their Halloween wedding in 2019. What began as something to fill the time during lockdown turned into Archaic Alcohols, a meadery they still run themselves out of their hometown in Avery County. The business was formally registered in North Carolina in November 2021. Every bottle is hand-filled, corked, and labeled by the two of them, and each one carries a bit of the horror-and-dark-comedy storytelling that runs through the whole brand — from character names on the labels to flavor names built around classic monster and slasher tropes.

What to Taste

The lineup is built entirely around mead and cyser, all brewed in small batches on-site. Flavors rotate, but a few have picked up recognition at outside competitions: a sweet orange-creamsicle mead has taken a silver medal at the NY Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits Competition; a caramelized-honey bochet mead with a smoky, whiskey-like finish has won both a silver at the Southeastern Regional Winemaker Challenge and a gold at the Finger Lakes competition; and a blueberry-basil mead has picked up bronze medals at both events. Sweetness levels are labeled on a simple scale, which is a nice touch if your group has both dessert-wine drinkers and dry-wine purists in the car.

The Setting

This is a small, low-key tasting counter rather than a sprawling vineyard property — think a shop you’d find in a mountain strip of stores, not a barn on a ridge. That size is part of the charm: it is intimate, the people pouring your tasting are usually the people who made it, and there is no waiting for a table on a busy weekend. It also means groups larger than a handful should call ahead so the space does not feel cramped.

Nearby and Worth Combining

Because Archaic Alcohols sits right between Banner Elk and Newland, it slots easily into a loop with other Avery County stops. Eagles Nest Winery is a short drive north near Elk Park, and Linville Falls Winery’s vineyard and Christmas tree farm is a scenic run south toward Newland on US 221. If your group wants to add a completely different setting later in the day, Little Switzerland Orchard and Winery over in Mitchell County brings ciders, mead, and a working farm into the mix.

Planning Tips

Archaic Alcohols is roughly 20 to 25 minutes from Banner Elk village and around 35 to 40 minutes from Boone, depending on the route through Elk Park or Linville. As of the meadery’s own site, hours have run Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed Sundays — but small, owner-run shops like this one adjust hours seasonally, so confirm directly with them before you build a schedule around it. Because this stop pairs naturally with one or two wineries rather than standing as a full afternoon on its own, it works best as part of a multi-stop route, which is exactly the kind of trip a private driver is built to sequence — no one has to remember which shop closes early, and no one has to be the sober one behind the wheel on Sugar Mountain’s narrow curves after dark.

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Appalachian Mountain Brewery — AMB for short — is the brewery that opened Boone’s beer scene: its taproom at 163 Boone Creek Drive has been pouring since 2013, which the company itself credits as the town’s first. It sits an easy few minutes from downtown Boone, making it one of the simplest additions to a High Country wine day for anyone who wants beer and cider alongside the wine stops.

How it started

AMB was founded by cousins Nathan Kelischek and Chris Zieber, who built the brewery around their German heritage, a love of North Carolina, and a shared interest in the outdoors and environment. That founding story still shapes the brand: AMB describes itself as brewing “Appalachian inspired beer & cider with a Southern twist,” and the company has since grown beyond the original Boone taproom to add locations in Mills River and Old Fort, NC — but Boone remains the flagship, and the one closest to the High Country wine circuit.

What’s on tap

AMB keeps a rotating lineup of house beers and ciders, and the Boone taproom publishes an updated tap list on its site so you can check what’s pouring before you go. Recent lineups have included IPAs across several styles (a resinous Long Leaf IPA, a hazy Hilly Haze, a New Zealand-hopped Think About It), lighter session options like the Boone Creek Blonde Ale and Mount Krushmore Session IPA, a Honeydew Honeysuckle wheat ale, a Down South American Lager, a French-style Saison Du Blanc, and darker options like the Black Gold American Porter. Several of their beers have picked up award recognition — the brewery notes a GABF silver medal for one of its IPAs — though as with any brewery, the exact lineup rotates seasonally, so check AMB’s current tap list before you go if you have a specific style in mind.

Because AMB brews both beer and cider, it’s a useful stop for mixed groups where not everyone wants wine — cider drinkers and beer drinkers both have real options here, which isn’t true at every stop on a High Country tasting run.

The taproom experience

The Boone location functions as a full taproom and pub rather than a bare tasting counter — AMB’s site references food, spirits and non-alcoholic options alongside the beer and cider list, plus a regular calendar of live music and events booked through the brewery. It’s set up for groups to settle in for a while rather than taste-and-go, which makes it a good midpoint stop on a longer day rather than a first or last one.

Nearby and worth combining

Because AMB sits right in Boone, it pairs easily with other High Country stops without adding meaningful drive time — it’s the kind of stop you can slot into an afternoon that already includes a winery or two on the west side of town. AMB also gives back locally: proceeds from certain releases go to community organizations, a detail that fits the brewery’s broader “of Boone, for Boone” framing.

Planning your visit

AMB’s Boone taproom is close enough to downtown that it’s rarely the reason to build a whole day trip — it’s the stop you add because you’re already nearby. Hours and the tap list change, so check AMB’s site directly before you go, especially if you’re coming with a large group and want to reserve space in advance for an event or private gathering.

Groups that want to bookend a wine-focused day with something more casual often use AMB as the last stop of the afternoon — a place to sit outside, order food, and let the group unwind before heading back to a hotel or rental. It also works well as a starting point if your itinerary runs from Boone outward toward Banner Elk or Blowing Rock, since it’s an easy first pour before the roads get twistier.

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• 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

Most tasting rooms in the High Country pour grape wine. Alchemy Elixirs LLC — known on its own label as Alchemy Herbal Wine — pours something rarer: dry herbal mead, fermented from local honey and infused with plant medicine, made at a small production house in Black Mountain, NC, about ninety minutes to two hours south of Boone depending on your route. If your group has already worked through the vineyards closer to home and wants to taste something genuinely different, this is the detour worth making.

What Alchemy Elixirs actually makes

Alchemy’s core product is a metheglin — a dry herbal mead made by fermenting honey and then blending in an intentional mix of herbs, roots, fruits and bark. The maker describes it as an herbal tonic as much as a beverage, built to be “restoring” and “invigorating” rather than just sweet. That distinction matters if you’re expecting something like a dessert wine: this is closer to an herbal spirit in mead form, dry and aromatic rather than syrupy.

The lineup is built around named blends — Eternity, Heart, Love, Prosperity, Synergy and Tranquility are the current core products on their website — each built around a different herbal intention and flavor profile. The winery doesn’t publish detailed tasting notes for each blend online, so the honest way to find your favorite is to taste your way through a flight when you visit.

The story behind the label

Alchemy leans into its name on purpose. The people behind it describe the work as “part science, part philosophy,” tying the fermentation process to the alchemical idea of transmutation — turning a base substance (honey, herbs) into something transformed. It’s a small, intentional operation rather than a large production winery, and the brand voice throughout their site and social presence keeps returning to seasonality, wild-crafted ingredients, and a long tradition of women brewing medicinal meads for their communities. Whether or not the herbal-medicine framing is your thing, the wines themselves are the actual product, and they’re made with real honey and real botanicals sourced regionally.

The setting and what else happens there

Alchemy’s home base in Black Mountain functions as more than a tasting counter — the property hosts a recurring “Makers Market” (a rotating gathering of local music, food vendors, fiber artists, a plant nursery and herbal-beverage vendors) and occasional evening shows with local bands. If your visit lines up with one of these events, you get a tasting room, live music, and a small craft market all in the same stop, which makes the longer drive feel more like a destination and less like a single tasting-room checkbox.

Planning your visit

Because Alchemy is well outside the immediate Boone/Banner Elk cluster — this is a Black Mountain address, not a High Country one — treat it as an anchor for a full day out rather than a quick add-on between two nearby wineries. Groups doing a High Country wine day usually pair a stop like this with something else near the Asheville side of the drive rather than trying to loop it in with Boone-area stops in the same afternoon. As with any small producer, hours, tasting fees and current availability can shift with the season, so confirm directly with Alchemy before you commit a whole day to the trip.

For groups traveling together — a bachelorette weekend, a milestone birthday, a corporate outing — the appeal of a place like this is exactly that nobody in the group has to be the designated driver on unfamiliar mountain roads for a two-hour-plus round trip. That’s where having someone else behind the wheel changes the day from “an errand” to “an occasion.”

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• 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

MenaRick Vineyard & Winery: A Yadkin Valley Winery Built on Two Old-World Traditions

MenaRick Vineyard and Winery traces back to 2006, when Rick and Mena bought a piece of foothills farmland in Ronda, North Carolina to build a winery unlike any other in the Yadkin Valley. Rick grew up around winemaking in California; Mena grew up in Portugal, surrounded by her family’s vineyards. Together they set out to build something shaped by both traditions — “Bem Vindos!” (welcome, in Portuguese) is how they still greet every guest. The first 3.5 acres of vines went into the ground in 2008, and Rick — who had spent years building homes and doing construction — put those same skills into designing and building the winery and tasting room himself.

What sets MenaRick apart in a region full of familiar Bordeaux-style reds and native muscadine wines is its focus on Spanish and Portuguese varietals, a rarity in North Carolina. The winery has been recognized in TravelAwaits magazine’s roundup of the best wineries in North Carolina, and visitors consistently mention how personally Rick and Mena run the tasting room — pouring the wines themselves and sharing the story behind each one. One guest summed it up simply: “Great owners that are passionate about their wines, and who are fun and interesting to share a glass on the patio with.” Another described it as “an excellent little winery hidden away in the NC farm country,” making Portuguese-style wines that are “fuller bodied with depth and character” — unusual, and memorable, for this part of the state.

The Wines of MenaRick Vineyard & Winery

MenaRick farms 8 acres of vines on its 40-acre foothills estate, growing Syrah, Merlot, Chardonnay, Albariño, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Touriga Nacional — a lineup built almost entirely around Iberian grapes rather than the French-derived varietals that dominate most of the Yadkin Valley. The wines are bottled unfiltered, a choice the winery makes deliberately to preserve the full aroma and flavor of each grape. Guests often describe the reds in particular as fuller-bodied and more structured than they expect from a North Carolina winery — a reflection of the Portuguese and Spanish winemaking Mena and Rick grew up with.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 328 Luffman Road, Ronda, NC 28670
Hours: Friday & Saturday 11am – 5pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm

MenaRick keeps its visit options simple and unpretentious:

• Guided Tastings — a seated or bar tasting through the current Spanish- and Portuguese-inspired lineup, poured by the tasting room staff (often Rick or Mena themselves).
• Wine Flights — a self-paced way to sample several wines side by side.
• Wine by the Glass or Bottle — for guests who already know what they like, or want to relax on the patio without a formal tasting.
• Picnic on the Grounds — MenaRick explicitly invites guests to bring a picnic and enjoy the vineyard view with a glass or bottle in hand.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: MenaRick is a small, family-run operation, so the pace is unhurried and conversational rather than a scripted tour — expect to actually talk with the people who make the wine. Because the tasting room is only open Friday through Sunday, this is a winery you need to plan around rather than fit in on a whim. We recommend budgeting at least an hour here, longer if you bring a picnic and want to sit out on the porch overlooking the vines — several visitors specifically mention the porch view as a highlight.

Where MenaRick Fits in Your Tour Route

MenaRick sits in Ronda, right in the cluster of wineries around Elkin and the Surry – Wilkes county line, one of the most winery-dense corners of the Yadkin Valley. That makes it easy to pair with a couple of neighboring tasting rooms on the same day without much drive time between stops. Because its hours are limited to Friday through Sunday, we typically build a MenaRick visit around one of those three days and route the rest of the tour to match.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time. Most tasting rooms in this part of the valley open between 11am and noon, which lines up well with MenaRick’s own Friday and Saturday 11am opening — a good reason to make it a first or second stop of the day. Because the wines here lean so heavily on Spanish and Portuguese grapes, it also makes a nice contrast stop if the rest of your day is built around more classic Cabernet- and Chardonnay-focused wineries — guests often tell us MenaRick’s Albariño or Touriga Nacional was the wine they remembered most from the whole tour.

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Medaloni Cellars: A Family Winery in the Heart of Yadkin Valley

Medaloni Cellars sits on twenty rolling acres just ten minutes outside Winston-Salem, in Lewisville, North Carolina — close enough for an easy afternoon trip, but far enough to feel like a proper escape into the Yadkin Valley wine country. Owner and winemaker Joey Medaloni built the winery around a simple mission: craft boutique wines that reflect the region while making every guest feel like they are coming home. “From our vineyards to the barrel to the bottle, we share our passion for wine, connecting hearts and homes with each exquisite sip,” is how Medaloni describes it, and that hospitality-first philosophy shows up everywhere on the property, from the tasting bar to the sunset views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Beyond wine, Medaloni Cellars has become a genuine destination — a venue for weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, and private events, with on-site lodging so guests can extend the visit into a full weekend getaway. Guests describe a private barrel-room tasting booked for a 60th birthday party as an unforgettable, personal experience, complete with a rustic-elegant setting, multiple glassware pairings, and a knowledgeable server walking the group through the wines — the kind of hospitality that keeps people coming back for out-of-town guests and repeat celebrations alike.

The Wines of Medaloni Cellars

Medaloni pours an unusually broad boutique portfolio for a winery this size, organized into Signature and Flight series. Whites include Traminette, Sauvignon Blanc, Valvin Muscat, Petit Manseng, Kerner, Vermentino, Chardonnay, and Viognier. Reds run from Merlot and Chambourcin to Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, an MJ Red Blend, Sangiovese, Carignan, and Zinfandel. Rounding things out are a Muscadine Noble, a Skin-Contact wine, a rosé, and several sparkling options including a Sparkling Red and a Sparkling Rosé. It is a lineup built for exploration — guests looking for a classic Cabernet and guests looking for something they have never tried before both find something here.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 9125 Shallowford Rd, Lewisville, NC 27023
Hours: Wednesday & Thursday 4pm – 8pm, Friday 12pm – 8pm, Saturday 11am – 6pm, Sunday 12pm – 6pm (private events available Mondays and Tuesdays)

Medaloni does not take reservations for standard tastings or flights — there is plenty of room for walk-ins — but the seated and private experiences do require booking ahead:

• Guided Tastings — $20, includes a souvenir wine glass. A selection of the winery’s most popular whites, rosés, and reds, poured at the tasting bar.
• Self-Guided Flights — $20, includes a souvenir wine glass. Choose your own wines, served in a carry wine tower so you can sit anywhere on the property.
• Premier Tastings — $90 per couple. Reserved seating, five wines in a Riedel glass to keep, paired with a charcuterie board. Reservations required.
• White Wine & Cheese Board Tasting — $60 per couple. Five white wines with a cheese board pairing. Reservations required.
• Red Wine & Charcuterie Board Tasting — $75 per couple. Five red wines with charcuterie. Reservations required.
• Private Tasting Experience — $125 per person for groups of 4–8. A guided barrel room tasting with charcuterie, by reservation only.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: Medaloni welcomes leashed dogs on the covered patio and outdoors (though not inside the tasting room), and it is a genuinely family-friendly stop for well-behaved kids. Outside food is welcome both outside and in the tasting room, though outside alcohol is not permitted. If your group is ten or more, it is worth having the winery know in advance, even though reservations are not required for standard tastings. We recommend budgeting at least ninety minutes to two hours here — longer if you are booking one of the seated pairing experiences, since those are meant to be lingered over.

Where Medaloni Cellars Fits in Your Tour Route

Medaloni sits on the eastern edge of the Yadkin Valley wine trail, just across the Yadkin River from the dense cluster of wineries around East Bend and Hamptonville. That makes it a natural stop to pair with one or two of those wineries on the same day, especially since Medaloni’s afternoon-into-evening hours (opening at noon or later most days) work well as a second or third stop after a morning tasting elsewhere in the valley.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops. Because Medaloni does not open until midday on most days, it is a good anchor for the back half of a tour rather than a sunrise start. If your group is celebrating something specific — a birthday, an anniversary, a girls’ weekend — we often recommend making Medaloni the final stop of the day and booking one of the seated pairing experiences in advance, so the tour ends with a slower, more indulgent pace rather than another quick tasting-bar stop.

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

Lazy Elm Vineyard & Winery: A Family Farm Turned Yadkin Valley Retreat

Lazy Elm Vineyard & Winery sits on a 43-acre farm on Danner Road in Mocksville, North Carolina, just three miles north of I-40 and a mile east of Highway 601 — close enough for an easy detour, yet quiet enough that you would never guess an interstate is nearby. The winery takes its name from the shade tree at the heart of the property: the invitation here has always been simple — grab a couple of glasses and a bottle, find a spot under the elm, and slow down for a while.

Roughly 5.5 acres of the farm are planted in vines, mostly French and Italian varietals, set within the Yadkin Valley AVA — North Carolina’s first federally recognized grape-growing region. In recent years, Lazy Elm has also sourced additional Yadkin Valley AVA fruit from a vineyard in neighboring Surry County to round out its lineup. The tasting room offers both indoor and outdoor seating, and the winery has always encouraged guests to bring snacks and settle in rather than rush through a tasting. It is a smaller, low-key alternative to some of the Yadkin Valley’s larger estate wineries — the kind of place where a Saturday afternoon can disappear without you noticing.

The Wines of Lazy Elm Vineyard & Winery

Lazy Elm specializes in dry red wines, alongside a rotating selection of rosés and fruit wines. The estate lineup has included varietal Cabernet Franc and Merlot, along with the winery’s signature house blend, Damn Yankee — a Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend whose proportions shift from vintage to vintage at the winemaker’s discretion, so no two bottlings taste quite the same. Lazy Elm also makes a limited-production Dry Rosé, produced by drawing off juice from red grapes at crush time rather than pressing whole clusters — a technique that lets the winemaker dial in exactly how much color and body each vintage gets. Beyond the core red and rosé lineup, Lazy Elm has released small-batch fruit wines over the years, including a sweet apple wine made entirely from North Carolina-grown apples, sourced in years when supply allowed. It is a lineup built around approachability: pours meant for relaxing under the elm rather than working through a formal tasting flight.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 523 Danner Road, Mocksville, NC 27028
Hours: Currently open the second full weekend of each month, Saturday and Sunday, 12pm – 6pm; outside of those dates, visits are by appointment only

Lazy Elm changed its operating schedule as of January 2026, so this is one stop where checking the calendar before you go really matters:

• Second-weekend tastings — Lazy Elm now opens to the public only on the second full Saturday and Sunday of each month, 12pm to 6pm.
• By appointment — outside of those dates, the winery will do its best to accommodate visitors who call ahead.
• Indoor & outdoor seating — bring snacks and settle in at a table inside or out under the shade of the namesake elm.

A practical note we have learned from bringing groups here: because Lazy Elm’s public hours are now limited to one weekend a month, we always confirm the current schedule and call ahead before building a route around this stop, and we recommend groups do the same. When the timing lines up, budget at least an hour to an hour and a half here — long enough to work through a flight and enjoy the shade without feeling rushed.

Where Lazy Elm Fits in Your Tour Route

Lazy Elm sits in Mocksville, in Davie County, close to the Davidson County line — the same general cluster as RayLen Vineyards, also in Mocksville, and Junius Lindsay Vineyard and Childress Vineyards, both a short drive away in Lexington. That makes this a natural anchor for a southeastern Yadkin Valley route rather than a stand-alone stop, and it is easy to pair a visit here with one or two of those nearby tasting rooms on the same afternoon.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time, and because Lazy Elm’s hours are limited to one weekend a month (or by appointment), we recommend building your itinerary around Lazy Elm’s open dates first, then filling in the rest of the route around it.

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

Junius Lindsay Vineyard: A Family Farm’s Last Great Chapter

The story of Junius Lindsay Vineyard (JLV) in Lexington, North Carolina starts more than a century before the first grape was planted. The Zimmerman family has farmed this land in Davidson County since 1896, when Junius Lindsay “Lindsay” Zimmerman and his wife Beatrice Estelle Evans first worked the soil, growing wheat, corn, and sweet potatoes across four generations. It was Lindsay’s grandson, Michael Zimmerman, who reimagined the family farm as a vineyard. After a sixteen-year career as a U.S. Foreign Service diplomat — postings that took him through Ethiopia, Ghana, Mexico, and Sweden — Michael fell in love with the wines of France’s Rhône Valley during his travels through Europe. He returned to the family farm in 1996, planted two acres of Viognier in 2004, and named the resulting vineyard after his grandfather.

In 2008, Michael built the vineyard’s now-signature open-air tasting room, designed by architect Don Ruth — still the only open-air tasting room in North Carolina. Michael passed away in 2024, and his twins, Aaron Zimmerman and Mercedes Zimmerman Davis, have carried the estate forward as co-proprietors in its fourth generation. In 2026, the family announced that JLV is winding down operations and will close permanently at the end of the year, closing out a twenty-two year run and a family farming legacy that dates back to 1896. For anyone who has wanted to visit, this is genuinely the last window to do so.

The Wines of Junius Lindsay Vineyard

JLV built its reputation on old-world, Rhône-style wines — a rarity in the Yadkin Valley, where French and Italian varietals more common to Bordeaux and Tuscany tend to dominate. Michael’s early plantings of Viognier expanded to include Syrah, Petite Sirah, Roussanne, and Grenache, all varietals rooted in the Rhône Valley of Southern France. The vineyard’s Triomphe, a blend of Petite Sirah and Roussanne, pays tribute to the Northern Rhône tradition of blending red and white grapes together — a technique Michael discovered on his travels and wanted to bring home. Other estate wines include the white blend Second Leaf (Sauvignon Blanc and Vidal Blanc), the off-dry Forget-Me-Not (Roussanne and Viognier), sparkling and still rosés, and the Petite Sirah/Roussanne red blend Metro. JLV’s wines have been featured by CBS 17 at a Luxe Chef Gala and covered by Town Carolina magazine as part of Yadkin Valley’s “new Napa” story.

Planning Your Visit

Location: Lexington, NC, on the Southern Gateway Wine Trail of the Yadkin Valley AVA — North Carolina’s first federally designated grape-growing region
Tasting Room Hours: Friday, 1pm – 8pm; Saturday & Sunday, 1pm – 5pm

A few things make a visit to JLV distinct from most Yadkin Valley stops:

• Open-air tasting room — North Carolina’s only one, with ceiling fans for warm months and vinyl curtains with heating added for fall and winter visits.
• Pet- and family-friendly — well-behaved, leashed pets are welcome throughout the grounds, and children of all ages are welcome, with games and coloring books on hand.
• Bring your own picnic — guests are invited to pack a picnic and relax on the grounds when a food vendor is not scheduled (outside alcohol is not permitted per NC ABC rules).
• Music in the Vineyard — a live music series that runs February through November, alongside a rotating calendar of seasonal events.
• Private events — the tasting room and grounds can be booked for engagements, bridal showers, and micro weddings, with signature packages built around exclusive access to the estate.

A practical note we have learned from bringing groups here: JLV asks that larger parties traveling together reserve at least two days ahead of a visit during regular hours, so we always confirm the date and headcount with the vineyard before finalizing a tour stop here. Because the open-air room and grounds invite lingering — especially with live music playing — we recommend budgeting at least an hour and a half to two hours at JLV, more if you want to picnic or catch a set from the Music in the Vineyard series.

Where Junius Lindsay Vineyard Fits in Your Tour Route

JLV sits on the eastern side of the Yadkin Valley AVA, in Lexington, the same Davidson County town that is home to Childress Vineyards and Weathervane Winery — making this corner of the valley an easy cluster to visit in one day without long stretches of driving between stops. Because JLV only opens Friday through Sunday afternoons, it pairs best with a weekend itinerary built around one or two nearby tasting rooms.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops, and check each winery’s current hours before you finalize a route — hours and availability change, and with JLV winding down through the end of 2026, this is one stop worth confirming and booking sooner rather than later.

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

Jones von Drehle Vineyards: A Family Estate on 65 Blue Ridge Acres

Jones von Drehle Vineyards & Winery is a true family affair. Co-owners Chuck and Diana Jones, along with Diana’s sister Ronnie von Drehle and her husband Raymond von Drehle, began searching for the right property around 2007 and established the farm in 2008 on 65 acres of former pastures and woodland tucked into the south-facing foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Thurmond, North Carolina, just northwest of Elkin.

The winery itself was built in 2012, and the tasting room and patio look out over the estate’s 30 acres of vines — every bottle Jones von Drehle produces is grown on this single property, not sourced from outside fruit. It has become known around the Yadkin Valley for quality, dry, European-styled wines, many of which are poured in finer restaurants across North Carolina. The setting itself is part of the draw: the property rises along a south-facing slope of the Blue Ridge foothills, giving the vines strong sun exposure and giving visitors long mountain views from the patio and the amphitheater below the tasting room.

The Wines of Jones von Drehle

Of the estate’s 65 total acres, 30 are planted in classic Vitis vinifera varieties, including Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Malbec and Petit Manseng. The winery leans into structured, food-friendly dry wines rather than sweeter styles, which is part of why its bottles have found their way onto restaurant wine lists well beyond the Yadkin Valley.

Because everything is estate-grown, the vineyard team controls the fruit from planting to bottle — each variety was placed in the section of the property best suited to it, a detail the winery is quick to point out when talking about its approach to quality. It is the kind of hands-on, single-site winemaking that tends to reward repeat visits, since vintages and small-lot releases can vary from year to year.

Planning Your Visit

Address: 964 Old Railroad Grade Road, Thurmond, NC 28683
Tasting Room Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 11am – 5pm; Sunday, 12pm – 5pm; closed Monday & Tuesday

A visit to Jones von Drehle typically includes:

• Tasting room pours — a seated or standing tasting through the estate lineup, on the patio overlooking the vines whenever weather allows.
• The Stage @ Jones von Drehle — an outdoor amphitheater carved into the ridge just below the tasting room, used for concerts and events; check the winery’s own site for the current show schedule.
• Snacks and food trucks — light snacks are typically available, with food trucks on-site occasionally, particularly around concerts.
• Chloe Hall — an on-site special events venue for weddings and private gatherings, a nice option for High Country couples looking for a Blue Ridge backdrop within driving distance of home.

A few practical notes we have learned from bringing groups here: children and pets are welcome, but are asked to stay on the patio rather than inside the tasting room, so plan accordingly if you are traveling with kids or a dog. Reservations are recommended, especially if a concert is scheduled at The Stage, since those dates draw a crowd and parking fills up fast. Between the tasting, the patio views, and the amphitheater grounds, we recommend budgeting at least ninety minutes to two hours here — longer on concert nights, when it is worth simply staying through the show rather than trying to fit in another stop afterward.

Where Jones von Drehle Fits in Your Tour Route

Jones von Drehle sits at the northwestern edge of the Yadkin Valley wine region, on the rising slope of the Blue Ridge foothills near Thurmond and Elkin. It groups naturally with the small cluster of Surry and Wilkes County wineries in this corner of the valley, rather than with the bigger-name estates further south and east near Dobson and Yadkinville. For High Country groups, this corner of the valley is also the closest to home, which makes it a convenient first stop before continuing deeper into the Yadkin Valley or a relaxed standalone half-day trip on its own.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours per winery plus drive time between stops. Because this stretch of the valley is more spread out than the Dobson wine cluster, we typically build a Thurmond/Elkin day around two or three wineries rather than four or five, so nobody feels rushed between the mountain scenery and the tasting rooms.

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