FernCrest Winery sits on Main Street in downtown Andrews, NC, in the Snowbird Mountains of Cherokee County — a small-town tasting room a full state away from the High Country, but one that rewards the drive with award-winning wines made largely from grapes grown right there. It’s a two-person operation, still run by the same couple who started making wine as a hobby nearly two decades ago, and every bottle on the menu is named after a fern.
From Home Wine-Making Kits to a Snowbird Mountain Winery
FernCrest Winery is owned and operated by Jan and Kurt Olson, who started as home wine makers using wine-making kits before buying their first grapes — sourced from a vineyard in North Georgia — in 2007. Three years later they planted their own small vineyard of Chardonel, Vidal Blanc and Cynthiana vines in the Snowbird Mountains above the Western Carolina Regional Airport, and began making wine from those grapes in 2013. The winery’s name comes directly from its setting: FernCrest is a nod to the house and winery sitting on the crest of a hill, combined with Kurt’s longtime hobby of growing ferns from spores and identifying wild ferns on sight. The family crest logo — a fern and fiddlehead over a representation of the Snowbird Mountains — carries that theme through to every label, since every FernCrest wine is named after a fern.
What to Taste
FernCrest’s wine list runs from dry to sweet, built from their own estate grapes plus fruit from seven partner vineyards across western North Carolina and North Georgia’s Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA. Whites include Royal White (Vidal Blanc, floral with peach and pear notes), Ostrich White (Gruner Veltliner with citrus and grapefruit), Southern Lady (a Chardonel that drinks like an unoaked Chardonnay with melon notes, silver medal at the 2025 NC Wine Competition) and Lace White (Cayuga White, grapefruit and peach). On the red and rosé side there’s Autumn Rosé and Mountain Wood Red, both from Cherokee County–grown Cynthiana (also called Norton), and Fiddlehead Red, a dry, full-bodied blend of Cabernet Franc, Mourvedre and Arondell that won silver at the 2025 NC state wine competition after an earlier vintage took double gold. FernCrest’s wines have picked up a steady run of medals at the NC State Fair and the Asheville Wine and Food Festival over the years — the winery is upfront that every wine they’ve entered in judging has come home with some level of medal. They also make blackberry and blueberry fruit wines from local NC berries, wine slushies, and offer local jams from Garnet Gals alongside the tasting menu.
The Setting and the Experience
The tasting room occupies a large indoor space plus an outdoor courtyard in downtown Andrews, and the Olsons describe it as dog- and child-friendly — a real small-town, family-run feel rather than a polished destination winery. FernCrest hosts a Sunday singer-songwriter series and rents the space out for private parties, weddings and reunions; they’ll also bring a customized tasting to you. Because it’s a two-person operation built on relationships with local growers, the visit feels more like meeting the winemakers than touring a production facility — Jan and Kurt are typically the ones pouring.
What Else Is Nearby
Andrews sits in the Nantahala region of Cherokee County, North Carolina’s westernmost county, bordering both Tennessee and Georgia. The area is built around outdoor recreation: the Nantahala River, about 17 miles east, is a well-known destination for whitewater rafting and fly-fishing, and Nantahala Lake and the Snowbird Backcountry Area offer hiking and fishing options nearby. Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center, with its Stecoah Artisans Gallery of regional craftwork, is another stop worth combining with a FernCrest visit if your group wants a fuller day in the area.
Planning Your Visit
Be honest with your group about the distance: Andrews is roughly 175–180 miles from Boone, which typically runs 3.5 to 4 hours of driving each way on US-19 and US-74 through the mountains. That is not a casual afternoon trip — it is a legitimate full-day (or overnight) excursion, and it makes far more sense to combine a FernCrest stop with other stops in the Nantahala/Cherokee County or Asheville area than to treat it as a standalone destination from the High Country. FernCrest’s posted hours run Thursday–Friday 12:30–6:30pm and Saturday–Sunday 12:30–5:30pm from April through mid-December, with reduced Thursday-only hours January–March, and the winery closes on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the day after Christmas, and New Year’s — but confirm current hours directly with FernCrest before you go, since small-winery schedules shift. For a group making the long drive together, having one vehicle and one driver for a nearly four-hour trip each way is less about convenience and more about making sure everyone actually enjoys the tastings instead of watching the clock for the drive home.
Wine Tour Transportation to FernCrest Winery
Ashe County Livery offers private, chauffeured wine tour transportation to FernCrest Winery from Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, West Jefferson and across NC’s High Country. Our FernCrest Winery trip-planning page covers drive times, tasting-room hours, group sizes and pricing.
Travel in a luxury SUV, sedan, or Sprinter van with a professional chauffeur — everyone in your group gets to taste, nobody has to drive. Plan your FernCrest Winery tour or call (336) 484-1350.
Other High Country wineries we serve: Nottely River Valley Vineyards · Shooting Creek Vines · Valley River Vineyards — or browse every High Country winery, cidery and meadery we provide transportation to.
Explore More from Ashe County Livery
- High Country Wine Tours — Mountain winery shuttle service
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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
🍷 Planning a Wine Tour in the NC High Country?
Ashe County Livery offers private, luxury wine tour transportation throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains. Skip the driving and let our professional chauffeurs take you from winery to winery in comfort and style.
Serving Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Boone, and all NC High Country destinations • (336) 484-1350
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