Marked Tree Vineyard’s Asheville tasting room, known as “The Grape,” sits at 14 Aston Street in the South Slope district — the same pour list as the winery’s Flat Rock estate, poured a short walk from Asheville’s dense cluster of breweries, restaurants and chocolate shops. For a group that wants a real Marked Tree tasting without the hour-plus drive out to the vineyard itself, this is the easier version of the same experience.
An Estate Winery’s Downtown Outpost
Marked Tree Vineyard’s main property is in Flat Rock, North Carolina, on the Eastern Continental Divide between Mt. Pisgah and Tryon Peak, where owners Lance Hiatt and Tim Parks planted vines starting in 2016 and opened their hillside tasting room in 2020. The winery later added a second, satellite tasting room in downtown Asheville’s South Slope neighborhood, describing it as a way to bring the same estate-grown wines to a more urban setting without requiring every visitor to make the drive out to Flat Rock. Marked Tree calls its 2024 vintage its eighth, and the winery has said each of the ten wines it entered in a recent NC Fine Wines Competition blind judging won a medal. (Sources: Marked Tree Vineyard’s own site, Vine to Wine Guide, MapQuest listing.)
What to Taste
The Asheville tasting room pours the same estate-grown lineup as Flat Rock — wines built from European vinifera and French-American hybrid grapes grown at the vineyard’s mountain elevation. Varietals that come up repeatedly in visitor accounts include Chardonel, Vidal Blanc and Cabernet Franc, alongside red blends like the Ghost House Red, described by regulars as a favorite pairing with cheese and chocolate. Marked Tree focuses on estate-grown and locally sourced North Carolina wines rather than bringing in grapes from outside the state. As with any tasting room, the exact wines poured on a given day shift with the season and inventory, so check ahead if you have a specific bottle in mind.
The Setting and the Experience
The Grape occupies a South Slope storefront near Asheville’s brewery district — visitor accounts note it’s roughly a three-minute walk from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, making a wine-and-chocolate pairing an easy, informal add-on. The space has an urban, walkable feel that’s a deliberate contrast to the mountaintop estate in Flat Rock: no long winding driveway or “surprise of arrival,” just a tasting room you can duck into between other South Slope stops. Marked Tree has also hosted Chef’s Dinner events at the Asheville location, pairing multi-course meals from local chefs with the summer wine list. For large-party reservations in Asheville, the winery asks that groups call or email ahead.
What Else Is Nearby
South Slope is one of Asheville’s densest concentrations of breweries, cideries and small restaurants, all within easy walking distance of Aston Street. A stop at The Grape pairs naturally with a broader South Slope crawl, and downtown Asheville’s shops, galleries and the River Arts District are a short rideshare or drive away if your group wants to extend the day beyond wine.
Planning Your Visit
Asheville is roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours from Boone by car, depending on route and Parkway traffic — a meaningfully shorter drive than the trip out to Marked Tree’s Flat Rock estate, which makes the Asheville tasting room a reasonable option for a High Country group that wants Marked Tree’s wines without a full mountain-vineyard excursion. Even so, this is still a round-trip of 3.5 to 4 hours of driving, so treat it as a full-day outing rather than a quick evening stop. Tasting room hours have recently run Monday through Thursday afternoons into evening, with later closes Friday and Saturday and shorter Sunday hours — but these change seasonally, so confirm current hours with Marked Tree before you go. With multiple South Slope stops likely on the itinerary, having one vehicle and driver for the day keeps a group together instead of scattering across downtown parking.
Wine Tour Transportation to Marked Tree Vineyard Asheville
Ashe County Livery offers private, chauffeured wine tour transportation to Marked Tree Vineyard Asheville from Boone, Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, West Jefferson and across NC’s High Country. Our Marked Tree Vineyard Asheville 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 Marked Tree Vineyard Asheville tour or call (336) 484-1350.
Other High Country wineries we serve: Marked Tree Vineyard · Johnson’s Legacy Vineyard · Biltmore Winery — or browse every High Country winery, cidery and meadery we provide transportation to.
Explore More from Ashe County Livery
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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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