In this issue of Women in Wine, we take a look at Patricia McRitchie, who along with her husband, Sean, own McRitchie Winery Ciderworks. P4
Arthur Barham and Kimberly Williams take a look at two of their favorite North Carolina grown grapes: Crimson Cabernet and Grüner Veltliner. . P6
The new generation of wine drinkers are craving natural wines, so it is no surprise many also like what is known as piquette wines. . P7
Screw it Wine takes a look inside some of the small NC distributors that bring wines from around the world to your local bottle shops. . P9
With the holidays upon us, Screw it Wine selected an assortment of local and national products you or a loved one might enjoy .......................... P11
Find out what makes the coastal winery, Sanctuary Vineyards tick from its general manager and winemaker P13
This time our adventures take us to the Crest of the Blue Ridge AVA. Find out more about these Henderson County wineries. ............................. P16
Asheville is known as a Mecca for beer, but its “wine” scene is growing quickly – and these urban wineries prove just that! P20
Veterans Day is behind us, but its always a good time to salute our Vets, and we do just that with two Yadkin Valley wineries. ........................... P22
French winemaker Michele D’Aprix is known for her much sought after Pentimento, but these Maz Caz are taking the shops by storm. P24
If you’ve been to Wake Forest, you’ll know Wine & Beer 101 is a staple to the community – well, it now has a gastropub under its name P25
COVER PHOTO BY DATHAN KAZSUKAs I sit here with a warm cup of coffee reminiscing over this past year as the lights from the Christmas tree twinkle, I find it hard to believe that it is already December with another year almost behind us.
Dathan and I started our blog, Triangle Around Town, in 2013 as a fun hobby to document our adventures around the Triangle, share events and support small businesses. From attending festivals to wine tastings, local breweries, charity walks and runs, local events such as the SPCA Fur Ball and Triangle Wine Experience, we were definitely busy on the weekends exploring the city we call home.
But eventually, we started heading out visiting the local wineries in the state, and we were hooked. We loved the hospitality, learning about grape growing in North Carolina, the winemaking process, and the stories behind the wines and especially the owners. From doctors, dentists, educators, businessmen, veterans –all turned vintners. We found these stories fascinating and inspiring.
At this point, our focus began turning more to the NC wine industry while also watching our craft beer industry continue to take off across the state. We found ourselves on the road most weekends rather than at home in the Triangle. At this point, we decided to change our focus to wine, beer, and food as our “Triangle” with NC travel intertwined throughout all we do, including right here in the Triangle area of North Carolina.
Fast forward to 2020, when we reviewed our web page and the knowledge we have received over the years, we decided to take a leap of faith, become an LLC and add digital publications to our portfolio. With four issues of Hop Around NC, our sixth Screw It Wine issue, and our
Taking it outdoors was key to many North Carolina wineries in 2020.
e-book on the Swan Creek Wineries, this year has been a lot of fun, new challenges, and some lessons learned.
To be successful this year, we would be remiss not to share that we were fortunate to receive a grant from the NC Wine & Grape Council for our publications and an upcoming article on the Future Trends of North Carolina Wine. This grant has allowed us to visit more wineries to conduct interviews, attend wine dinners to highlight food and wine pairings, and attend more events.
We have also collaborated with more social media influencers as guest writers. The best part for our readers is that we could provide the latest editions complimentary, which allows our readers a sneak peek at what can be found in both past and future editions.
We would both like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere thank you to our contributing writers this year.
Z Karen Alley, Karen Alley Writing;
Z Arthur Barham, Merlot2Muscadine;
Z Natalie Hampton, Tarheel Taps & Corks;
Z Dan McLaughlin, NC Fine Wines;
Z Dave Nershi, Vino-Sphere;
Z Christian Stoner, The Hop Yard;
Z Dennis and Jenni Turner,
Winery Escapades; and
Z Kim Williams, Vintage Hill Wine Events
Lastly, to all of our advertisers who truly turn these publications from a dream to a reality, thank you. To learn more about our advertisers, visit our advertiser page: https://www. trianglearoundtown.com/advertisers. Beginning in 2022, we will feature our advertisers on #FollowFriday on social media as our way of giving back.
So, what is ahead for Triangle Around Town in 2022? We plan to continue providing exclusive content in our digital publications and to share stories and events on our web page. If you enjoy wine, join our Facebook group, Screw It Wine. Are you more of a hop head? Then you may prefer to like our Hop Around NC Facebook page.
We are continuing to build our social media. Did you know we’re also on Pinterest and LinkedIn in addition to Instagram and Twitter? You may even see a TikTok or two as the year goes on. We are considering launching a podcast. We also offer services such as freelance writing, design and photography. Dathan has over 25 years of experience and is eager to share his knowledge with others. The possibilities are endless, and we could not do this without everyone’s support. Thank you!
JENNIFER PRIMROSEPatricia McRitchie, left, looks over has her husband Sean, talks about a Pet Nat made out of Petit Verdot.
It would be safe to say that Patricia McRitchie has spent most of her adult life around wine.
McRitchie and her husband, Sean, are the owners of McRitchie Winery & Ciderworks in Thurmond, and since 2007 the couple’s boutique winery has been producing some of the state’s most intense bottles of wine.
But where did her journey begin?
As a father of a winemaker, Sean has always talked vino, and so meeting at a very young age in Oregon, the two had much in common. “We’ve been married almost 30 years,” says McRitchie.
Patricia met Sean at a winery. Sean’s sister was married at a winery. And, at that time, Sean’s dad was working at the prestigious Willamette Valley Vineyards. Around that same time, Patricia was
doing work at a winery while still enrolled in law school.
And then she moved to Alaska. But we all know the story doesn’t end there.
Like something akin to a fairy tale, McRitchie made her way down to Oregon – where she and Sean eventually married. The two then spent some time working at Benton-Lane Winery in Oregon.
And then North Carolina called. Or so the story goes.
The year was 1998, and a job opportunity at Shelton Vineyards in Dobson brought the couple to the Yadkin Valley. “It was a really good opportunity at a well-funded operation,” says McRitchie. “And it was kind of an adventure for us.” And North Carolina natives can say the day that the McRitchie’s made that 2,700-mile trek was a ray of sunshine for Tar Heel wine drinkers.
At Shelton Vineyards, Sean teamed up with
TRIANGLE AROUND TOWNCharlie and Ed Shelton to design one of the state’s most famous wineries – in popularity and production.
“He just wanted to change something, to be given the opportunity to have input in a really big vineyard and design a winery from the bottom up,” McRitchie says. “It was a dream job.”
But then it was time to leave the nest and discuss the idea of opening their own winery for the first time. “It’s always been in the back of our minds, but nothing really concrete, and since we always worked at wineries ...” the writing is starting form in the tea leaves.
Add to that those ‘wink, wink, nudge, nudge” from both Patricia and Sean’s parents, and the decision was made around 2003. A couple parcels of land were purchased where the winery resides today, and McRitchie Winery & Ciderworks was born.
Visit the winery today, and when you arrive, you will probably see the entire family hard at work. Sean inside the large wooden barn that houses the winery, working on his next wine creation. Inside the tasting room, one might see their son Asher behind the tasting bar pouring your flight. As for Patricia, you’ll see her either managing the tasting room or doing many of the daily tasks often overlooked when you visit a winery.
“We’re open Wednesday through Sunday. So early in the week, I am usually doing paperwork. I do all the accounting and bookkeeping,” McRitchie says. “So, I’m really more focused on the administrative stuff at the beginning of the week.”
But that doesn’t leave her off the hook the rest of the week. Once the paperwork is complete, McRitchie says you’ll probably find her outside, tending to the garden and all its blooming plants and flowers – as well as pulling weeds. You can’t have one without the other.
Part of the pleasures of having a family-owned business is being able to be around family. While some can’t imagine spending day after day
Road red blend is just one of McRitchie’s top-notch
with family, McRitchie embraces it. “I was a lawyer, and I decided when I had kids, I wanted to do whatever I could to be as much a part of their lives as I could,” she says. “That’s why I decided to stay in the industry and not go back to law.”
McRitchie has three children –two sons and one daughter. “Our daughter is the middle between the two boys. She works in the winery and vineyard but will not work in the tasting room.” Both of the couple’s sons have spent time working in the tasting room, but it is Asher, the youngest, who has graduated from Surry Community College’s Viticulture and Enology program and will more than likely fill the shoes of his dad when he retires.
If you take a run through the assemblage of McRitchie’s wines, you can tell that many people’s influences have rubbed off on the final product. From the everpopular Ring of Fire red blend to its hard ciders to the different Pétillant Naturel wines. “I think we were the first here in the state (to produce Pétillant Naturel), but we got our
inspiration from our friend Jenny McCloud over at Chrysalis Vineyards in Virginia,” McRitchie says.
Based in Middleburg, Virginia, Chrysalis is a popular winery that’s been into the exploration of the Norton grape, as well as many other European varieties. McRitchie says it was during the last solar eclipse that McCloud paid them a visit at the winery and brought a case of different Pétillant Naturel wines from Virginia and Maryland.
“So we weren’t the first on the east coast. People were doing this before us, but we love sparkling wines and thought, “Why aren’t we doing this?’”
The winery has released several Pet Nats, which include a Pinot Noir, Traminette and Riesling. The winery also produces dry, semi-dry and seasonable ciders, including cranberry and sour cherry ciders.
“We’ve sometimes experimented with some other flavors, but in the end, Sean is a winemaker,” she says. “He’s not interested that much in diluting the apples. We treat cider more like a wine than a fruitflavored product.”
BY ARTHUR BARHAM
From Cabernet Franc to Chardonnay to Traminette, several grape varietals have found a home here in the Tarheel State. Their ability to survive our local conditions enables them to be crafted into award-winning wines and gain well-deserved recognition.
But have you ever heard of Crimson Cabernet? The odds are likely you have not and even less likely that you have ever tasted a wine made from this particular grape. This varietal popular in the Midwest is grown in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan – and is finally making its way to North Carolina.
Crimson Cabernet is the brainchild of Lucian Dressell following years of research and genetic planning designed to unite the king of Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon, with the Norton grape, AKA Cynthiana.
Norton, the state grape of Missouri, has long been renowned and studied for its impressive resistance to the diseases most grapes are susceptible to. In addition to superior resistance to diseases, this unique varietal has exceptional cold hardiness.
In addition to superior disease resistance and cold hardiness, this grape was initially bred in 2005 and finally made available to vineyards in 2007. Wineries such as FireClay Cellars in Siler City anticipate roughly four tons of fruit per acre when vines reach their maturity.
The Crimson Cabernet features berries smaller than a Cabernet Sauvignon but more significant than a Norton, allowing the fruit to never produce more than it can sustain. This hybrid can be very
expressive depending on the terroir and soil conditions in which it’s planted. The results can lead to a lot of complexity and variation in its punch.
In North Carolina, no one is closer to producing wine from this hybrid than FireClay Cellars and its winemaker Erik Mitran. While others in the state are producing this varietal, FireClay is head and shoulders ahead of other wineries currently.
“We wanted a later ripening, more disease-resistant variety,” Mitran says. “We were interested in planting Norton, as it does well here, so a hybrid of Norton seemed great.”
The Crimson Cabernet at FireClay Cellars is two years in and hasn’t been harvested yet. Still, the grapes are in veraison and are ripening well. “We are hoping for a very similar profile to Cabernet Sauvignon,” Mitran says.
But just how will the winery use the grape? As a single varietal or used in blending such as Petit Verdot. “It will be a single varietal – but it is too early to tell,” he says. “We may make a rosé out of it in our first year, but it should make a deep Cabernet Sauvignon flavored red wine.”
From a wine that can produce anything from a light, summerstyle rosé to a rich and robust portstyle wine, the Crimson Cabernet will be highly anticipated when FireClay and more wineries across the state produce this varietal. We predict this grape will be a welcomed addition to the North Carolina landscape.
Arthur Barham explores North Carolina wines and wineries under the name Merlot2Muscadine, and can be found on social media under that moniker.
Crimson Cabernet growing on vines at FireClay Cellars in Siler City.
Spotlight on North Carolina Grape: Grüner Veltliner by Kimberly Williams
This wine has been on my wine shopping list for a couple years now, and I still love it. I was super excited when I saw it on the tasting menu at a couple vineyards who are giving it a go in the state.
One is Marked Tree Vineyard in Flat Rock where my husband and I first tried the Grüner last Fall.
Screw it Wine visited with Tim Parks and Lance Hiatt of Marked Tree Vineyard recently. I really like Tim’s statement because with the growing number of North Carolina vineyards, you really need to have something unique, something different to make guests want to visit again and again, and I think he’s on to something.
“We really want to experiment with some things that would be unique to us,” said winemaker Hiatt. “It’s been a learning process, especially the Grüner Veltliner. Our first Grüner was a beast. It’s just a tough grape to work with. We’re getting the right yeast and the right enzymes. We’re doing many things ahead of time to end up with a good wine in the end. That’s why our Grüner Veltliner was best in its class this year (at the 2021 NC Fine Wines Competition).”
Grüner Veltliner is actually Austria’s signature white grape – described as dry with high acidity, white pepper notes, with citrus/lemon focus and mineral characteristics.
The Grüner from Marked Tree had notes of apple, citrus, celery, white pepper and peach.
Kim Williams can be found on Instagram at @vintagehillwine. Williams is a WSET Level 2, CSW and Somm level 2.
It could be referred to as the White Claw of the wine world, but the ever-growing popularity of piquette wines continues to appeal to a new generation of wine drinkers.
Just what is piquette? Derived from the word “prick” or “prickle” in France, this beverage is made by adding water to the remains of grapes after being pressed for wine – or pomace.
It’s a wine tradition that stems back to the Romans, who made Iora, which was used to quench the thirst of slaves. Soaked in water for days, the pomace was a tepid-style wine that was not inviting to drink. But in later days, it was what vineyard worker drank as a thirst-quenching beverage during the heydays of summer.
Today, piquette-style wines still take the leftover skins, seeds and stems and referment them to make a moderate alcohol drink – similar to spiked seltzers or wine coolers – and taste a lot better than the stories of old.
Piquette wines are starting to pop up on the shelves at bottle shops that carry more natural wines that cater to the latest sensation sweeping producers and consumers alike.
But where does something such as a piquette lie in the eyes of government officials? The law dictates that wines below 7 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) are not regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) or the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as wine. So, where does it lie?
“It’s the Wild West out here in piquette land,” says Nico von Cosmos, owner and winemaker of Stardust Cellars in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. “It’s wine, just not taxed the same. No one was judging wine by its ABV when the concept of wine was invented. It
certainly isn’t wine in its purest form, so to speak. But the same argument, in that case, would hold for sweet wines not being true to form.”
Just like Stardust Cellars, Cedar Grove’s Botanist and Barrel is also looking to traditional methods. The cidery and winery that focuses on spontaneous, wild cultures believe that piquette wines result in both practical and delicious wines. “Consumers are demanding authenticity,” says Botanist and Barrel’s Lyndon Smith. “If you are making the same wine over and over that can’t be distinguished from another winery, you may get lost in the overwhelming choices available in today’s market of global wine and accessibility.”
From a sustainability standpoint, it would seem that wineries today should be hopping on the piquette bandwagon. Just think of it. The most expensive part in making wine is the grapes themselves, and after the initial pressing, that’s potential free profit sitting in the tanks.
While von Cosmos personally agrees with the statement, he says that a piquette wine might not fit the brand for many North Carolina wineries. That could be because it’s a lot of added work, and the final price point of a Piquette is a much lower price point than many wineries are used to pricing their wine selection.
“Without other offerings that are also experimental and interesting, it just seems to not work into a classic wine portfolio,” von Cosmos states. “It can come off as too confusing to be worth including in most tastings with the general public.”
North Carolina has over 130 wineries, and they range from boutique-style, family-owned wineries
Wilkesboro’s Stardust Cellars features a Pinot Gris piquette.
to mass-produced wines and everything in between. Many of these larger wineries are set up for production first and making their wine in a very predictable fashion for the expanses wine market.
“Making wild, unfiltered wines like pet nats and piquettes don’t fit into a predictable production scheme where the desire is to control everything,” Smith says. “I don’t think it’s because the average wine drinker won’t like them, but they are different from what you would typically find in a grocery store.”
Today you’ll find more adventurous wine drinkers that are steering towards piquettes, natural and organic wines, pétillant naturel, carbonic maceration, orange and biodynamic wines. Many of these styles are getting their chance in tasting rooms across the state, focusing on these traditional methods.
Check out wineries such as Stardust Cellars, Botanist and Barrel, Pleb Uban Winery and even Surry Community College’s viticulture and enology program. These wineries are looking to educate wine drinkers on the history of these once-forgotten traditional-style drinks.
“I am getting a few calls a month around harvest asking about the feasibility of pet nats and how to make piquettes, so there is definitely a shift happening,” Smith says. Some of Botanist and Barrel’s education has even rubbed off on some local wineries in the state. This past October, the Leicester winery, Addison Farms Vineyard, took guidance and encouragement from Smith and the gang at Botanist and Barrel in crafting their firstever pet nat.
But for the average wine drinker, or someone used to that same bottle of $12 Chardonnay that they enjoy at the dinner table, these wines could be unfiltered and cloudy and have a slight funk in taste, ruining someone’s reputation of what they’re used to drinking.
“I’m used to people spitting out my products in disgust only for the next customer to fall in love with it,” von Cosmos says. “I don’t think some of our wineries here can stomach that look of disgust from the uninitiated first-time piquette drinkers.”
And in today’s world, with more and more people looking for something that’s not too heavy in alcohol, and with session beers and even session meads, this should be a no-brainer for winemakers and wine drinkers alike.
“I’m glad we have begun a cultural shift towards reclaiming these sustainable practices and hope to see a lot more of it in due time,” von Cosmos says.
And for Smith, piquettes are meant to be playful but still challenging work. “It’s a lot of fun to watch the progression and then taste the results,” he says. “It’s a healthier lifestyle beverage since it is low ABV, usually coming in around 4 to 6 percent. It’s easy to drink and feel good about it!”
– Dathan KazsukAsheville’s Pleb Urban Winery discusses piquettes-style wines
We’re seeing a lot of new ways of making wine pop up, which aren’t new styles (i.e. piquette, orange, carbonic maceration, pet nat, natural, etc.) - why do you think we’re seeing more wineries such as yourself doing these types of wines? In short, they are fun and forgiving. I think some of these styles of wine have low or no expectations from a consumer because they have very little experience with them.
Why aren’t we seeing more largescale wineries doing the same? Some of these wineries are experimenting behind the scenes, and some winemakers really enjoy it. I’m not sure why they haven’t released much yet, but it may be more about refining the wines and making sure they’re marketed properly.
Do you think places like Pleb will start to educate people in these styles and open the doors for other wineries? We currently share information openly with these wineries. Our area’s growth needs to be steeped in transparency.
Do you think some wine drinkers these days might still question the sediment or funk in some of these wines Most people get it. Especially when you stand at eye level with them and encourage authentic feedback and dialogue. We make so many different wines that most folks can run through our wines and be turned off by one and then surprisingly moved by another. I find this to be normal and desirable.
What’s your favorite part about making a piquette-style wine? The way we’ve grown to make our piquette over the past few years is beneficial because I do not feel beholden to any yield expectations. I enjoy the fact that we are salvaging juice, aromatic, and flavors.
For Ocean South Imports’ Steve Sommerville, it all started back as a teenager in Chicago. He had just returned from a trip to Mexico, and while working at a small ‘ma and pa’ Italian restaurant, he noticed his love for wine developing.
“I always noticed that the guests who ordered wine seemed to be a little more relaxed and had a knack for enjoying their wine with the meal more than the average person,” Sommerville recalls. “I always liked the appearance and smell of wine – it just kind of appealed to me.”
Eventually, he started working at a chain restaurant in town, transitioning from eight wines on the menu to 32 wines, which furthered his exploration into wine. He was not really a big wine drinker because he had just barely turned 21; the restaurant sent him to Italy to learn about the wine being served. Sommerville recalls trying an ‘86 Amarone in Verona with a rare cut of
venison – that’s when things finally clicked. But sometimes, things don’t always wind up the way you want – at least not all at once. So, in the mid-2000s, Sommerville moved from Illinois to North Carolina. He spent a short stint working at a restaurant selling wine – and eventually became a professional interpreter and translator for an insurance company. “I did well there, but there was no love or passion for it,” he says. “I hated it. I did that for about 13 years.”
Faith has a funny way of working out, and this is how it happened for Sommerville, who was now splitting time between his insurance gig and getting back in the wine world with Ocean South Imports. “I was going to quit Ocean South and spend one more year in insurance, and then open up my own restaurant,” he reflects. “I called the owner to give my two weeks, and before I could put in my notice, he said he was going to sell the business, but it fell through. And then, just
impulsively, I said, ‘oh, I’ll buy it.’”
And just like that, Sommerville was to become the owner of a wine importing business.
Lee Scanlon founded Ocean South Imports in 1998 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Scanlon is currently the owner of Napa’s End of the Vine winery, which purchases premium wine, which is bottled, labeled and sold at less than half of its original price.
“I think we’re a totally new company,” Sommerville says. “It’s taken on a different approach, but he really helped me out in getting started and walking me through, showing me the inner workings.”
When he thinks about it,
Sommerville admits that he could have just started a business from scratch, but having a teacher such as Scanlon made the transition seamless. Starting a business, you don’t think basic things such as doing invoices, dealing with suppliers, or arranging freight are top of mind – but they’re things that need to get done daily.
Along this path, Sommerville met another distributor, Moira Smullen of Rabelais Wines. The two merged their portfolios to give Ocean South an even more extensive collection of wines, and Smullen splits time yearly between North Carolina and the Loire Valley of France.
Take a look at Ocean South’s portfolio, and you’ll find wines ranging from red, whites and sparklings from Mexico to Slovenia and France to Bulgaria and just about everywhere in between.
The list of wineries represented by Ocean South sits at over 150 and can be found in over 100 wine and bottle shops across the state.
Happy Holidays from Triangle Around Town. Are you having trouble deciding what to gift that wine-loving aunt or beer-drinking uncle? We came up with a list containing our favorite things to inspire gift-givers on what to buy the people on that list.
Note: We do not receive any proceeds from the sale of these items. These are just some of our favorite things.
Sommify is a blind wine-tasting board game. This game is entertaining and educational to play for the novice wine drinker up to the Sommelier level as each player attempts to guess the wine region and varietal while blind tasting wine. The game is $49.99 and can be purchased online at https://sommify.com/
For the book worms out there, we selected three books that cover the drinking spectrum. In Rebecca Rosenberg’s latest book, Champagne Widows , the main character inherits the uncanny gift of smell and makes excellent champagne in France. In Buffalo, Barrels and Bourbon , F. Paul Pacult explores the background behind Buffalo Trace Distillery becoming one of the most awarded distilleries in America. Finally, craft beer icon Sam Calagione, his wife Mariah and brewer Andrew Greeley share some of their best behind-the-scenes stories at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures . All three books are great reads and can all be found on Amazon.com.
For the music lover, why not go local and support local musicians throughout the state. Some of our favorite musicians are James Vincent Carroll , Darryl Hoots , Michael Chaney and Shelly Ruffin Many of them offer their music for purchase by either digital downloads or CDs.
The new Shelton Vineyards Brickhouse Red Wine Blend for the NC State and wine lover, but don’t wait! This wine is already sold out online, with limited quantities remaining. This wine was created in partnership with NC State University and is the first edition of the Hallowed Places Collection. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tannat and Malbec. With a portion of proceeds benefiting scholarship programs at NC State University, this is the perfect gift for that Wolfpack wine drinker. The wine retails for $39.99
Meori wine tote would be a perfect accompaniment to a wine club subscription. These totes are durable, stylish, colorful, foldable and made of recyclable materials. They come in 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 bottle carriers. But meori does not only make wine totes. Check out all the storage options and possibilities these totes offer. Anything from wine to beer to home storage, trunk organizers – the possibilities are endless.
Buy your meori products online at https://meori.com/
Consider purchasing a wine club to a favorite winery for that wine-loving friend or family member. Most wineries in the state and beyond offer wine clubs quarterly, semi-annual or bi-monthly shipments. It’s a great way to try several varietals from a favorite winery. Check the individual winery web page for details.
Class at Vitis House Wine School located in Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Charlotte. Whether inperson or online, Vitis House offers an array of fun and educational classes in wine, whiskey, tequila, champagne, and so much more. Gift certificates are available to take the pressure of deciding a topic, date and location. More information and to sign up for a class or purchase a gift certificate at www.vitishouse.com.
If you are a fan of pairing your charcuterie with mustards, check out the gift pack that Candler’s Lusty Monk Mustard features. For $29.95, the 3-pack features large jars of its “Original Sin” mustard as well as “Temptation” honey mustard and the “Burn in Hell” Chipotle mustard. Get your mustard fix here.
Of course, we have to do a shameless plug for back issues of Screw it Wine, Hop Around NC and our Wineries of Swan Creek digital downloads. We’re the go-to publication for all you need to know about the North Carolina wine industry with exclusive interviews and articles. Pick up your copies by going to www. trianglearoundtown.com/shop.
North Carolina is home to over 130 wineries, and along the coast, you’ll find Sanctuary Vineyards. For seven generations, the Wright family has called Currituck County home since the early days of Jacob Wright.
But today, you will more than likely find its general manager John Wright roaming the vines, passing through the tasting room or talking to its guests on any given day. But how exactly does one of North Carolina’s largest wineries get through a calendar year filled with everything from growing its grapes, harvest time and marketing a product?
It all starts with the grapes and the soil.
“A lot of the practices we use are organic or biodynamic, but here in North Carolina, it’s just hard, and you have to intervene,” says Wright. Although many wineries incorporate “going green,” it can be difficult when, according to Wright, you have to maintain a green status for three years before you can get certified.
And while the neighboring farm that grows corn and soy keeps him from being 100 percent organic, he explains that he sticks to certain principles that keep his grapes and vines in a healthy state of bliss while being as environmentally safe as possible.
“It’s kind of tough to say something is organic, and this isn’t when some of the organic stuff is really strong. You can spray copper for a lot of the mildews here, but it actually bonds in the soil because it is a heavy metal, so
For seven generations the Wright Family has called Currituck County home.
it’s toxic to the soil.”
In regions of France, wineries have sprayed so much copper that the ground has turned blue – due to years of spraying it with copper and lime sulfate. And those, according to many, can be considered “organic.”
The soil in Currituck is sand deposited by the overflow of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia millions of years ago, and the Albemarle Sound all draining into the ocean –and was all part of an ancient ocean glacier system which was turned
into an estuary.
Many of the vines at Sanctuary Vineyards are around a decade old. “But many of our trunks are small because they’re in sand, so you won’t see them becoming large and gnarled trunks,” Wright says.
Being in the sand on the sound, you’ll find the water table at Sanctuary to be around six to eight feet deep, which Wright says is ideal for some grapes, but not all. “Grapes such as Merlot really like clay because they don’t like hydric stress – they like to be surrounded by water all the time, and it helps them.”
Other grapes that had some difficulty on the property included a Chardonel, which lasted around a decade before it was pulled out, and a Sangiovese. But now, you’ll find more Traminette and Petit Verdot growing to substitute the subtraction of some of the older vines.
Now that all the vines are planted to satisfaction, the next step in a winery’s anatomy is that all winemakers either love or hate –and that is harvest time!
Sanctuary’s winemaker George Butler has been with the winery for almost three years now, after a short stint at Raffaldini Vineyards and six years at Yadkin Valley Wine Company before heading east.
Here in Jarvisburg, Butler says he lets Wright make the call on when he thinks the conditions of the grapes are right and ready to pick
– which is optimistically around 24 brix. But here in North Carolina, many winemakers might say it is tricky to find the perfect pH.
“What happens in Yadkin Valley is in the summer the humidity sets in and doesn’t go away,” Butler says. “Here, on the coast, it’s pretty constant, so we don’t have the same mold as you do in the valley.”
When that time comes to pick the grapes, after all the fruit is off the vines, Sanctuary lets the fruit chill for at least a day until they are processed. Once the fruit gets down to around 40 degrees, it goes to press.
Can the juice go bad once pressed? According to Butler, it can, but it’s not so much the taste as it is wild microbial pressure, which can give the juice a volatile acidity and be the only thing that could allow the harvest juice to be dumped.
“You can decide whether you want to keep it and blend it out, or if you want to dump it,” Butler says. “But given the labor and the cost we put into farming, it is hard to dump. There are processes for removing VA, but they kind of beat up the wine.”
The juice is fine. The fermentation is to begin. Next is deciding what
goes into stainless steel tanks and what goes into oak barrels. Here at Sanctuary, all red wines go into barrels anywhere between 18 to 24 months. Many of its barrels are purchased from California, and Butler says that they usually don’t use those barrels more than once.
As for wines such as a Chardonnay, some of it will see some time in oak, but the rest goes into stainless steel tanks.
While some wineries have the privilege of having a bottling line, many others don’t. Even though they produce almost 10,000 cases per year, Sanctuary Vineyards brings in a company with a mobile bottling line to get the job done. “It takes a couple of days,” Butler says. “The last time we did 3,000 cases in about two and a half days, which is absolutely banging it out.”
Some might think a winemaker’s job is done after harvest and bottling the wines for sales and distribution, but Butler says that’s just half the fun. After a couple of months, between August and mid-October, what does a winemaker do?
“We have a little bit of a break after harvest, and then we get ready for bottling,” he says. But that’s just the white wines. Around June, places like Sanctuary will start bottling the red wines and then take a month off to relax and find the best fish tacos on the East Coast. Or maybe that’s just Butler? Check out his Instagram page. If you’re looking for the best fish taco east of the Cape Fear River, this is the man to contact.
Life as a winemaker is pretty consistent. If you aren’t doing harvest and bottling, you’re starting up one project or finishing up another. “You pretty much keep busy the entire year. There’s always stuff to do,” Butler says. “I say, for 11 months, I’m a grunt, but then I have one month to be an artist.”
And that comes in the form of blending. Blending wine, even for a novice or hobby wine drinker, can be lots of fun. Be sure to check out places such as Raffaldini, which hosts wine blending parties for
guests with its owner Jay Raffaldini. Just be sure you don’t wind up with the worst blend that day, or he’ll tell you how bad your concocted beverage was.
We all have something we don’t like – from cooking and doing dishes to our day jobs or plain, simple arithmetic. So there must be a wine or grape varietal that winemakers don’t like. It doesn’t mean it’s not good; it could just be a difficult grape to work with or doesn’t favor the tastebuds for the winemaker. For Butler, it’s Traminette. “I don’t like Traminette. Traminette is like Lemon Pledge. When it comes in as straight juice, it’s almost lemonade. It’s just not my favorite.”
“The vineyard itself, which is around 28 to 30 acres, is only going to produce so many gallons on the sandy soil,” Wright says. He explains that a vineyard that size in a place like North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley can produce approximately double the volume. Sanctuary Vineyards is one of the state’s larger wineries, but most years, production numbers will be set under 10,000 cases. And some years can be worse than others – for example, the pandemic shut down last year.
“They closed the bridge to the Outer Banks, and nobody was coming or going,” Wright says. “We weren’t sure what we were going to do. We started letting people work out in the fields so that they had something to do since we didn’t want to lay anybody off.”
But restrictions lifted, the bridge was reopened, and people were willing to go on vacation with their masks – vacationers from Richmond, Washington D.C. and New York were now flooding the winery. Sales for the winery soared to levels above expectations amid the pandemic.
“That’s the problem making wine here in North Carolina, especially in the Outer Banks,” he says. “The market is so variable that we bottle so many cases a year, and then we try to read what’s happening that year, and we can curve sales and increase them.”
Sanctuary Vineyards makes everything from reds, whites, muscadine wines as well as reserve wines and sparklings.
Reserve wine tastings are roughly 30 percent of Sanctuary’s daily tastings inside the winery, so bottles such as its Double Barrel, a blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot, might not sell as much as standard tasting wines such as the Morton or Wild Pony.
“Wines like those we’re making a couple of thousand cases a year, so I’ve got to sell those every day,” Wright says, which a lot of those bottles will go into distribution.
Sanctuary Vineyard’s breakdown of sales goes something like this: 75 percent retail sales, 20 percent wholesale, and 5 percent going towards weddings and special events.
Wright admits that he was making more wine five years ago than today, but that’s part of the business model to produce more quality than quantity wines. “I’m angling our business towards being slightly smaller, not larger. I want to make sure we’re selling high-quality wines, and we have a wine club that
really takes care of us.”
A model like this gives Wright and Sanctuary Vineyards the ability not to rely heavily on wholesale but also cuts back the travel he or employees have to make to places such as Wilmington, Asheville, Charlotte or Bryson City to sell his wine.
Marketing is a massive part of being a successful winery, and just slapping a family name or geographical reference to the
wine’s label doesn’t foot the bill. Take Sanctuary Vineyards, for example. The winery is located in a part of the state that isn’t known as a traditional grape-growing region. The winery resides in a very populated vacation area, where people from across the state and the East Coast come to getaway.
“Sanctuary seems like a good name to describe what you get when you come to the Outer Banks,” Wright says. “When you are out here with a glass of wine and the wind blowing. That’s what we’re going for with the name.”
Although many around the globe have made marketing work on a name alone, having extraordinary wine is also a must. If not, wineries have to double down on something else – location, events or wine club perks to continue to bring people in daily.
“To me, we’re not marketing us, or even the grapes, but a place and a feeling. That’s what Sanctuary is to me.”
“To me, we’re not marketing us, or even the grapes, but a place and a feeling. That’s what Sanctuary is to me.”
– John Wright General Manager, Sanctuary Vineyards
IS HOME TO SIX WINERIES AND THEY ARE ALL PART OF THE CREST OF THE BLUE RIDGE AVA – SCREW IT WINE TAKES A BRIEF LOOK AT THESE WINERIES
Henderson County, North Carolina. It’s one of the most scenic counties in the Tar Heel State, and it is also home to the latest American Viticultural Area (AVA), The Crest of the Blue Ridge.
Located in the lower elevations of the prestigious Blue Ridge Mountains lie six wineries producing awardwinning wines in the state. These wineries range from classic European-style vinifera grapes to FrenchAmerican hybrid grapes. One might even find a handful of sweet wines if that’s what a sweet-tooth wine drinker is looking for in their vino selection.
The AVA was founded in the summer of 2019, and its distinctive soil, elevation and warm days and cool nights make this area prime for grape growing.
Since 2012 when Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard first started producing wine all the way to the recent opening
of Marked Tree Vineyard and Stone Ashe Vineyards in the middle of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic – these North Carolina wineries are helping to put the NC wine industry on the map.
In this edition of On the Road, we spent a weekend visiting and exploring (courtesy of ncwine.org) what all six of these wineries have to offer. From beautiful outdoor seating to steep slopes covered in vines –exploring the Crest of the Blue Ridge should be on everyone’s wish list.
The best part about exploring these wineries is spending the night in Hendersonville and taking in the downtown area. The restaurants, shopping and breweries make this a can’t miss western Carolina town!
We hope you enjoy the next couple of pages and plan your next trip to the west.
2695 Sugarload Rd., Hendersonville
p Website: burntshirtvineyards.com
p Phone: (828) 685-2402
p Wine club: Yes
p Food on-site: Yes, the Vintner’s Table Food Truck is available on the weekends, and boxed lunches are also available. Check their website for details.
p Pet friendly: Yes; leashed pets are allowed in the tasting room
p Lodging on-site: Yes; the Vintner’s Cottage is available on vrbo.
Burntshirt Vineyards opened in the fall of 2013 and features its winery, tasting room, barrel room and crush pad onsite. Taking its name from old mountain lore, the winery pays homage to farmers who used to burn their shirts in the fire to clear land upon Burntshirt Mountain.
Lemuel and Sandra Oates operate this family-owned winery that produces around 15 to 20 wines each year on roughly 30 acres onsite and property on the Eastern Continental Divide. The winery has won numerous awards, including medals in the 2012 International Women’s Wine Competition for its Grüner Veltliner and Merlot.
Guests may choose from a variety of white wines, including a Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc, and red wines such as Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon and a rosé. Burntshirt even offers a couple of dessert wines, including an apple wine that pays homage to the local apple industry.
Visit Burntshirt and immerse yourself in its two tasting bars, spacious outdoor seating, events center and food truck.
Burntshirt Vineyards features two different memberships for people to join its wine club that offers either one or two cases per year. The 3400 Club also gives its members unique invitations to pick-up parties, wine club and music events at its Hendersonville and Chimney Rock locations.
623 Deep Gap Rd., Flat Rock
The winery also has a tasting room located at 438 Main Street in Chimney Rock, North Carolina.
p Website: markedtreevineyards.com
p Phone: (828) 513-3773
p Wine club: Yes
p Food on-site: Yes, snacks are available for purchase as well as local beers. There is an off-site food fee of $15.
p Pet friendly: Yes; leashed pets are allowed in designated areas only and are not permitted in the tasting room. Pets are not allowed on event days.
Marked Tree Vineyard is owned and operated by Tim Parks and Lance Hiatt, and opened to the public in May of 2020. The winery features varietals such as Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Vidal Blanc, Chardonel, Lemberger and Grüner Veltliner. “We wanted to have a different perspective on what we grow and ripen here in Western Carolina because many folks grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot,” Parks says.
The winery, in its first year, has won several awards at the NC Fine Wines ShowCase Competition, including its Rosé and Grüner Veltliner. Marked Tree has collaborated with ParkerBinns Vineyards in creating a red blend called 1,000 Feet Apart, which is the elevation between the two wineries.
The winery reached out to Justin Taylor, winemaker at Parker-Binns Vineyards to assist in helping produce the wine in conjunction with Hiatt.
“He and I work together really well,” Hiatt says. “He’s really amazing and not afraid to experiment with stuff.”
Parks and Hiatt admit that their search for the right location was pretty hectic as they looked at hundreds of locations in a stretch of six years.
“We started looking for property in 2009. We were looking here and in the Georgia mountains simultaneously,” Parks says.
Some of the criteria that Parks and Hiatt were looking for included close proximity to other wineries, and an area where they could partner with other wineries to be part of a wine trail. Being part of North Carolina’s latest AVA, The Crest of the Blue Ridge has been a great advantage for Marked Tree Vineyards as they continue to produce great wines.
Be sure to visit the winery’s Asheville tasting bar location at 14 Ashton Street – with indoor and outside seating available.
408 Appleola Rd., Hendersonville
p Website: pointlookoutvineyards.com
p Phone: (828) 808-8923
p Wine club: Yes
p Food on-site: Small light bites are available on a daily basis with food trucks on occasion. Check the event calendar on Facebook for the food truck schedules. Outside food is also welcome.
p Pet friendly: Yes
Point Lookout Vineyards opened in Hendersonville in June of 2018. Sitting at an elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level, the winery has a spectacular view that allows guests a 270-degree panoramic view of North Carolina’s majestic Blue Ridge mountain range.
Owned by Mike and Sabrina Jackson, Point Lookout Vineyards began planting its vines in 2008, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Chardonnay and Riesling.
Be sure to sample Cliffield and Pavilion. Cliffield is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, which has a smooth, yet complex feel. And Pavilion is a blend of the winery’s best lots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
But one of the winery’s most unique wines may be its Javine, a red wine made with hints of coffee and chocolate.
Guests at the winery will be impressed by the redwood timber that makes up the tasting room. Point Lookout is a perfect place for special events such as weddings or formal occasions and can accommodate 300 people.
This past summer, the winery presented its summer concert series that featured artists such as The Embers and the Legacy Motown Revue. Or enjoy the sunset, as the winery features its Sunset Sipping every Thursday evening – and be sure to bring your picnic basket.
Point Lookout Vineyards is also home to World’s Edge Meadery, which features six meads. Sample unique meads such as the Masala, a Chai tea mead, or Beguile, a tart mead made with fresh raspberries. Other meads include a traditional mead, orange blossom mead and a Cyser made with honey and apples.
Point Lookout Vineyards offers a spectacular backdrop for the perfect wedding with 30-miles panoramic views.
588 Chestnut Gap Rd., Hendersonville
p Website: saintpaulfarms.com
p Phone: (828) 685-4002
p Food on-site: Food trucks on occasion. Check its Facebook page for schedule.
p Pet friendly: Yes; leashed pets are allowed in the tasting room
p Lodging on-site: Yes; a renovated family home located next door to Appalachian Ridge Cidery and across the street from Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard. This 5 bedroom, 2 bath can sleep up to 12 guests. More information can be found on Airbnb.
Established in 2008, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards offers a little bit of everything for its visitors. On a typical week, guests can enjoy the standard tasting as well as live music, special events, classes and pairing dinners.
With over 20 wines and ciders in its portfolio, take a step into the tasting room, and you’re bound to find something on the tasting menu that suits your tastebuds.
From the sweet blackberry wine, Home Place, to the robust Cabernet Franc, Queen – they have it all. And, if you like white wines, try the stainless steel Vidal Blanc or its semi-sweet sister, Laurel Hill.
The winery has gone “totally tubular” with its new $10 tastings, including six pours inside test tubes. A fun new way to conduct your tasting and experiment on which wines you like best.
Using the “cider as wine” approach, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyard’s Appalachian Ridge facility is just down the road from the winery. There you’ll be able to enjoy sparkling ciders inside the old 1920s apple barn. It’s a little bit of tradition and innovation that makes these hard ciders and apple spirits worth visiting while in Hendersonville. The family even makes trips to Normandy, France, where hard cider originated, to bring tips and tactics home for its consumers.
If you are looking for a ‘pick-me-up’ after tasting some award-winning ciders, head downstairs and grab a cup of coffee from Sharewell Coffee Co. & Roastery.
The winery owns Appalachian Ridge Artisan Cidery down the road – and a second location can be found at 2698c Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock.
124 Sandy Hill Lane, Hendersonville
p Website: sawyerspringsvineyard.com
p Phone: (828) 698-4383
p Food on-site: Food trucks on occasion. Check its Facebook page for updates. UberEats and GrubHub also deliver.
p Pet friendly: Yes
Owned and operated by Paul Dermid and his daughters, Sawyer Springs Vineyard is a humble and quaint stop to sit down and enjoy a history lesson with your wine tasting. Dermid and his two daughters tell visitors the history behind the land, the wines and the winery’s name, all while taking you through a tasting that has everything from sweet whites to dry reds.
“Dusty Boots. Stained Hands. Classic Wine.” It’s the slogan Dermid lives by and even put that slogan on the wine glasses. It’s what you get when you visit this veteran-owned winery in Hendersonville, which is located in an old barn erected back in 1912.
Visit Sawyer Springs, and you can sip on a few sweet wines such as Sipping Sunset and Sweet Melissa. Still, most of its wines fall more on the dry side, such as its Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a few red blends.
As a family-owned winery, many generations resided on the land here in Henderson County, and invaluable information on the property and its soil have been passed down generation after generation. Dermid claims that due to years of trial and error, the family knows the suitable climate and soil to grow much of its produce, including grapes.
Dermid and his family want to keep the winery small yet inviting, only producing enough wine to sell on the property. But with many acres of vines, Dermid says that eventually, he’ll put out six-gallon buckets of juice for kits that winemakers at home can purchase.
“If you are going to be in the farming business, you need to know how to graft, cross-pollinate and how to actually get things done.” Those are essential words Dermid heard from his grandfather while as child, and today, at 71 years old, those words still hold true today – and that’s what the Dermid family is doing.
For over six generations, the Dermid family has cultivated fruits and vegetables within Henderson County.
36 Green Mountain Rd., Hendersonville
p Website: stoneashevineyards.com
p Phone: (828) 513-3773
p Food on-site: Yes, locally made charcuterie boards plus two snack box selections
p Pet friendly: Yes; leashed, well-behaved dogs are allowed outside;dogs are not allowed inside the tasting room
p Notes: Stone Ashe Vineyards is a 21+ establishment
For Craig and Tina Little, the dream of owning a winery came from serene views of rolling hills and steep slopes packed with vines in the Bordeaux region of France.
Views of the mountains at Stone Ashe Vineyards, as well as thousands of vines running down sheer mountainside hills, it appears that Bordeaux dream is now a reality.
In selecting the location, it was simple for Little, who grew up in the area. “We actually looked at the Yadkin Valley, but we thought it was too far away from everything. I grew up here. My husband grew up in Spartanburg. So we thought this would be an excellent place to retire and bring the family.”
The winery’s 13-acres of vines include French-style varietals that were grafted onto American rootstock: Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. But Little says to expect more – when it is all said and done, the winery plans to have 18 acres of vines on the property.
“All of our wines are natural except for the Riesling. We don’t do any additives, and because of that, you might see a little bit of yeast floating around in the glass. That’s because the more you filter, you begin to lose the nose and the flavor.” And when wineries do that, it usually means they’re adding it back in somehow, which is generally artificially. “We want you to get the taste of our grapes in the glass and none of the junk,” she says.
Good wine, hospitality and ambiance are key ingredients in having a successful winery, and Stone Ashe Vineyards has all three. The Bordeaux-style wines at the winery fill one of the ingredients, as does the hospitality when you enter the winery – but alongside the spectacular views of the mountains, the winery’s modern farmhouse decor makes for the trifecta.
The granite found in the rocky slope where many of its grapes are grown on the property is the basis for the winery’s name.
When you imagine taking a day trip to a winery, you may envision driving up along the vines, walking up to a beautiful tasting room as you are guided along with a tasting experience as the host points out which vineyard block is home to the grape varietal in your glass. Following the tasting experience, perhaps you decide to visit longer with a glass or bottle of wine and picnic overlooking the vineyard. This makes for the perfect winery escape for an afternoon - a day in the vineyard.
Over the past several years, the trends of urban wineries have been growing, but what
25 Page Ave., Suite 102
Known for its natural-style wines, Pleb Urban Winery has two locations in Asheville. The original location, and its winery can be found at 289 Lyman Street, in the River Arts District. And the new tasting room/lounge, which is located across from the Grove Arcade on Page Avenue. At the Aventine Wine Bar, guests can sample through Pleb’s assortment of wines by the bottle, glass or flight. The tasting room is also home to the North Carolina Craft Beverage Museum – and right next door, enjoy the craft spirits at Cultivated Cocktails.
exactly is an urban winery? An urban winery is wine producers who selected to locate their winery in the heart of urban dwellings –sourcing their grapes from within the state, or in some cases, elsewhere. It’s a trend that certainly has a place in today’s wine-loving society.
One popular city in North Carolina, nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge, is well known for its famous brewery scene but is now beginning to make its mark in the wine world. Asheville is now home to six establishments that produce their own wines – in many different styles.
– Jennifer Primrose
147 Coxe Ave.
Located inside Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium you’ll find a new wine producer in town –Vidl Wines. Crafted by Weed’s head of the sour program, Jen Currier, Vidl Wines can be found by the bottle, where you can sit inside or outside and enjoy. There you’ll find all-natural wines such as a Sauvignon Blanc, red blend, sparkling, orange/rosé hybrid and piquette. The juice from these wines come directly from Washington state’s Yakima Valley, where Wicked Weed gets most of its hops from.
32 Broadway St Suite 110
Not far from Pleb you’ll find Botanist & Barrel’s second tasting location – and first in Asheville. This Cedar Grove winery and cidery opened it’s second location in 2021 to spread the tasty word of “fermentation” to the folks of Asheville. Managed by Lyndon Smith and Amie Fields, the tasting room offers a wide assortment of wines and ciders from B&B and their friends. Natural wines, piquettes, pet nats, orange wines, et al can be found on the menu. And don’t forget to sample some of the unique fermented snack foods on the menu, such as the tinned seafood. Yes, you heard us right.
14 Aston St, Asheville
A quick 6-minute walk from Botanist you’ll find yourself inside the plush confides of Marked Tree Vineyard’s Asheville tasting room. At the corner of Aston Street and Lexington Avenue, this tasting room is an extension of the winery’s vineyard in Flat Rock. Take a seat at the bar, or outside on a sunny day and experience some of the winery’s acomplished wines such as the Grüner Veltliner, Vidal Blanc or Petit Verdot. Owners Tim Parks and Lance Hiatt have worked very hard to give their tasting rooms the look and feel of something quite lavish. Be sure to check out the charcuterie plates – they’re delicious!
If you plan on visiting Biltmore Estate while in town, be sure to check out the Wine Bar at the Winery. There one can experience some of the winery’s finest reserve and sparkling wines after touring the estate. Check out the chocolate truffles! At Burial’s latest Asheville creation, Forestry Camp, along with fine food and beer, you can find the brewery’s new wine label, Visuals. The new label produces wines such as two piquette wines, a rosé, a red blend made with Barbera, Montepulciano and Colcetto, two different Vermouths and a cider. Upstairs you can also find some of these mixed into various cocktails.
Veteran’s Day is behind us now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the time to acknowledge veterans that have made their way over to the industry we delve into – North Carolina’s booming wine industry.
As we travel throughout The Tar Heel State, we have had the privilege of discovering veteran-owned small businesses. We’ve heard their stories of when they served to how they decided to plant their roots here in the state by starting a small business.
Earlier this year, Fox News Network’s Neil Cavuto interviewed Becky and Deane Muhlenberg of Dobson’s Haze Gray Vineyards during his morning show.
The segment talked about how the duo goes out of their way to hire veterans to give them a paying job after their career is over serving our country.
“The shared values that I have and experiences with veterans’ work ethics – it’s really important to me,” says Deane Muhlenberg. “Veterans tend to fit well with our team because of that. I’m a little selfish because I know veterans do good work.”
Muhlenberg, co-owner and winemaker at Haze Gray Vineyards in Dobson, has served his country for 30 years in the U.S. Navy. During that time, he’s served in Florida, Virginia and California, and Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Iraq.
Another veteran turned winemaker is Chad Guebert of Golden Road Vineyard, who also served in the U.S. Navy. Guebert spent eight years stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Naples, Italy.
RELATIVELYYears served in the military: 30
Locations served: Pensacola, Florida; Oceana Naval Air Station, Virginia; Okinawa, Japan; Norfolk Naval Air Station, Virginia; Naval Air Station Pt. Mugu, California; Whidbey Island, Washington; Korea, Hong Kong; Thailand; Iraq; Italy; Israel; Spain; Fort Dix, New Jersey; The Pentagon, Washington, DC; Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; Coronado Naval Station, California; deployment aboard naval ships across the globe.
Years served in the military: 8 Locations served: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Naples, Italy
Serving your country happens to be one of the most common reasons people join the military – an opportunity to feel a sense of dignity and achievement. But when you take a good look, many people join for many different reasons, including learning new skills, traveling the world, paying for college, and even getting physically fit. Why did these local industry veterans join the ranks of the armed forces?
Deane Muhlenberg: Duty to country and family tradition. I’m an eighth-generation U.S. military – since the Revolution.
Chad Guebert: My dad is retired Navy, and though I hadn’t thought about it before high school, he suggested I send my SAT score to the ROTC program and earn a scholarship. My dad had been surface navy, so I chose the submarine force to forge my own path.
Dedication, teamwork, communication and integrity are just some of the critical features for veterans who join the military. The Navy offers rewarding careers, according to the employment website Indeed. Some of the top jobs include medic, operations clerk, avionics technician, culinary specialist and communications specialist. For many in the military, multiple jobs and titles are expected. What duties did these veterans hold down while enlisted?
Deane Muhlenberg: As an officer in the Navy for 30 years, I had numerous and varied responsibilities as I progressed through the ranks to Captain. Some of the most notable were Naval Flight Officer, 7th Fleet Amphibious Forces Air Officer, Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, and Commanding Officer of Security Forces.
Chad Guebert: Submarine Officer - Officer of the Deck, Engineering Officer of the Watch, Naples, Italy; Submarine Watch Officer, Exercise Planner - coordinated with NATO and other allied countries to plan military exercises.
According to GIJobs.com, three steps to follow are crucial when a veteran transitions to a civilian career. These include vets to identify their marketable skills, narrow
their focus, and research. For the most part, these industry veterans were interested in wine and farming early on, making their transition less stressful.
Deane Muhlenberg: I have always enjoyed wine and making wine. My wife, Becky, and I had a vision 25 years ago that we would buy a farm, have a vineyard, and make wine after my career in the military. The plans for Haze Gray Vineyards have been slowly developed from that vision 25 years ago.
Chad Guebert: After getting out of the Navy, I went to Penn State for my MBA and then worked for Deloitte in Arlington, Virginia. I was making homemade wine in both locations as a hobby. We took classes in viticulture and enology at PVCC in Charlottesville and decided we wanted to get into the industry. We spent some time looking at vineyards in Virginia before expanding our search to North Carolina. We found Golden Road Vineyards which was planted in 2011, and grapes were being sold to local wineries. When we purchased the vineyard, our goal was to expand the operations to include a tasting room and partner with another winery to make our wine.
Advice. That’s one thing we can all use in the business world. And some of the best advice veterans can get while entering a new position as a civilian is from other vets before them that made that leap. Here’s some helpful words from these veterans.
Deane Muhlenberg: Reach out to veterans’ organizations and veteran-owned companies. They will find that veterans are eager to help other veterans succeed in civilian life.
Chad Guebert: Do your homework on the business you are getting into. Reach out to your network, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are many veterans in business and are excited to support others wanting to do the same.
Once the veteran is established at their business, such as Haze Gray Vineyards and Golden Road Vineyards, they might do unique things to honor active and retired veterans. Take a look at what these two wineries do to honor veterans.
Deane Muhlenberg: We honor veterans as part of our core business values. We have a “Veterans Wall of Honor,” which includes veteran photos of our family and our patrons. Plus, a portion of our bottle sales of our blends is donated to Veterans’ organizations.
Chad Guebert: We offer a military discount, give challenge coins to veterans visiting the tasting room, celebrate the Submarine Force birthday in April, and we have a submarine klaxon (dive alarm) in the tasting room that we sound for submariners, veterans and anyone that asks. We are a Homegrown by Heroes farm, and wines that are estate grown have the Homegrown by Heroes logo on the label.
Known for her perennial red wine blend, Pentimento, Michele D’Aprix is a winemaker who can embrace change. That change comes with the release of three of her latest wine releases.
Maz Caz, which loosely translates to “crazy in a good way,” is just one way to describe this new project. Branching out from Bordeaux, D’Aprix has found a new region with unique soils and climates to craft three new wines.
Now developing wine in Costiéres de Nimes, her followers can expect something brand new to coat their tongues.
“This place is a very special one,” she says. “I have met some of the kindest and most honorable people I’ve ever had the luck and pleasure to work with (much like when I started in Bordeaux). Plus, the wines are seriously delicious.”
That they are, Michele!
Take, for example, the Blanc 2020, a 50 percent blend of both Roussane and Grenache Blanc. Bright and floral aromas are merged with salinity and minerality that comes from the sea breeze and the mixture of galets.
Similar to those found in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Apricot and honey are two of the primary tastes that come from this wine, and that high acidity makes it something that would pair well with seafood. Maybe that’s why she has an illustration of an oyster shell on the label.
Next in line is the Rosé 2020 made using 60 percent Grenache and 40 percent Syrah. The Grenache rules this wine as the apparent flavors of strawberries, plum and hints of dried herbs fill your olfactory system.
Friendly and dry with a medium body, makes this a perfect wine to enjoy on its own or with a nice summer salad or soft cheeses.
This was the wine I was waiting to sample. Looking at the label with an illustration of a whole hog on a spit, I knew this would be a wine to serve with food.
The Rouge is made using 70 percent Grenache, 20 percent Mourvedre and 10 percent Syrah – and you can taste a little of each grape in this wine.
I was shocked how well this tasted as D’Aprix’s Rouge is always left unoaked, so you can get the authentic flavors of each of the grapes.
Blackberries, tobacco, black pepper and a little bit of smokiness make Rouge a great wine – and a fantastic value. D’Aprix wants wine lovers to be able to enjoy the taste of French wine without being too expensive. These wines are a steal at under $20 each.
Michele’s wines, including Pierre Angulaire Bordeaux Blanc and Pentimento, are available through Village Wine Imports.
Organic farming Natural yeast fermentation; Fermentation in stainless steel –wines
Organic farming
Natural yeast fermentation; 6 hours of skin contact; saignée; fermentation in stainless steel. Wines are lightly filtered. Maz
Organic farming
Natural yeast fermentation; fermentation in stainless steel. Skins pulled and pressed 2/3 before dryness.
TRIANGLE AROUND TOWN Michele D’Aprix new line of wines, Maz Caz, can be found in local wine stores.Suppose you’ve opened a restaurant, brewery, or just about any business. If that is the case, you probably experienced jumping through rings of fire regarding permits and regulations.
It can be very excruciating, and the owners of the new gastropub in Wake Forest know that firsthand – especially co-owner Jeffrey Fieldman and executive chef Joe Boozer.
Everything from multiple inspections to get a door installed, finding out a pre-existing restaurants’ maximum capacity to fines for vinyl signs outside informing people the restaurant is ‘coming soon.’
“It was going to be a $500 a day fine just because we didn’t get a permit for that particular sign,” Fieldman states. “Even to get our capacity sign, it took 10 to 15 visits from different people.”
Fieldman’s motto is “if you aren’t early, you’re late.” And coming from the computer industry, he describes how that can mean the difference between landing that $20M deal or having it all go down the drain. And he’ll admit that a multitude of hours has been spent between him, Boozer and
other owners in having to deal with local inspectors.
“It’s difficult. I understand that everyone is understaffed, but I got inspectors calling 5 minutes before they’re to be here pushing it back an hour or calling to say they can’t come that day.” And much of this came during the 22 weeks it took to get the pub up and running.
The decision came to take over the old BuKu location when Fieldman and Wine & Beer 101 co-owner Joe O’Keefe were approached by the building landlord. “The landlord told us that Buku was struggling and if we wanted to take it over,” Fieldman says. “Joe and I mulled it over and thought we can work it out. With 14 years with customers, we weren’t marketing a new restaurant, just a new service.”
And through all the distractions, long hours and the pains of opening a restaurant, the Wine & Beer 101 Gastropub is finally open for business, but with limited hours.
The gastropub now fills that space left behind by BuKu, which was, unfortunately, another restaurant that could not make it past the Covid pandemic that shuttered thousands
of restaurants across the nation.
For those wondering the fate of Wine & Beer 101 next door, there’s no cause for alarm. According to Fieldman and Boozer, the bottleshop will remain with live music, craft beers on draft, wine by the glass, and occasional food trucks. “The most beneficial thing,” Fieldman says, is “while you’re sitting down having some beer or wine, you’ll be able to have limited take-out menu items you can order from the gastropub.”
Currently, the gastropub is open for limited service due to a lack of staffing. But when in full swing, Fieldman hopes to provide customers with a brand new outlet to enjoy great wine, food, beer and spirits in a family atmosphere.
“I want every single person here to find their home on the menu,” Boozer says. “You can find the price range and the style you want and just hang out with your friends. From date nights to the family coming out, we’ll have you covered.”
Boozer originally came in to assist with another chef whom Fieldman
initially looked to be executive chef.
The chef was Greg Lyons of Raleigh Country Club, who came up with the original idea for the menu, but then decided to stay with the posh country club.
“Greg was originally responsible for the menu with Jeff,” Boozer says. “So I was sort of in a limbo position after he decided to stay at his current job. Then one night, Jeff and I went over the menu over some wine and cigars and figured it out.”
Boozer, a Baltimore, Maryland native, spent time at the popular AJ’s on Hanover, where for a year he was the pub’s executive chef, before moving to Wake Forest in July.
The menu Boozer and Fieldman came up with is a selection of comfort food mixed with familyfriendly morsels. If you’re looking to spend an evening with shareable
plates, the mussels, short rib kabobs, or poutine will hit the spot. More substantial items include the gastropub burger made with a blend of beef and bison or the Ode to the Masters, a braised pork belly thinly sliced with pimento cheese.
“My goal is a few things,” Boozer says. “First and foremost is transparency. I want everyone to know what’s in my dish. If you want the recipe, come talk to me.”
poached scallop, polenta & beurre blanc paired with a steel fermented Chardonnay, and a Korean barbeque chicken lollipop on coconut rice paired with Petit Manseng. The dinner finished with a Chai latte bread pudding with caramel sauce paired with the Dulcimer, a slightly sweet and sparkling rosé wine.
In August the theme was summertime BBQ & Grill pairings with wines that match well with foods from the grill. Chef Justin Pinch prepared this dinner and featured such menu items as a deconstructed Hobo dinner paired with a Chardonnay. The menu also included grilled North Carolina trout paired with the Petit Manseng and a N.C. staple – smoked pulled pork, craftily paired with a Cabernet Franc.
The art of pairing wine and food can be an intimidating process for the novice wine drinker or amateur chef. However, the pairing can become magical when bringing together the winemaker and experienced chef. Whether partnering with a local restaurant, having a caterer join the ranks at a winery for an evening, or bringing in chefs from around the state to showcase their creations and pairing with the stylings of local wine, this new trend will hopefully be here to stay.
In 2021, Thurmond’s Jones von Drehl Vineyards & Winery began a series of wine dinners, each featuring a food theme such as BBQ & Grill, French-style and even Vegetarian.
Each dinner consists of six courses beautifully paired with the local wines of JvD. In June, as JvD was placing the final touches on Chloe Hall, the Sip & Savor wine dinner series made its debut. The June dinner featured six wines paired with food by Chef Justin Pinch of Winston Salem’s Cleave & Cork. This inaugural dinner featured such pairings as Fume’
As Fall was peeking around the corner, Chef Pinch introduced vegetarian meals to pair with JvD wines. Options of thin-crust flatbread tomato and mozzarella pizza with Tempranillo and baked mushroom, garden pea, and cheddar risotto cake paired with a Cabernet Franc were some of the pairings. This vegetarian delight was rounded up by a dessert of poached pears and blueberries baked in light vanilla custard with the Rosa Dia Rosé.
The final dinner of the year was this past October and was entitled
“A Fall Table in France.” This Frenchinspired dinner was designed and created by chef Serge Falcoz-Vigne of the Wake Forest restaurant, Bodega Tapas. With Falcoz-Vigne being a familiar name in the Triangle area, having served as executive chef at 18 Seaboard and Saint Jacques French Cuisine, this dinner piqued our interest. chef Serge was joined and supported by chef Caleb Pinch, and together they served up family-style portions that paired perfectly with each wine poured.
Starting the dinner was a pairing of the always popular Rosa Dia Provence-style Rosé and a country salad with roasted beets and crumbled North Carolina goat cheese. Other wines included an aged Petit Manseng that went with a slice of country-style pork, mirepoix and garlic Terrine – a crowd favorite. A barrel-fermented Chardonnay was joined with a Quiche Lorraine, and two red blends, “Rock & Rail” and “Steel & Stone,” were matched up with a Boeuf Bourguignon and poached pears, respectively.
The dinner was the last of the year at JvD but be on the lookout for upcoming dinners and events in 2022, including the future opening of the new amphitheater with live music performances and events.
– Jennifer Primrose
WITH AN EVENT CENTER AND UPCOMING AMPHITHEATER, THURMOND WINERY
Chef Serge Falcoz-Vigne brought his cooking talents to JvD in October.
JENNIFER PRIMROSE
The Tarrine was a popular course, regardless of the appearance.
Imagine this. You have a conversation with a 5-year-old. Then you come back 20 years later and have a conversation with that same person. We can all agree that the conversation will be very different. That’s what’s happening right now in the North Carolina wine industry. The 2021 NC Fine Wines Competition had 40 wineries participate –all of which have a commitment to quality wines. And they’re well on the way to changing that conversation for others.
There is a huge commitment to quality for those vineyards who participate because they know this is viewed as the toughest wine competition in the country. It requires 100 percent of the wines to be grown and vinified here in North Carolina. Some wineries import their juice from other states and choose not to buy locally grown grapes.
Wines are judged by professionals in the industry, and the vineyards know who will be
the judges before the competition. It is both a blind and the only “mute” competition. Blind means that the judges don’t know the winery that produced the entry.
Being a mute competition means that none of the judges can talk or discuss the wines during the tasting. They take that time to write their tasting notes for the vineyard’s review. NC Fine Wines then provide those tasting notes from the judges to the vineyards confidentially, along with their scores, so they know how the judges viewed the wine. They don’t judge the wines as “this is good for NC,” but rather, this is on par with well-made wines from anywhere in the world.
The competition also has a component that raises scholarship dollars for NC students pursuing a career in the wine industry. To date, the scholarship has awarded $7,500 to area students to help them pursue their careers
while at the same time building the fund to be self-sustaining.
That goal is to have a selfsustaining scholarship fund of $50,000, and we’re just over halfway there. And while competitions are always something everyone wants to win, there is a genuine sense that “a rise in tide raises all boats” among its members. We’ve seen vineyards sharing information, techniques and networking with each other in ways to help one another expand their businesses.
So why would a vineyard step into the competition? There are lots of reasons just like any other wine competition: marketing, supporting the elevation of North Carolina’s vinifera and hybrid wines, helping support the students, and most importantly, getting independent feedback on their winemaking from a panel of professionals in the wine industry.
If you haven’t heard yet, North Carolina Fine Wines members have had some outstanding results this year from James Suckling’s tasting
of the 25 wines sent for reviews. Suckling was the senior editor and European wine chief at Wine Spectator magazine for years before striking out on his own. He is generally considered one of the top 3 wine reviewers in the world. For the past 5 years, NC Fine Wines has submitted the top wines from our competition to the James Suckling group. This year we sent in the top 25 scoring wines to be judged blind.
Of the 25 wines sent, we had a total of 13 wines that were in the 90 to 93 point range! This is a huge leap for North Carolina wine and a testament to the quality of the producers in our organization. They have certainly moved the needle this year, by far besting all previous years. In 2017, we had only one wine score 90 points. This year we had thirteen. Here are the 2021 results of the James Suckling group’s tastings.
90-93 Ratings: 13; 86-89 Ratings: 11; and 83-85 Ratings: 1.
After the first year of our competition, his group tasted the
wines because of the quality of the judges and the controls in place. And also the unique requirements of the competition restricting it to 100 percent North Carolina terroir. We really appreciate his organization’s support to help change perceptions at the top levels of the wine world.
While we can’t name individual vineyards’ because the rating service is a paid subscription, we can tell you that these vineyards and the competition is elevating the perceptions of our local wine industry beyond our wildest dreams. We’ve had over 100 wines reviewed by a world-renowned wine critic and his group in the five years. We’ve had other wine experts from our state taste some of the best wines produced with the highest quality.
North Carolina is on track to becoming the premier state location for affordable wine travel in the country because of the buzz.
Cheers - and here’s to looking forward to tasting the progress year after year.
