NC Swan Creek AVA - Laurel Gray Vineyards

NC Swan Creek AVA - Laurel Gray Vineyards

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Enjoying the back patio

August 28th, 2015

Laurel Gray Vineyards

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Tasting Rooms

As we continue on our circuit of the Swan Creek AVA, we stopped at Laurel Gray Vineyards. It's less than 3 miles down the road from Windsor Run Cellars. 

We stepped inside their tasting room to a wide variety of wines that are grown in their vineyard.  The grapes won't have far to go to be pressed, tanked, and bottled.  The Yadkin Valley Wine Company is right behind their tasting room and handles all their bottling needs, and they too have their own wines. 

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Anticipation...

Laurel Gray Vineyards - Protected Grapes

Yadkin Valley Wine Company
as seen from the Back Porch

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Side Porch

Laurel Gray's cozy tasting room expands into a second room for overflow on the weekends. You'll get to choose from 10 dry wines and 4 sweeter varieties.  Find one you like and sit and sip out on their covered porches complete with ceiling fans to keep the heat away.  Or wander onto the grounds and pull up an Adirondack chair to relax.

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Tasting Room Entrance

Their wines will impress you - as do the dozens of awards that are placed around the tasting room. Awards from International, Finger Lakes, INDY, Mid-Atlantic, and NC wine competitions attest to the quality of the wine here.  Next door in the Yadkin Valley Wine Company, you'll find wines that will surprise you in their fruit flavors with both dry and sweet varieties.  During the summer they offer tastings in their barn styled plant.  Their sipping wines will keep you refreshed on a hot summer day.   Grab one for your "porch".

NC Swan Creek AVA - Windsor Run Cellars

North Carolina Swan Creek AVA - Windsor Run Cellars

August 23, 2015

Windsor Run Cellars

Windsor Run Cellars

Windsor Run Cellars = Vines

We are continuing our flights around the Swan Creek AVA in North Carolina. In our last blog, we featured Dobbins Creek Vineyards, the highest location in the Swan Creek AVA.  This week we will give you a quick peek at Windsor Run Cellars.  With over 16 wines to choose from, you're going to find something to take home. 

Windsor Run Cellars - Wine and Shots

Windsor Run Cellars is located in Hamptonville, North Carolina, and is only a short drive from downtown Winston-Salem.  This vineyard was started back in 2001 and was purchased by the current owners in 2011.  They also acquired the 2nd (legal) still in North Carolina. Tours of the facilities, the first winery and distillery in North Carolina in the same building, can be scheduled ahead of time.

Windsor Run Cellars Tasting Room

If you visit on the weekends, be ready to join in on the lively conversations. There is a long bar with lots of room, and high top tables that look out onto the vineyards. The tasting room has a huge bar area and lots of room for groups to enjoy.

Windsor Run Cellars - Relax on their Porch

Our recent visit was during the week, when the owners and staff have more time to talk and share their time.  We met with Ray Ann, the Tasting Room Manager, who walked us through the history of Windsor Run Cellars.  This unpretentious winery/vineyard/distillery plays with the history of alcohol in the Carolinas. Prohibition made liquor illegal, but it also made it a prosperous, if illegal, product.  Now years later, you'll get to do your tasting out in the open.    Make your wine run here today!

Windsor Run Cellars - Soup's On!