Our Vineyard
Located at an elevation of 3,300 feet (the inspiration for our 3300 label series), overlooking the profile of Grandfather Mountain, and nestled on a 58°slope lies our estate hillside vineyard. Our vines were first planted in 2003 and have been growing strong across five acres ever since.The distinctive terroir, including the challenging level of elevation, creates a flavor profile unlike any other in the grapes grown here. The Appalachian High Country, only recently recognized as an American Viticulture Area (AVA) in 2016, allows for a surprisingly high quality of wines. With less than 200 AVAs in the country, it is quite the feat to have our unique, multi-state designation here in the mountains. While we are unable to grow all the grapes that you see on our menu, we do make our wines from grape to bottle right here on our property. Although yields of our true mountain fruit are typically smaller, our estate hillside vineyard is home to many different varieties of grapes. The lower and upper sections consist of french american hybrid grapes (Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, etc) while the middle is mostly Pinot Gris & Chardonnay. Still, our climate and size make it impossible to grow everything. On the other hand, the grapes grown here maintain an unparalleled flavor and hold their own in blends with more well-known grapes. All thanks to the nurturing and hard-working efforts of our Vineyard staff, the fruits of our labors are unlike any other. By 2024, we hope to replace some of the vines in the lower and upper sections with Chardonel (a french American hybrid that is a cross of Chardonnay & Seyval Blanc).
Our Winery
Since our inception in 2011, we have worked with growers from coast to coast to bring our patrons a wide selection of wines. If you’re ever visited in the fall you’re sure to have seen our winemaking team crushing, de-stemming and pressing out grapes! Fun Fact: Last year we processed roughly 80 tons of fruit. Currently, we source roughly 55% of our grapes from North Carolina and our bordering states (TN, GA, & VA) and roughly 45% come from out west (specifically CA & OR). We’ve found over the years that not all grapes can survive our climate so the best way to offer everything from big in your face reds, to racy and crisp whites is to source grapes from around the country. If the grapes are traveling from the west coast they come on a refrigerated truck and we immediately crush/destem and/or press the fruit upon arrival. For grapes grown around our neck of the woods we gather our totes and rent a box truck and make a trip up or down the east coast whenever it’s time to pick up our grapes. (This can happen multiple times a week since harvest is the same for everyone and is condensed into such a short period of time). For grapes harvested right on our property, we make an employee day (or two or three) out of it and all go out in the vineyard with our cutting shears and picking buckets and delicately pluck the grapes from the vines. While we don’t offer official winery tours yet ( it’s on the horizon in coming years), you’d be hard pressed not to see all the activity surrounding harvest if you plan a visit from late August to mid October.