This story was written for our partner, Explore Elkin.
Surry County is known for its arts festivals, bluegrass music, Blue Ridge mountain scenery and charming towns, but it’s also growing in popularity as a wine country destination. In fact, the region’s wine country has dozens of wineries within an hour of each other, each with distinctive flavors and offerings, making the Yadkin Valley one of the most rich on the east coast.
Surry Vineyards
A collection of wineries and wineries located in the scenic Yadkin Valley and Blue Ridge Foothills, Surry Wineries encompasses over a dozen different wine destinations, including Roaring River Wineries, Stony Knoll Wineries, Adagio vineyards and more.
A new cellar at the estate, Golden Route Vineyards, was founded by Crista Guebert and her husband Chad. They were drawn to their love of travel and wine, even spending their honeymoon on a wine tour in Latin America. Upon their return, they took winemaking classes to work on turning their hobby into a business. They then “fell in love at first sight with Golden Road Vineyards” and its “five acres of vineyards planted on rolling hills with magnificent mountain views,” Crista said.
According to Crista, the region is particularly suited to winemaking because of the combination of soil, climate and altitude that can produce a diversity of wines.
“You can grow French Bordeaux varietals, fun Italian wines, spicy Spanish wines, as well as the emerging popular hybrids – Hello, Traminette, Chambourcin, Crimson Cabernet, Chardonel – which will further launch East Coast wine into its own category. unique,” Crista said.
The Golden Road Vineyards bar serves nine wines, one draft beer and canned beer.
“We offer five reds, two whites, two rosés – one dry and one sweet,” Crista said. “The most popular wines are Traminette, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot and the bourbon-aged red wine we call Bumping Holler.”
Other Surry vineyards offer unique offerings, each with stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains.
Vino tour and wine festival
Golden Road Vineyards is one of the sponsors of the Yadkin Valley Tourwhich offers five rides through North Carolina’s wine country, ranging from 31 to 100 miles.
“We sponsor the Yadkin Valley Tour de Vino and are a watering hole as well,” Crista said. “The Yadkin Valley Tour de Vino ends at the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival. Upon returning to Elkin, cyclists are greeted with showers, a meal and free entry to the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival.
The Tour de Vino route is part of the Surry County Wine Route, which bypasses and crosses Mount Airy, Pilot Mountain, Dobson and Elkin. The trail has 500 miles of bike trails, 100 miles of paddle water, 36 miles of trout water, and dozens of miles of hiking trails.
the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival at the end of the tour, returns to Elkin in May and offers wines from over 16 local wineries and vineyards. There is also music, food vendors and products from local businesses to browse. Attendees can choose to rent a space to view the festivities and sip their wine comfortably.
Future extension
Another newcomer to the wine scene, The Wisdom Board in Elkin shows that the region’s wine scene continues to grow.
The Wisdom Table began in 2017, when Jeremy Stamps purchased a former department store and remodeled its 10,000 square foot main floor.
“There wasn’t even a water heater when we took it over,” Stamps said. “We added a wine bar and a bottle store at the back. Today, we serve both wine and beer, all IPAs, lagers from local North Carolina breweries, as well as some harder-to-find exports.
Stamps buys its wine six bottles at a time, which means there are constantly new varieties to taste. Its bottle store has over 100 North Carolina bottles for sale and 400-500 international bottles from Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Italy, South Africa, New Zealand, from Lebanon, Uruguay and more.
Stamps plans to do more renovations, adding a 2,500-square-foot upstairs kitchen to accommodate events. As a certified sommelier, he gives courses and would like to expand this offer.
“I see us doing a lot more wine education classes,” Stamps said. “We will also be doing a six-course wine dinner. In December we had a four course meal with six different wines. We would do more of that with a bigger kitchen.
This story was written for our partner, Explore Elkin.