The biggest winery in the 12-county northwest North Carolina region is Shelton Vineyards at 286 Cabernet Lane in Dobson, which between September 2006 and September 2007 produced 421 tons of grapes and 30,000 cases of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and other award-winning wines, according to The Business Journal. The winery is owned by brothers Charlie and Ed Shelton. Murphy Moore is the winemaker.

Old North State Winery, 208 N. Main in Mount Airy, ties for fifth largest with production of 5,000 cases. The winery is owned by Tom Webb and his partners. Ben Webb is the winemaker.

Ranked 13th is Round Peak Vineyards at 765 Round Peak Church Road in Mount Airy. The winery produced 2,100 cases of chardonnay, Niagara and special blends such as Fiddler’s Red. Janet and Lee Martin and Susan and George Little own the vineyard and winery. Sean McRitchie is the winemaker, according to The Business Journal.

Black Wolf Vineyards, 283 Vineyard Lane in Dobson, is the 15th largest operation on the list published Nov. 16. Dana Theis is the owner; Anne Holcombe the winermaker.

All four wineries offer tours and tastings (check their web sites for hours and prices). Three have restaurants on the premises: Harvest Grill at Shelton Vineyards, Scuppernongs at Old North State and Black Wolf Restaurant at Black Wolf Vineyards.

“The Yadkin Valley is like a treasure hunt,” Kim Myers of Laurel Gray Vineyards told Southern Living writer Annette Thompson. “Each winery is as distinct as its owner’s tastes.”

Thompson’s article continues, “Fog settles over the sleepy river valley in early morning, creating a striking November scene. The last few clusters of bruised purple grapes cling to vines, a treat for the birds more than the winemakers. Sound like France or California? Think again. This is North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, home to some of the South’s finest vines and most creative winemakers….

“Some reside in plush châteaus with dozens of employees, while others are so small you meet the proprietors at the tastings. Welcoming first-timers and sophisticates alike, all the stops are hospitable.”

The featured wineries, along with some of their recommended wines, include Grassy Creek and Elkin Creek vineyards in Elkin and Shelton Vineyards in Dobson.

The Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2003. The Yadkin Valley AVA in northwestern North Carolina encompasses an area of approximately 1.4 million acres. It includes all of Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties and parts of Davie, Davidson, Forsyth and Stokes counties.

The hall of fame recognizes men and women who have made a significant contribution to North Carolina’s economic development.

The Shelton brothers grew up in Mount Airy, N.C., across the street from the school they both attended from first grade through high school. Their father was a barber and their mother came from a farming family. The boys spent summers working on their grandfather’s tobacco farm.

Charlie, five years older than Ed, used money intended for his college education to build his first house when he was 18. After graduating from high school and one year at Lees-McRae College, Ed joined his brother in the homebuilding business. They borrowed $2,000 from their father to establish Fortis Homes in 1962 in Winston-Salem. In 1978, they started Shelco Inc. as a commercial development and construction company. They moved Shelco’s corporate headquarters to Charlotte in 1991. In 2003, the brothers sold the company to their management group.

In 1994, Charlie bought an old Surry County dairy farm at auction. The brothers gradually added nearby land until they had a total of 384 acres. The idea of creating a winery came to Charlie in 1998. Shelton Vineyards Inc. has become an award-winning winery. It produced about 28,000 cases of wine last year and also has become a major tourist attraction in the Yadkin Valley Viticultural Area.

The brothers’ newest venture is development of Shelton Village at Dobson, a mixed-use project on Interstate 77.

Inductees to the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame are recommended by a committee from North Carolina Chamber (formerly the North Carolina Citizens for Business & Industry). Honorees must be either retired from their business or at least 70 years old at the time of selection.

Criteria for inclusion in the NC Business Hall of Fame includes:
1) recognized by his or her organization and/or profession as having made significant contribution to its success;
2) served as a role model for others in business;
3) positively influenced the growth of subordinates; and
4) demonstrated a continuity of achievements, contrasted to a one-time effort.

Laureates also are recognized for their outstanding community contributions.

Laureates are inducted in November at the annual hall of fame dinner, the premiere business event in the state.

“Warm weather in March followed by a freeze on Easter weekend had many growers wondering whether the grape crop would be successful, said Terry Garwood, an agricultural extension agent for the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Surry County,” Boone-Wood writes, “but the drought brought hot, dry weather that concentrated sugars in the grapes.”

Harvesting began earlier than originally expected because heat and drought made grapes ripen sooner.

At Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, harvest is about three weeks ahead of schedule, said George Denka, the company’s president.

Ben Webb, the general manager and winemaker at Old North State Winery in Mount Airy, said that the season has been good, although some of the white grapes, such as chardonnay, were lost early on, “but we have plenty of whites that came in wonderful.”

“The consumer needs to remember 2007 as a great year in the vineyard because they will be able to get some really good values on wines,” Kim Myers, the president of the N.C. Winegrowers Association, told Boone-Wood.

The “Surry Cellars” wines were poured at wine festivals for the first time this year. The viticulture program this fall will market seven 2006 wines to retail outlets including local supermarkets. Developing and running the marketing campaign will be part of the students’ course work.

Growing grapes, making wine and selling it are all essential components of the viticulture degree program that has about 70 students taking classes either on campus or online.

Gill Giese, who heads up the viticulture component of the program, told the Surry Messenger that having to put a wine on the market forces students to focus hard on their studies and better prepare for entry into the industry. “There’s a lot more on the line when the public starts buying and consuming your product,” he said. “Students have to commit to making the sale.”

Tickets cost $25.

The vineyard and winery at 286 Cabernet Lane, just off Twin Oaks Road, will be open for tours and tastings from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The cost is $5 per person.

Call (336) 366-4724, visit Shelton Vineyards’ web site or e-mail sales@sheltonvineyards.com for tickets and more information.

Shelton Vineyards’ next major event will be its Harvest Festival Oct. 14-15.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., entertainment will be provided by “White Light,” “Mama Said,” “Amber Gypsies,” and “Gigi Dover and The Big Love” as well as crafts people, a magician and juggler. “Brenda Morie and Turner Battle” will perform at 7 p.m. in The Wolf’s Lair restaurant.

There will be wine, keg beer, soft drinks and “interesting” foods.

Camping is permitted Friday and Saturday night by the Fisher River below the winery (the cost is $30 per couple).

Tickets for Saturday cost $15. All ticket holders 21 and older receive free wine glasses. There will be free T-shirts for the first 500 people.

For more info, visit www.blackwolfvineyards.com, e-mail the vineyard at wolfslair@surry.net or call (336) 374-2532.

Shelton Vineyards and Black Wolf Vineyards are near Dobson and Raffaldini and Grassy Creek are near Elkin; all are within the Yadkin Valley American Viticulture Area (AVA).

Three other Yadkin Valley AVA wineries, McRitchie Winery & Ciderworks just west of Surry County in Thurmond and Flint Hill Winery and Westbend Vineyards in Yadkin County, also won silver or bronze medals.

“Out of entries from over 100 wineries in 13 states, the … winning wines are an example of the rising quality and national recognition of the wines being produced in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina,” said Gordon Murchie, president of the Vinifera Wine Growers Association.

The third annual Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition invited all eastern wineries producing grape wines — including Native American, French hybrid, and Vinifera — to submit entries. About 450 wines came from 102 wineries in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The college is planning a $7.5-million viticulture and enology center that would provide training, advise growers and winemakers, conduct research and host conferences.

An additional $500,000 was appropriated in the N.C. Department of Commerce budget for the N.C. Wine and Grape Council to promote viticulture and advance the viticulture industry.

North Carolina has 61 wineries according to one recent count (10 more are on track to open within the next 12 months). Many are in the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area that includes Surry County. The state also has nearly 440 vineyards with more than 1,350 acres of vines. Those operations employ more than 5,600 people. Source: N.C. Commerce Department