Old Barn Winery and Vineyards — Attraction in North Carolina

The bride and I took our two Irish Red and White Setters. We called the day before to inquire about dogs on leashes. It's a 90-minute drive to this place well up into the mountains. What a treat part of the route was to use the Blue Ridge Parkway! We arrived at 12:50 pm Saturday 07/23/2022. We got a parking spot right out front. Unloaded the dogs and found a table for four on the well-manicured lawn with an umbrella. The winery property rests in a valley with wonderful views of Christmas Tree Farmland and mountainous terrain. This winery is relatively new, and the tasting building reflects this. It's open, spacious, and highly appointed with post and beam construction elements.

We purchased two flights, one white and one red. The first flight was white. There is no wait-staff service (at least on this visit anyway)

The white wine flight featured a Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, a Viognier, and a Reisling. The pinot Grigio upfront was lightly floral. The taste upfront was crisp, with citrus and grass with a bit of mineral. The finish was very acidic and crisp. 2.5 of 5 for the style. The Sauvignon Blanc was a big improvement in terms of style and was very well balanced. A pleasing nose and a detectable difference from the front end to the back end. Pleasant and easy drinker. 3.5 of 5. The Viognier was very, very good. Not many here on the east coast would be familiar with this wine. Some folks out west call it the "red wine drinkers white wine. " It was a 4 of 5. Well balanced, one can taste the musty, earthy qualities of it right up front and finishes with a tinger of dried fruits and minerals. We liked it so much that we purchased some to take home. The last of the whites was a Riesling. If you are a fan of Chateau St. Michelle, this is for you. It's a sweet one with a nice balance between sweetness and acidity. 3.5 of 5 on the Riesling.

The reds weren't as good as the whites, I'm afraid. We started with a Cab Franc. Very nice nose. Velvety mouth feel up front with notes of dried plumb and currant. The back end was a melange of peppercorns and maybe a subtle curry note. No, there is no curry in it. Of the reds in my opinion, this was the est by far. 4 of 5. It's worth it if you're a Cab Franc fan. Then two, I assume blends were offered. Rays Red and Railroad Red as they were branded. Nothing especially going on here other than the Railroad Red is dryer than the Rays Red, and both would be good choices as red table wines. 2.75 of 5. The Syrah was a touch disappointing. If this were a beer, I'd suspect it of being infected with a very small amount of diacetyl. The mouthfeel made for a fuzzy tongue. There was also a bit of a "plastic" taste from the bride's perspective. Generally, Syrah is a "thinner" grape and makes for a thinner presence overall. This held true here.

The owner of the place, Mr. Sexton, visited the table twice. He explained they grow nothing here and "import" juice from all over. He also explained he is an amateur and knows next to nothing about the technical side of the wine-making process. To this end, he hired a young and upcoming UC Davis graduate. He convinced the young man to move from CA to NC. The view into the fermentation room revealed new stainless steel fermenters. Very clean room, too, as sanitation is so important in winemaking.

We enjoyed the Old Barn and plan to make many trips back over time. The Viognier is clearly the standout and the Cab Franc a close second. There is something here for everyone, including soft drinks, a Chase County Cheese refrigerator case, and a food truck, and three piece band playing. It made for a relaxing, inviting, and enjoyable Saturday afternoon outing. The dogs liked...

This will start off seeming random to Old Barn Winery, but stick with me! I was stuck on Beech Mountain with no power due to Hurricane Helene this weekend. I went up from Charlotte on Thursday to have my bachelorette and was going to have my wedding on Saturday (Sept 28, 2024) in Banner Elk. My groom was down the mountain, having his bachelor party. Long story short - I didn't get to my groom until Sunday, in West Jefferson and we decided to try to have a short ceremony with the 5 people who were with us at an overlook the following day. We woke up and got ready for our day, not really knowing how it would turn out. Of course, the overlook road was closed due to the storm and we all pulled into Old Barn Winery to talk about a new plan. I saw that it was open and ran inside with my wedding dress on, to see if we could do it there and they were gracious enough to let us, due to the circumstances. The workers there took photos and, though it was with only 5 people (the attendance was supposed to be around 70 for the original wedding), even though it was 2 days late, even though we lost thousands spent on a wedding that didn't happen due to the hurricane, our wedding day was absolutely beautiful because of Old Barn Winery and Vineyards. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This is one we will never forget and always be grateful for.

We went in and celebrated with wine flights afterwards and those were great! My husband and I got sweet flights and the sangria...

We go to this winery every year for our family vacation (9 adults with a new addition this year). However, this year we decided to go for a whole evening due to the insanely nice weather. Fun fact: not every person drinks wine. This winery doesn’t offer anything (besides water) for those that don’t drink wine and wine byproducts (like sangria). We were so graciously kicked out of the winery due to bringing outside drinks (literally a total of 3 for two adults over the course of 3 hours) after we enjoyed the winery and spent a grand total over +$1000 as a group. My point is: 1) how do you expect families and groups to stay longer than an hour with nothing but wine and water (don’t give me the dry county excuse as I lived in a dry NC county and that was never the case) and 2) how can you excuse kicking a group out after 3 hours and spending +$1000 when you’ve “been watching the all day”. Absolutely not. ✌🏼*but thanks for the compliment on how cute my child is - May want to provide an actual changing table instead of a nasty worn down dresser, if you love...