North Carolina has quietly built a real wine industry, with more than 200 wineries statewide, and Charlotte sits within comfortable driving distance of the best of it. The rolling foothills to the north are home to the Yadkin Valley, the state’s first and most important wine region, and there are wineries dotted closer to the city too.
This guide is about the day trip rather than a single region. It gathers the wineries we would send a first-timer to, from a muscadine treehouse half an hour from Uptown to the estates of the Yadkin Valley, plus where to eat between tastings and where to stay if you make a weekend of it. For the statewide picture, follow the guide link at the end.
Getting There From Charlotte
The main destination is the Yadkin Valley, North Carolina’s first federally recognised wine region, established in 2003 in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. Take Interstate 77 north and you reach the Elkin and Jonesville exits in about an hour and a quarter, with the Dobson and Mount Airy wineries a little beyond. RayLen, near Mocksville off Interstate 40, is the closest valley winery at about an hour, and Raffaldini sits in the Swan Creek hills to the west of Elkin.
For a short outing, TreeHouse Vineyards in Monroe is thirty minutes south-east of the city and a different world, all muscadine and treehouses. Winston-Salem, forty-five minutes from Elkin, also works as an overnight base with more restaurants than the foothill towns.
The valley is spread out, so group wineries that sit close together: Shelton, Stony Knoll and Haze Gray around Dobson make one loop, Elkin Creek, Carolina Heritage and Grassy Creek around Elkin make another, with Jones von Drehle up in the foothills beyond. Three wineries and lunch make a full day. Arrange a designated driver or a car service, and book seated tastings at the larger estates on weekends.
If you would rather leave the driving to someone else, guided Yadkin Valley tours from Charlotte come and go with the season, so check the current wine experiences from Charlotte on Viator before you book a car service.
Our Recommended Wineries Near Charlotte
These are the tastings we would point a first-timer to, starting with the two closest to the city and then working north through the Yadkin Valley from Mocksville to Dobson and the Blue Ridge foothills. Each links through to our full winery guide, and the map plots them all so you can see what sits close together.
Wineries within day-trip range of Charlotte · tap a pin for the winery guide. Map data © OpenStreetMap.
TreeHouse Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: Muscadine Wines and Slushies, Rentable Treehouses, Big Weekend Events
Half an hour south-east of the city in Monroe, TreeHouse is the closest stop on this list and the most Carolinian: the wines are made from muscadine, the sweet native grape of the South, and you can taste them from an actual treehouse in the trees, several of which are rentable for the afternoon. Weekends bring live music and food trucks, so it is more party than pilgrimage, and a good first taste of the state.
Read our full TreeHouse Vineyards guide →RayLen Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: 110 Acres of Vines, Concerts on the Lawn, Dog-Friendly Welcome
RayLen sits just off Interstate 40 near Mocksville, at the southern edge of the Yadkin Valley AVA and about an hour from Charlotte, which makes it the easiest of the valley wineries to reach. The estate runs to 110 acres of Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay and Riesling, the lawn hosts a spring and summer concert series, and Charlotte regulars make the drive for the views and the friendly tasting bar.
Read our full RayLen Vineyards guide →Shelton Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: 90-Acre Estate With a Lake, Winery Restaurant, Trails Through the Vines
Founded in 1999 by brothers Charlie and Ed Shelton, this is the largest family-owned estate winery in North Carolina and the pioneer that put the Yadkin Valley on the map. The grounds are the draw: 90 acres of vines around a lake, walking trails, a large modern tasting room and the Harvest Grill restaurant on site, so you can taste, eat and stay in one place (the Hampton Inn stands at the estate gate). Start here if you only have one day.
Read our full Shelton Vineyards guide →Raffaldini Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: Tuscan-Style Villa, Mountain Views, Dry Italian Varieties
Raffaldini calls itself Chianti in the Carolinas, and the description is fair: a family-owned estate in the Swan Creek sub-appellation making only dry Italian styles, from Sangiovese and Montepulciano to Vermentino, poured at a hilltop villa with views to the Blue Ridge. Tours and seated tastings are well run, a food truck usually covers lunch, and it is the most photographed winery in the valley for good reason.
Read our full Raffaldini Vineyards guide →Jones von Drehle Vineyards & Winery
Why Guests Love It: Blue Ridge Foothill Setting, Tempranillo and French Reds, Summer Concert Venue
Jones von Drehle is a 65-acre family winery on the rising slope of the Blue Ridge north-west of Elkin, founded by two couples who set out in 2007 to grow serious wine in their home state. The reds are the point, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and an unusually good Tempranillo, and the big patio and lawn make it one of the best live-music venues in the foothills.
Read our full Jones von Drehle Vineyards & Winery guide →Grassy Creek Vineyard & Winery
Why Guests Love It: Former Dairy Farm Barn, Estate-Bottled Wines, Dog-Friendly Porch
Grassy Creek farms a former dairy farm near State Road, established in 2003, and pours estate-bottled wines in a barn-style tasting room surrounded by woods and pasture. The family hosts are the reason people return, the lineup runs from dry Cabernet and Syrah to semi-sweet blends, and you can bring your own picnic to eat on the porch.
Read our full Grassy Creek Vineyard & Winery guide →Stony Knoll Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: Century Farm Since 1896, French-Style Chateau, Owner-Led Tastings
Stony Knoll is a North Carolina Century Farm, in the same family since 1896, and the 48-acre estate near historic Rockford village now centres on a two-storey French-style chateau ringed by vines. Tastings are often led by the owner, the reds, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah, are among the best in the valley, and the setting is quiet enough that you may have the place to yourself midweek.
Read our full Stony Knoll Vineyards guide →Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery
Why Guests Love It: First Certified-Organic Winery in the Southeast, Porch Tastings, Live Music
Established in 2005, Carolina Heritage was the first USDA-certified organic vineyard and winery in the Southeast, and it is still a small, hands-on place where the owners pour and the chickens wander past the porch. Twelve acres of organic grapes and blueberries go into a mix of dry reds, fruit wines and a popular white, and there is beer on tap for the non-wine drinkers in the car.
Read our full Carolina Heritage Vineyard & Winery guide →Elkin Creek Vineyard and Winery
Why Guests Love It: Historic Grist-Mill Setting, Wood-Fired Pizza Sundays, Cabins by the Creek
Elkin Creek grows classic French and Italian grapes on a wooded property around a historic grist mill, a few minutes from downtown Elkin, and the creek-side setting is one of the prettiest in the valley. The winery bakes wood-fired pizza on Sundays, which turns a tasting into lunch, and the cabins on the property make it the obvious place to sleep among the vines.
Read our full Elkin Creek Vineyard and Winery guide →Haze Gray Vineyards
Why Guests Love It: Patio With a Fountain, Wines for Every Palate, Hosts Who Remember You
Haze Gray is one of the valley’s newer wineries, planted from 2015 on an 85-acre farm near Dobson by a couple who spent years looking for the right hillside. The patio with its fountain and countryside view is where everyone ends up, the flights and slushies suit a mixed group, and the hosts are consistently singled out in reviews for making people feel at home.
Read our full Haze Gray Vineyards guide →Where to Eat
Elkin and Dobson are the natural lunch stops in the valley, with Mount Airy, the town that inspired Mayberry, just up the road. These are the standouts, all well loved by the travellers who review them.
Southern On Main (Elkin)
Downtown Elkin’s best-loved restaurant, serving upscale Southern cooking, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and good local wine and beer, in a handsome Main Street building. The natural dinner after a day at the Elkin wineries.
The Depot Restaurant at Cody Creek (Dobson)
A country-cooking institution in a rustic setting outside Dobson, with catfish, fried chicken and Southern sides, and the spot locals point visitors toward between the Dobson wineries.
13 Bones (Mount Airy)
A big, friendly steak-and-ribs house on the Andy Griffith Parkway with thousands of loyal reviews; the reliable choice for a group that wants a proper meal after tasting around Dobson and Mount Airy.
Angry Troll Brewing (Elkin)
For the beer drinkers in the car and a relaxed pizza-and-sandwich lunch, this Main Street brewery and taproom is the easygoing option in Elkin, a few minutes from Elkin Creek and Carolina Heritage.
Where to Stay
Charlotte is an easy base for a single day trip. To make a weekend of the Yadkin Valley, stay in Dobson, Elkin or Mount Airy so the wineries are minutes away, or split the difference with a night in Winston-Salem.
Hampton Inn & Suites Dobson
Built at the entrance to Shelton Vineyards, so you can walk to the tasting room and the Harvest Grill and be minutes from Stony Knoll and Haze Gray. Free breakfast, an indoor pool and the best-placed hotel in the valley for a wine weekend.
Check availability on Booking.comFairfield Inn & Suites Elkin Jonesville
A clean, well-run hotel just off Interstate 77 with an indoor pool, hot tub and free breakfast, and the convenient base for the Elkin cluster: Elkin Creek, Carolina Heritage, Grassy Creek and the Swan Creek estates.
Check availability on Booking.comHampton Inn Mount Airy
The top-rated hotel in Mount Airy, with an indoor pool and free breakfast, twenty minutes from the Dobson wineries and handy for a morning in the town that inspired Mayberry.
Check availability on Booking.comThe Cardinal, a Kimpton Hotel (Winston-Salem)
If you would rather sleep in a city, the Kimpton Cardinal occupies Winston-Salem’s Art Deco Reynolds Building, forty-five minutes from Elkin, with a proper restaurant scene on the doorstep and RayLen on the way back to Charlotte.
Check availability on Booking.comWhat to Pack
The Yadkin Valley is warm and humid from late spring into early fall and the wineries are outdoor places, so pack sun protection, comfortable shoes for lawns and vineyard trails, and a light layer for the foothill evenings, which cool off faster than Charlotte. Spring and October, when the Blue Ridge turns, are the prettiest times to go.
Bring water for between tastings, a picnic if you are heading to the wineries that welcome them, and a cooler or insulated bag in the car for the bottles you buy. Several of these wineries are dog-friendly if you are travelling with one; check before you go.
Why Charlotte Is a Wine Lover's City
North Carolina has been growing grapes longer than almost anywhere in America: the muscadine Mother Vine on Roanoke Island is thought to be more than 400 years old, and the sweet native grape still fills tasting rooms like TreeHouse. What changed in the last twenty-five years is the Yadkin Valley, where the Shelton brothers and the families who followed them proved that Cabernet, Sangiovese and Tempranillo could thrive in the Blue Ridge foothills, an hour and a quarter from Uptown.
That is the appeal for a Charlotte wine lover: two very different wine cultures, native and European, both within a day, and neither of them crowded. Pick a cluster, book the tastings you care about, and let the rest of the day unfold on a porch with a view of the mountains.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can you go wine tasting near Charlotte?
The main wine destination near Charlotte is the Yadkin Valley, about an hour and a quarter north in the North Carolina foothills, with estates such as Shelton, Raffaldini and RayLen. Closer to the city, TreeHouse Vineyards in Monroe offers muscadine wines half an hour from Uptown.
How far is the Yadkin Valley from Charlotte?
The Yadkin Valley is roughly an hour to an hour and a half north of Charlotte by car via Interstate 77, making North Carolina’s main wine region an easy day trip from the city.
What wine is North Carolina known for?
North Carolina, and the Yadkin Valley in particular, focuses on European grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Viognier, with Italian varieties at Raffaldini, while wineries elsewhere in the state make sweet wines from the native muscadine grape.
Are there wineries close to Charlotte itself?
Yes. TreeHouse Vineyards in Monroe is about thirty minutes from the city, and RayLen near Mocksville is about an hour, though the largest concentration of wineries is in the Yadkin Valley around Elkin and Dobson.
Do you need reservations for wineries near Charlotte?
Many North Carolina wineries welcome walk-ins, but reservations are recommended on weekends and for seated tastings at the larger estates. It is always worth checking ahead for the places you most want to visit.
Sources and further reading
- North Carolina Wine and Grape Council, the state wine body
- Charlotte's Got A Lot, the official Charlotte visitor authority