North Carolina Wine Country: Shelton Vineyards

Springtime at Shelton Vineyards

In early April, returning from a Florida vacation, my wife and I were travelling north on I-77 through North Carolina when we happened upon the Shelton Vineyards.


Early afternoon found us passing exit 93 with signs indicating the Harvest Grill at Shelton Vineyards. Since we had eaten the day before at fast-food places, we were determined to avoid them on this day, and the Harvest Grill seemed to be what we were looking for. After mistakenly driving into the village of Dobson, we backtracked and found the Harvest Grill located within the Shelton Vineyards.


The Grill provided a perfect interlude to our day of travelling. We were greeted in the lobby by Mr. Ed Shelton, and shown to a table on the patio overlooking the finely manicured grape vines. Exhibiting an abundance of Southern hospitality, our waitress was very attentive to our needs without  being smothering.


Chef Paul Lange's  menu is a "delicious mixing of the urbane and rural high-end comfort food." For lunch, I enjoyed a buffalo burger with bacon and bleu cheese, accompanied by a garden salad with Harvest Grill Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette dressing. My wife was delighted by a tomato Parmesan bisque along with the same salad. Both of our lunches were excellent and were attractively served.


Since we had four more hours of driving ahead of us, we chose tea and coffee rather wine from the vineyard, but we did purchased two wines to take with us  - a Madison Lee Red and a Shelton Shiraz. We served the Madison Lee Red at a dinner party recently and all guests wanted to know where to purchase it. Fortunately, thanks to changes in Ohio law, Shelton  Vineyards is able to ship it's award-winning wines to our homes.


Shelton Vineyards are located in the heart of the Yadkin River Valley which features six other vineyards between Dobson in the north and  extending toward Charlotte in the south. Apparently, the unique soil and climate result in the significant characteristics of Shelton wines, and are ideal for "growing European varietals such as Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Viognier and Riesling." The vineyard currently grows 11 different varieties of grapes.


An interesting tidbit I learned at the Shelton Vineyards: rosebushes are planted among the vines, not for their beauty, but because they are extremely sensitive to disease and insects and begin to show symptoms sooner than the grape vines. As the Sheltons say, "A rosebush is a canary in a coal mine." 


My recommendation: if traveling north or south along I-77 in North Carolina, Shelton Vineyards (c. 3 miles from exit 93 on I-77)  and the Harvest Grill will provide a pleasant respite from interstate highways and fast food restaurants.