Yadkin County Economic Development Director Bobby Todd said vineyards in Hamptonville, Boonville, East Bend and Yadkinville will aid the tourism draw the county is pursuing.
"It drives traveling tourism," Todd said. "Ten years ago, Yadkin County was not a destination. People didn't come to tour tobacco fields."
He said the increase in wineries and exposure, including a spread in November's Southern Living magazine, have pushed the county into the forefront of North Carolina's wine tourism.
"We're reaching a critical mass where folks will make it a destination," he said.
He said the county's proximity to vineyards in Forsyth, Surry and Wilkes counties means it needs more restaurants, lodging and self-promotion. "Visitors don't care what county they are in," Todd said. "We're missing a golden opportunity if we get folks leaving to find a place to stay and eat."
He said the county has made progress and the "infrastructure is starting to catch up." The county and town of Yadkinville are discussing a tourism development authority designed to get visitors to come and spend money in the county, he said.
"It's developing," Todd said of amenities, adding that in the past two years, four bed and breakfast locations and cottages have started business.
Vineyards are also now offering the "white-table-cloth dining," Todd said, is needed. Flint Hill Vineyards has opened Century Kitchen, and wineries expecting to open before 2009 will have restaurants.
Todd said the county needs to educate its residents more on where wineries are located and what they offer. He said the county has always been known for "having smiles," but now it needs to have more information for tourists.
"We continually struggle with ways to get that done," he said.
Neil Shore, owner of Shore Family Vineyards in Boonville, decided to make the transition from tobacco to grapes full-time in 2005. Shore had farmed tobacco for more than 40 years.
His winery and restaurant, featuring organic foods from his business Sanders Ridge Farms, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008. In 2000, Shore began working on the 150 acres where his 15-acre vineyard is located. "It was a time when tobacco was winding down and grain was winding down," Shore said. "I didn't feel I could offer my kids anything in tobacco, grain and cattle."
Shore decided a move to grapes and an eventual winery was the best way to keep the family farm active and still in the family.
Todd said a lot of new wineries are built on family farms where soil is ripe for grapes. "It's keeping the land in agricultural," Todd said, adding that a lot of the money will stay with the farmers and the county.
Both Todd and Shore agree that a cultured wine industry will only drive land values higher for potential sellers. But Todd said he doesn't see the farm lands of Yadkin County being development for residential use right away.
For now, he's focused on tourism and getting the county ready to accommodate the predicted demand.
He said lodging and food business that offer an experience will be more successful than small stores selling Yadkin gifts.
"The wine industry hasn't positioned itself for souvenir shops and trinkets," he said. "It's not appropriate.
"As a rule, wine visitors have a higher disposable income. They want an experience, a nicer place to eat at and a nicer place to lay their heads."
New wineries scheduled to be in production by 2009 are:
*Shadow Springs, Hamptonville
*Shore Family Vineyards, Boonville
*Dobbins Creek, Hamptonville
*Divine Llama, East Bend
*Brandon Hill's, Yadkinville
*Allison Oaks, Yadkinville
*Cellar 4201, East Bend
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