Linville Falls Winery Hauls Home Three Golds & More at State Fair Wine Competition

By Jesse Wood

Fall in Wine Country – I mean High Country – means at least two things for the local vineyards and wineries: grape crushing/pressing and medals from the state fair and regional competitions.

As usual, Linville Falls Winery hauled in several medals this autumn.

Linda Wiseman of the Linville Falls Winery said that the vineyard and winery in Newland sent in three wines and won four medals at the 2015 N.C. State Fair Wine Competition hosted by the N.C. Wine and Grape Council.

This month, Linville Falls Winery won three gold medals for its Riesling, blueberry and cherry wines. In addition, Wiseman said that Linville Falls Winery is “very proud” of taking home Best of Category in fruit wine for its blueberry wine.

Linville Falls Winery and its winning wines will be on display in the Education Building throughout the fair, which takes place Oct. 15 to 25 in Raleigh. For more information about the fair, click here. 

In a release about the fair announcing the winners, organizers of the wine competition noted that North Carolina is home to nearly 160 wineries and 525 commercial grape growers. The state is also ranked 11th nationally in wine production.

Linville Falls Winery is among the local wineries and vineyards – the High Country Wine Growers Association – that joined forces to petition the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for the High Country to become an American Viticultural Area (AVA). When the petition was announced by local wine growers and producers, Jack Wiseman, owner of Linville Falls Winery, said, “Oh man, I think it’s going to be something else. This will tell the rest of the world where the wine was grown and where the wine was produced.”

Currently, the petition is still in the review process, which extensive and takes considerable time to complete. You can read more about this petition here.

As for more about Linville Falls Winery, click here. Linville Falls Winery is located at 9557 Linville Falls Highway in Newland and can be reached by calling 828-765-1400.