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Will the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina become as well-known as the Napa Valley in California?
Don't laugh. A lot of people in the area believe that if you build wineries and vineyards in the area, the tourists will come. And one of those people happens to be Richard Childress, president of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises in Welcome. The NASCAR team owner, along with business partner Greg Johns of Greensboro, plans to develop a 70-acre tract at the intersection of Highways 64 West and 52, just west of Lexington, for an approximately 25,000-square-foot winery, a hotel, restaurant and gift shop, leaving about 25 acres of the total for a vineyard.
"I know a lot of people would say, `Why grow grapes in North Carolina?"' Childress said in his Welcome office Monday afternoon. "But before Prohibition, North Carolina was one of the top grape-growing states in the nation." North Carolina already has 25 wineries and 224 vineyards that produce more than 500,000 gallons of wine annually, according to the North Carolina Grape Council. Nationwide, North Carolina is ranked 12th in wine production and 15th in grape production and acreage. "I just think it's an exciting business, and an exciting time to be in the wine business," Childress said. Just last month, the Yadkin Valley became the first region in North Carolina to receive the federal American Viticultural Area designation, which will make the region's wines more easily identifiable to consumers and provide a boost to the state's burgeoning wine industry.
The designation - which means the area has the right soil, climate, topography and sun exposure for growing wine grapes - becomes official Feb. 7 and covers 1.4 million acres of land in the Yadkin Valley, which includes all of Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties and parts of Davidson (the northwest quarter), Davie, Stokes and Forsyth counties.
There are already six bonded wineries in the Yadkin Valley AVA, including Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, the largest and the one that filed the request for the designation, RayLen Vineyards in Mocksville, Westbend Vineyards in Lewisville, Hanover Park Vineyard in Yadkinville, Rag Apple Lassie Vineyards in Boonville and Windy Gap Vineyards in Ronda. "I'd put Shelton, RayLen and Westbend wines up against some grown in the Napa Valley," Childress said. "We're really excited about it. I can envision, one day, people taking a tour of the Yadkin Valley wine trail. I'd like to see 25 wineries throughout the Yadkin Valley."
What Childress envisions in Lexington is a state-of-the-art winery that has regular wine tastings for tourists, maybe a cheese shop or deli, and a gift shop that sells a variety of wine accessories, such as glasses. He said he and Johns are negotiating with hotel chains and restaurants for those developments on part of the property closest to the highway interchange. Also, he said they have discussed a small amphitheater for concerts and a special events building for parties and weddings, as well as walking trails through the property.
"We've got a lot of things on the drawing board," he said. "But it could make a real economic impact on the community. It will bring some jobs and should boost tourism. ... If we're going to do it, we're going to do it right. It's going to be a place Davidson County can be proud of."
Childress said the initial investment in the complex should be from $6 to $8 million and could be up to $10 million with expansions. He said he didn't have a specific number in terms of jobs that would be created, but said the winery alone would likely employ at least 20 people initially. At this point, he said, it would be hard to calculate how many people a hotel, restaurant, gift shop and other services might employ, not to mention other businesses that would gain from an increase in tourism.
Childress said construction on the winery could begin this year but grapes will not be planted until April of this year. In addition to the 25 acres at the winery site, he said he is having 30 acres of eight varieties of grapes planted on the property where he lives off Hampton Road in the northwestern section of the county. Johns is planting about 10 acres of grapes on property he owns in Summerfield, just north of Greensboro.
"We'll be buying grapes from other vineyards, too," Childress said. While it will likely be the spring of 2004 before the winery opens, Childress noted, "I've been known to get on that fast track before." If the winery is ready before the grapes are, he said, they can buy from other vineyards to get started and probably will have to anyway as the winery business grows.
Childress Vineyards wine will likely sell for between $12 and $30 a bottle, he said. "It has to be something I'd enjoy myself," he said. "If you make a quality product, then the return business will do well. And if we're going to put our name on it, it's going to be quality."
Childress acknowledged that it might seem ironic that someone from the world of NASCAR, where the stereotypical fan is a beer-drinking "good ole boy," would be interested in the wine business, but he noted that more people are drinking wine socially and less hard liquor. In addition, many race fans are women, who tend to drink wine. He also noted the rise of large wine superstore chains such as Total Wine, which recently opened stores in Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
"That tells you about the growth of the market," he said. Childress said he is already in the tourism business through his RCR Museum and Gift Shop in Welcome, which is undergoing a major expansion and will open this spring. The new complex includes a major section devoted to the late Dale Earnhardt's career, including the display of more than 30 No. 3 race cars.
Childress said the current museum draws close to 50,000 visitors a year now, and he expects that number to at least triple when the new one opens. He also anticipates having a shuttle run between the museum and the winery. "I want it to be a place where people have fun," he said of the winery. He said he and Johns and their wives have visited wineries in California and New York before or after NASCAR races and always enjoyed the experience.
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