Mary Ann & Brian Guinn

Mary Ann and Brian Guinn like to travel and have eight weeks of timeshares, but they choose to live in Greensboro because of its central location between the mountains and the beach.  In recent years their weekend excursions have been devoted to visiting North Carolina’s 120 plus wineries, most of them near the Triad.  Mary Ann has been asked to share her experiences with North Carolina wineries in a regular column for The Retirement Resource Guide.

Brian and I do not have to travel very far to find a weekend activity, since the Carolinas really are the “Playground of the South.” However, when we discovered that North Carolina has more than 120 wineries, we’ve made it our personal challenge to visit all of them. The only problem is that the number of vineyards keeps growing, but we have decided we’re up for the task. We have begun with wineries in the Piedmont area of North Carolina.


Stonefield Cellars Winery in Stokesdale, NC

Stonefield Cellars Winery in Stokesdale, just north of Greensboro, is one of the closest wineries and also one of our favorites! Stonefield Cellars is a small vineyard and winery with spacious grounds and a lovely tasting room, which has a large tasting bar and tables set up for private tastings. 

Wine Maker Robert Wurtz in
Stonefield Cellars’ vineyard

Robert Wurz is the Wine Maker, and his wife, Natalie, is Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing. Natalie did a wonderful job selecting artwork and decorating the tasting room. Natalie and Robert have become friends, and it is always great to see them.

We have enjoyed many of Stonefield Cellars’ events, like their Valentine’s Sweetheart Wine and Chocolate Pairing, the Easter Egg Hunt, the Sippin’ and Readin’ Book Club, and the Holiday Open House. Stonefield Cellars’ annual Harvest Festival with a Grape Stomp is not to be missed.


Brian Guinn and Nicolas Kroll give the grapes a good stomping during the Harvest Festival
at Stonefield Cellars. Nico won the compettition with his fast footwork!

We recently attended Stonefield Cellars’ “Friday Flavors”, a weekly Summer Concert Series, featuring local and regional talent, like Tyler Barham and John Griffin who put on a great show of contemporary country songs. We arrived around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, August 1, so that we would have time to get wine and food before the music started.

Due to rain, the event was held in the Barrel Room, where their fermenting barrels are stored. Some of the barrels had been moved to make room for musicians and the crowd. The Barrel Room was decorated with linen-covered tables and chairs, with candles on all the tables, a lovely setting for an intimate concert with the wine barrels in the background.


A scene from Friday Flavors, the vineyard’s weekly Summer Concert Series

Stonefield Cellars grows its own grapes for the production of a variety of reds and whites. I’m partial to the sweeter whites, while Brian prefers the dry reds. We began the evening with a wine tasting. Brian purchased the Dread Pirate Robert’s Bloody Red, named after the Wine Maker, and I chose a semi-sweet “BellaSelena”, named for their two daughters. During the concert, wine service was provided at the tables. The Wright Up Ur Galley Food Truck offered delicious grilled paninis and pita sandwiches, perfect for a summer evening.

We enjoyed Tyler Barham and John Griffin very much! Tyler is a rising country star from Montana, and John is from the Triad area. Although they currently live in Nashville, they have played at Stonefield Cellars before, as well as for other local venues. We had a chance to talk to the musicians and purchased one of Tyler’s CDs. We hated to see the evening end, but there’s always next weekend and more winery events!


John Griffin and Tyler Barham perform for “Friday Flavors”

If you’d like to learn more about Stonefield Cellars and their upcoming events, visit their website at www.stonefieldcellars.com.

Photos courtesy Natalie Wurz

The Heart of NC Wine Country

The Yadkin Valley, located in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, is considered “The Heart of North Carolina Wine Country”. Our goal is to visit all 36 wineries in this area. We have been to 34 of the 36 (two opened recently). We prefer the smaller wineries, like Stonefield Cellars, because we meet the owners and have a more personal experience. Ultimately, we plan to visit all 120 wineries in the state, and I look forward to reviewing them in this column.

For More Information

A good source of information and an interactive map can be found at www.ncwine.org/wineries. The wineries often have events that are advertised on their websites or Facebook page, or you can get on their mailing lists to stay up-to-date on upcoming events. 

Many of the wineries belong to wine trails, which sponsor events for a group of four or five wineries. The website www.visitncwinecountry.com/nc-wine-trails/ has a list of wine trails throughout the state.

Winery Articles:

Wine Trails in North Carolina