Childress Vineyards

Childress Vineyards near Lexington, NC is without a doubt, a Weekend Winer’s Shangra La. It may not be the oldest or largest winemaker in the state, but it is expansive and exquisite. When standing in the middle of its 70-plus acres of vines looking at the main building on the horizon, you’ll swear you’re in the middle of the Napa or Sonoma Valleys. Step inside the impeccable main building, and you’ll swear you’re in Tuscany. Then say hello to the staff greeting you with smiles all around, and you’ll know you’re in the warm embrace of friendly North Carolina. It is a stunner.

The Tuscan style facilities are nothing short of spectacular. They are inviting, spacious and welcoming. This winery is truly a world class operation with a sense of total emersion into an elegant wine making and wine tasting experience. Still, thanks to that North Carolina hospitality, the place offers a relaxing experience that is far from intimidating.

That hospitality carries all the way through the tasting experience. To begin with, the Childress tasting room was named one of the top 25 in the country by Wine Enthusiast magazine in 2008. It is an expansive, beautiful room with plenty of varieties and other merchandise from which to choose. That’s where the intimidation factor may slip in, but it doesn’t. Thanks to the easy manner and impressive expertise of our tasting hostess, we were treated to a relaxing, educational experience.

Our hostess Stephanie, has literally been around the world of winemaking and wine paring for years. She was a great source of information, and it was a real pleasure talking with her.

The varieties of wine available are always changing with the various crops and weather conditions, but the website lists 18. Tasting packages include the glass, and range from $12 for the house wines to $14 for the signature labels. Regardless which tasting package you choose, you also get the bonus of as much information as you would like about the way the grapes were chosen, grown, blended and bottled. It is almost impossible to make an uninformed choice. The whole experience seems designed to make sure that the customer completely comfortable with not only the visit, but the purchases made there.

Fine dining is also on the list of experiences in the Childress main building. The winery website points out that The Bistro’s “Chef David Thomas has developed a menu that features Bistro cuisine with an Italian flair. The Bistro offers daily entree specials and soups, focusing on fresh, organic produce, meats, seafood and homemade pastas. The menu changes seasonally and each week, a Sunday Brunch is served.” The Bistro was not yet open for the day at the time of our visit.

The main building is only part of an entire winery complex designed to satisfy the Weekend Winer’s many needs. The grounds also include a Holiday Inn Express, and a fledgling shopping center all within walking distance.

Tours:
Free tours are offered every day. Monday through Friday at noon, 2:00pm and 4:00pm & Weekends at noon, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm, and 4:00.

Events:
The winery can also be rented for private gatherings like weddings and receptions, dinners, charitable events and private tours and tastings. To learn more about renting facilities, contact Leisure Event and Catering Manager, Courtney Wilkes at 336-236-9463 ext. 313 (cwilkes@childressvineyards.com) or Wedding Coordinator, Amy Parrish at ext. 305 (aparrish@childressvineyards.com)

Getting there:
Finding Childress Vineyards is a snap. From the Triad and the Raleigh area, take I-40 to Winston-Salem to Hwy 52 south. Head for Lexington, and take exit 89 at Hwy 64 west. Make a right, and you’ll see the facilities at the top of the hill.