102 Thistle Meadow

Laurel Springs

North Carolina

28644

 

Tel: 800-233-1505

 

2007 Festivals and Events

Saturday, April 14
10 AM - 6 PM
Blue Ridge Wine Festival
Chetola Resort
Blowing Rock, NC
$20 in advance;
$30 at gate
$12 for minors and designated drivers

Taste Carolina Wine Festival
336-676-1962
contact: Carla McGlynn
Piedmont Triad Farmer’s Market
2914 Sandy Ridge Rd.
Colfax, NC 27235
April 26, 2008
11 a.m. – 6 p.m.


Saturday, April 28
11 AM - 6 PM
Taste Carolina
Wine Festival
Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market
Colfax, NC
$15 in advance;
$20 at gate

Saturday May 5
11 AM - 5 PM
Shine to Wine Festival
Main Street
North Wilkesboro, NC
$15, $20 after April 21st

Salute! The NC Wine Celebration
336-354-1500
contact: Tuker Tharpe
Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership
500 W. Fourth St., Suite 101
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
May 10, 2008
12 p.m.- 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 12
12 AM - 6 PM
Salute! The NC Wine Celebration
Downtown Winston-Salem, NC
$15 in advance; $20 at gate

North Carolina Wine Festival WSJS-WMFR
336-733-5825
contact: Julie McMinn
875 West Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Tanglewood
May 31, 2008
12 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, June 9
12:00 AM -6:30 PM
7th Annual NC Wine Festival
Tanglewood Park
Winston-Salem, NC
$20 in advance, $25 at gate
Free Parking

Sunday Oct 7
Noon - until...
10th Annual Wine Tasting sponsored by grapestompers.com
Burgiss Barn
Laurel Springs, NC
$5.00

Oct 27
11 AM - 6:00 PM
Oct 28
12 - 5:30 PM
Carolina BalloonFest
Regional Airport
Statesville, NC

$5 for Festival;
$15 for Wine tasting;
Free Parking

Ask any vintner how he or she got started in the winemaking business, and you're likely to hear them wax philosophic about the traditions of winemaking and a genuine love and appreciation for the wine. While that's true for us too, it's only part of the story...

We probably shouldn't admit this, but one of the major reasons we started Thistle Meadow Winery was to stop folks from complaining. Please allow us a moment to explain...

We had been operating a successful winemaking supply store for home winemakers for about 5 years. We were careful to select only the best products and grape juice to sell to our customers. The result was a lot of good wine and satisfied customers. Invariably, folks would stop by our shop, take a look around and sample some of the wines. While we weren't a winery, we felt it was important for customers to see what the final product tasted like. After all, it's difficult to decide which wine kit to purchase if you couldn't see which one you liked!

All of the folks who visited us in Laurel Springs, NC loved the wine we made, and it seemed they fell into two camps: winemakers who were ready to purchase a wine kit, or wine lovers who didn't want to make their own wine but wanted to buy a case of ours!

And, since we weren't a bonded winery at that time, we couldn't sell the finished product - only the raw materials to make wine. That made some folks irritated, and they would complain, saying, "Well, why don't you OPEN A WINERY so we can buy this stuff?".

Needless to say, we learned our lesson. We're now a bonded winery... and the rest (as they say), is history.