PEACHLAND — Located in Peachland and found a quarter mile down a gravel road just off the highway, Vineyard at the Old Place opened its doors in Anson County earlier this year, just as the first news of COVID-19 began sprinkling into the U.S.
“Things were just beginning to pick up before COVID-19.” said co-owner Dorrie Evans. “New Year’s Eve was kind of a trial and error run for us. We had a really good turn out for that. The weather was beginning to break and we had a lot of events planned for the month of April and, of course, we had to cancel all those.”
The 227-acre farm that Vineyard at the Old Place sits on has been in Evan’s family for several generations. “I called it ‘the old place’ when I was growing up,” said Evan. “That’s where its name comes from.”
Evans and her brother inherited the farm after their father passed away nearly seven years ago. “My husband, Rodney, and I were wondering what to do with all of this land,” said Evans. “The farm had kind of gotten into bad shape. It had not been taken care of that much. So, we decided to plant some muscadines four years ago.”
In the past, Evans and her husband had enjoyed going to wineries across the state. They were drawn to the wine, relaxed atmosphere, and the opportunity to meet new friends found at these places, so the Evans’ figured they try it themselves.
“We can only grow muscadines, with the climate and soil here,” said Evans. “In the Carolinas, muscadines are the go-to grape that you grow.”
The two kinds of muscadine grapes grown there are Noble and Carlos.
“Southerners tend to like sweet wine a little more,” said Evans. “We’ve seen that our sales of the sweet are higher than the dry. You do have folks that like the dry wine so we offer that. We have four sweets, two semi-dry, and two dry wines. You do have to cater to everyone.”
Out of the eight wines offered at Vineyard at the Old place, three are made with muscadines grown there on the property. One is a red, one is a white, and one is a rose or blend of the two grapes.
The wine at Vineyard is made at Childress Vineyards in Lexington, NC. “We are considered a custom-crush customer of theirs,” said Evans. “We take our muscadines to them. They crush them and use our juice in making our muscadine wine. Our wine is exclusive to Vineyard at the Old Place.”
In addition to the muscadine wine, Vineyard at the Old Place also offers a strawberry wine, a callback to their family history.
“Strawberries used to be grown on the property by my grandparents,” said Evans. “So, we have a strawberry wine for history’s sake. It’s been a big hit.”
Executive Orders declared by Governor Cooper in response to COVID-19 has shut down dining room service at bars and restaurants. To follow these orders, Old Place is offering wine to-go.
“It has hindered the opportunity for folks to come, sit, and have the whole experience,” Evans said. “We cannot do tastings, we can’t serve alcohol on the premises. In that respect, it’s hurt us.”
The months of April and May were going to be filled with events. A family petting zoo day, live music and food trucks, a “sip and paint” class and a catered dinner were all cancelled.
Evans hopes to reschedule these events when the stay-at-home order is lifted.
“We want to offer a getaway, especially on the weekends, for folks after work to come out and enjoy some live music,” Evans said. “So far folks have supported us and we have done OK with to-go sales.”
More than anything, Evans is looking forward to a return to normalcy.
“When things are back to the way they were, you would be welcome to come here, sit, do a tasting, relax on the front porch and have a glass of wine or stroll about the property and check things out,” said Evans. “We are looking forward to having folks come out and enjoy the scenery and relax in the quietness of the country … to make new friends and enjoy the wine. We enjoy the business and hope for sure it grows. We appreciate the support so far from the community.”
