Viognier Tasting at Shadow Springs

By Daniel Hoey

Chuck and Jamey Johnson moved to North Carolina after Chuck’s successful business career to plant a vineyard and start a winery.  Jamey refers to this decision as Chuck’s “mid-life crisis” – but they are clearly both passionate about what has become Shadow Springs Vineyard.

Shadow Springs was founded in January 2005 with the purchase of 47 acres of land in the Swan Creek section of the Yadkin Valley AVA; Swan Creek was established as its own AVA in May, 2008.

There are nearly 11 acres of grapevines planted– Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Seyval Blanc and Chambercin.  During our tasting with Chuck and Jamey we thought all the wines were impressive especially considering the youth of the winery, and we thought the Viognier was particularly tasty.

The property is spectacular – the tasting room is large and well appointed, having been designed to accommodate Chuck’s vision of being not just a great place to go for wine-tasting but also something that could accommodate almost any size of gathering.  At over 5,000 square feet, it also has state of the art technology suitable for business meetings and is also used for weddings.

Shadow Springs Vineyard is a great stop on any wine tour of the Yadkin Valley – and when you do stop you’ll likely not want to leave.  There’s something about looking over the water to the vineyards on the beautiful back deck sipping Viognier that made us want not want to get out of our chairs.