RayLen Wine Tasting

By Daniel Hoey

RayLen Vineyards was established in 1999 when Joe and Joyce Neely, inspired by a trip to Italy, acquired a 100 acre property in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina.  It had been a working dairy farm for nearly a century, and at the time they acquired the property only four other wineries existed in the Yadkin Valley.

The Neelys recruited Steve Shepard, the winemaker with the longest experience in the Valley, who had been working as the winemaker at Westbend Vineyards for the previous decade.  They planted 35,000 European varietal vines over 40 acres of vines.  In its first three vintages, RayLen won over 200 medals at statewide, regional and international competitions, and has been recognized by Wine Spectator magazine as one of the premier wineries in the Southeast.

We visited RayLen on a sunny August day and were immediately struck as we drove onto the property by the beautiful rolling vineyards.  The tasting room is beautifully appointed, the grounds are immaculate.  We had a fascinating and fun wine-tasting with Steve both in the tasting room and on the second floor deck overlooking the vineyards – Steve is not only an award-winning winemaker, he is particularly articulate and passionate about RayLen wines.  We also met the sales and marketing director, Karyn Howard, who told us about all of the special events held on the grounds.

It’s clear that RayLen is a star – excellent wines (there are 16 different wines on their list including several outstanding Bordeaux blends), beautiful vista, good people and a can’t-miss stop during a visit to the Yadkin Valley.