Asheville lies at the heart of western North Carolina’s fabled wine country. Few places anywhere are more beautiful, and there is likely no other area east of the Mississippi that produces such an astounding range of high-quality wine.
Whether for international travelers or visitors from elsewhere in the country, Asheville has become a favorite destination of people who love wine. The best Asheville Wine Tours go far beyond the basics to ensure unforgettable experiences for all.
Many Reasons to Make Asheville the Focus of a Wine-Centered Vacation
Popular awareness as to the breadth, depth, and excellence of North Carolina’s wine production has been growing steadily for many years. Americans who truly love wine increasingly recognize that North Carolina is one of the country’s most outstanding producers.
That has given rise to plenty of interest in heading to North Carolina to experience the local industry in person. As far as how grapes fare and develop when grown are concerned, North Carolina’s varied terrain gives rise to five distinct wine-producing regions.
Each of these has its merits and strengths, and all are very much worth visiting. Most experts, though, see the mountainous western reaches of North Carolina as the true heartland of the state’s production.
That makes Asheville a natural point of focus for visitors who hope to enjoy plenty of wine tastings. A small, charming city that attracts many tourists for other reasons, Asheville makes for the perfect headquarters from which to experience western North Carolina’s wine.
Leading Wine Tour Providers are ready to Impress Their Guests
As a result, many wine tours that focus on this part of North Carolina begin and end in Asheville itself. The nation’s single most frequently visited winery lies within city limits and is very much worth seeing.
Using Asheville as a base will also make it easy to visit many of the region’s most notable wineries and vineyards in a single day. Tour providers that focus on this part of the state sometimes even have relationships that allow them to arrange private tastings for their customers.
Some of the wineries in the Asheville area that most often receive glowing reviews from visitors are:
- Biltmore Estate. Although it does not have an attached vineyard, the Biltmore Estate has been one of North Carolina’s most famous wineries for many years. A beautiful property in its own right, Biltmore has been renovated and furnished to accommodate wine-loving guests as graciously as possible. Its tasting room is always well stocked with wines that cover a great deal of ground between them.
- Addison Farms. A brief drive northwest of Asheville takes wine fans to the famed Addison Farms vineyard. The glorious terrain in the area encapsulates the character that has made western North Carolina a favorite of nature lovers for decades. Addison Farms affords breathtaking views of the mountains whose slopes help keep conditions perfect for growing wine grapes.
Destinations like these are only the beginning for fans of wine who visit western North Carolina. Most find that Asheville makes for the perfect staging ground for many wine-related experiences and adventures to follow.