Thistle Meadow Winery

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.

North Carolina, United States

102 Thistle Meadow,