Golden Road sits in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, where warm days and cool foothill nights stretch the growing season. The first vines went in the ground in 2011; today five acres of trellis climb the slope above the tasting room, with two acres under vine. What we don’t grow ourselves comes from Yadkin Valley neighbors.
Owner and winemaker Chad Guebert plants what actually likes it here rather than forcing grapes that would rather be growing somewhere else — and names a few of them after his years as a U.S. Navy submarine officer.
Our most-awarded grape and the backbone of the estate. Flowers and citrus with a little spice behind them, and easy to like on the first sip. It becomes our flagship white, the base for our sparkling Emergency Blow, and the starting point for the whiskey barrel series.
A tough-skinned grape from southern France that doesn’t mind our humidity. Tropical fruit and honey, and rich enough to hold its own against a plate of something spicy.
Our Tannat and Petit Verdot came out when we thinned the vineyard, but the wines they made are still pouring — look for them in the red blends on the menu. Anything we don’t grow on site comes from the Yadkin Valley.
Some of our most distinctive wines are finished in spirit barrels — Traminette rested in Irish whiskey casks (Uisce Beatha), Chardonnay in Ardbeg Scotch (Slàinte Mhath), and red blends in bourbon (Bumping Holler). The result: smoke, peat, caramel, and vanilla folded into the fruit.
Emergency Blow, our first sparkling, is a dry Traminette with the bubbles put in on purpose — green apple and lemon, then something like warm bread. On draft and by the bottle.
From Emergency Blow to the Submarine Challenge Coin, the labels carry Chad’s Navy history — and Crista’s story too: Pacific Rim and Blue Surf are a tribute to her culture and family. Slàinte Mhath and Uisce Beatha nod to the barrels; Lola honors Margie, Crista’s mom. Ask at the bar — there’s a story behind each one.
Vintages and releases rotate through the year — the current pour list lives on the tasting-room menu.
Try them side by side in the tasting room, have bottles shipped to your door, or join Wine Tasting Friends and pick your own four times a year.