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When we opened our doors for sales in July 2005 at MountainRose Vineyards, we had only one sweet white wine.  Sweet MountainRose was a great hit and before long we made Pardee Red which has remained our best-selling wine overall.

The numbers tell a big part of this story both locally and worldwide. Sweet wine is now a $1 billion industry in the U.S., according to Nielsen. It makes up about 13% of total wine sales and grew 8% in 2019.

The pandemic spurred an increase of more than 22% in overall wine sales, and sweet wine sales rose a whopping 40.1%, according to data from NielsenIQ and IRI’s National Consumer Panel.

Sweet wines can often be an entry point for new wine drinkers. One in three new wine consumers start with sweeter wines, according to the National Consumer Panel. But that doesn’t mean more experienced wine lovers should shun sweet.

“The biggest misperception I’ve seen is dismissing wines that have sweetness as not being quality wine,” says Dennis Dunham, director of winemaking at Oliver Winery & Vineyards in Bloomington, Indiana. He says that sweetness is just another attribute of wine, like acidity, tannins or body.

Scott Carney, master sommelier and dean of wine studies at Institute of Culinary Education in New York City says it requires real skill to make high-quality sweet wine. MountainRose Vineyard’s winemaker, David Lawson says, “You must start with the best possible fruit”.

We think we have some of the best semi-sweet and sweet wines anywhere. We have won numerous awards, but don’t just trust the experts. Try them for yourself and see! Stop by anytime and try, before you buy!

Sales include the famous Pardee Red, Concord, Sweet MountainRose, Eagle White and “the most famous of all- Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. No, NO! That’s a Christmas song! Get Mrs. Claus’ favorite, Autumn Gold and other sweet wines on sale this week for Christmas gifts….or for yourself!

Stick to the four L’s!

Light: Most MountainRose Vineyard wines are lower in alcohol which pair better with food. They won’t clobber the more delicate nuances of the meal and will slow down Aunt Barb from getting sloshed — a win-win. Try our Blair White!

Lively: The most food-friendly Thanksgiving wines have enough acidity to cut through the richness of the meal — you need some verve to counter the drippings in the turkey gravy and all that butter in the stuffing recipes and mashed potatoes. A zippy wine will also stand up to the tartness of cranberry sauce. Try Darby Blush or Riesling!

Low to no tannins: Tannins, the mouth-drying compounds found in many red wines, are a great match for a rich steak dinner. But with turkey, stuffing and green beans? Not so much! To avoid tannins, dive into whites, sparkling wines and rosés. For low-tannin reds, seek out easy-drinking wine, such as our Pardee Red!

Little to no oak: Oak is the enemy of the milder flavors in Thanksgiving dinner, like turkey breast, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Oak also contributes tannins (see above). You can drink whatever you like any time of the year but on Turkey Day, try to avoid oak bombs, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Rioja and most California Chardonnays. Reach for all of our wine suggestions instead!

Sparkling Wines are the superheroes we all need on Thanksgiving Day! Crisp and versatile, the best sparkling wines can do it all: be an aperitif on its own; pair with appetizers (especially cheese boards and charcuterie); elevate the turkey and side dishes, like a gooey, decadent mac and cheese; even go with dessert.

Deep frying turkey this year? Sparkling wine is the perfect match. The scrubbing bubble action refreshes the palate and prepares it for the subsequent bites of food. Plus, bubbles are celebratory and what better way to raise a toast to the harvest and blessings from the year? Try Kelliokee or Persephone!

Save 15% on all our Thanksgiving Wine Suggestions this week! 🥂

We are thankful that our crop of 2024 is now in tanks or barrels! We picked 51,451 pounds of grapes despite the drought and the 9.5 inches of rain in the middle of harvest.   We went into the hurricane weather with some of the best fruit ever and most of the grapes held on. We did lose a few grapes, but we had an abundance of several varieties, so the loss was minimal.  Wines tasted from this season have great potential because of high sugar levels and great numbers, despite the weather.

Thanks to all the folks who helped us pick grapes, both staff and volunteers. Thanks to all our great customers and friends who buy our wines and keep us in business!

Cheers to the upcoming season and be sure to get your LOCAL holiday wines at MountainRose Vineyards!

How do we know when it’s time to pick our grapes? The most important day of the year is the day we pick because it determines the kind of wine we’ll make from those grapes.

We start with our senses of sight, touch, smell, and taste. We want our grapes to be rich in color, not green. A ripe grape will crush easily, but not be shriveled. A ripe grape is plump, thickly juicy and smells good. It’s a balance between sweet and tart. We also look for ripe seeds, which are brown.

It’s good to use our senses but it’s also important to measure. We measure sugar content, pH, and acidity level. Grapes are mostly water and sugar that will ferment to make wine. Brix is a term used to measure the sugar content of grapes. Brix is measured in the field with a refractometer.

When we think we are getting close to the desired Brix, we take a hundred berry sample and check it in the lab with a hydrometer. After checking sugar, we check the PH in the lab. You may remember pH from high school science class. It’s a measure of free hydrogen ions. As our grapes ripen and the sugar rises, the pH will usually rise, too.

Grape juice is full of natural acids, which lend important qualities to wine. Every time we measure Brix, we also measure acid levels. In a way, they’re opposites; as the Brix goes up, the acid levels go down. If they go too low, then the wine may be flabby.

Our results should fall within certain ranges for Brix, PH, and acidity. When our grapes get close to those ranges, we go pick a sample.  We sample about 100 grapes from both sides of the vines, high and low, in sunny areas and shaded areas, and pick from different parts of each cluster. We squeeze our juice into a cup and take our measurements. If they are within our desired range, we pick on the next best available day! Finally, the grapes are ready, the day is cool and sunny, and hopefully, you are here. Let’s go pick!

Notice the Concord grapes turning pink and purple in this picture from July 26th. This is an important stage in winegrowing, marking the countdown to harvest called veraison. The size of the berries is now set, and the berries begin to soften and ripen. The time from veraison to harvest varies, but it is about 6 weeks for Concord. We have several other varieties also starting veraison including Seyval and Muscat Ottonel.

What does this mean to you? The harvest and concord grape pick may be early. Also, once the grapes go through veraison, the vineyard is at its most interesting and beautiful time to visit and photograph!

Mid-August through harvest is a great time to visit and taste both grapes and wine! We look forward to seeing you for tastings anytime, but call ahead for the Harvest Tour and Tasting Package!

Celebrate!! Our Wine of the Month for September is Pardee Red! – Save 10% all month long!

Our best-selling sweet red wine, Pardee Red is sure to satisfy!

Served chilled, this delicious red has nice cherry & light grape flavors, is smooth from beginning to end and has a great body and mouthfeel.

Pardee is our most versatile wine, pairing perfectly with almost any food or cheese, including pasta and honey ham.

Don’t forget to call and sign up for our special tasting of Pardee Red Through the Years where we will taste 5 different vintages of Pardee going back 19 years…and it’s FREE!

Cheers to Pardee Red! 🍷

Introducing “The 120 Club”, in celebration of our 20th Anniversary and the 100th Birthday of the Town of Wise!

Customers who complete 10 visits, will be honored with 10% savings on bottles of wine for a year! Stop by for your card today!

We have some of the most loyal customers around and can’t thank you enough for your continuing support of our beautiful vineyards and winery!

Celebrate with us all year long as we plan other great specials and events to commemorate, 20 Years of great food, friends and WINE! Cheers from MountainRose Vineyards!

MountainRose Vineyards is proud to introduce Bear Creek Hard Cider, a modern sparkling cider that tastes like the crisp Virginia apples from which it was made. Our cider is considered a modern cider and is a little softer, more sparkling, and tastes more like apples than traditional “old fashioned” ciders of the past.

Hard cider was all the rage in the 1600s and was brought to America by the Pilgrims. It was the most popular drink in America at one time.  Hard ciders are trending everywhere and locally made craft ciders are seeing the most growth in sales. Wise County, once the second largest apple-producing county in Virginia, is now home to its own cider.

The Lawson Family ancestors have a strong agricultural history including growing apples at the forks of Bear Creek and picking apples for the big orchards in the 1930’s.  MountainRose Vineyards is delighted to share with you, Wise County’s first commercial hard apple cider! Visit us soon and enjoy a new taste of Southwest Virginia!