You start to get a feel for the care, precision and nice touches that go into Shelton Vineyards as soon as you come upon the winery. From generally non-descript Twin Oaks Road near Dobson, N.C., your first view provides strong hints of Napa Valley: a gated entryway that opens onto a long, undulating drive flanked by vines, leading to a distinctive structure on the far hill.

Just onto the road, there’s a road sign: “Slow, Grapes Growing,” it admonishes gently, as if you haven’t already slowed to enjoy the view. Then you notice that at the end of each row of vines is a rose bush. Not just a pretty ornamentation, it turns out, but also “our canaries,” according to Shelton President George Denka.

“Roses are susceptible to many of the same diseases as grapevines,” he says, and so our 320 rose bushes can give us early warnings if there’s a problem.”

Also at each row is a granite marker to note the variety of the grapes and the year they went into the ground.

It’s hard to believe, given the reputation and awards that have come the way of Shelton Vineyards, that the very first vines went in only in 1998 and the winery opened in just 2000.

The awards include state, regional, national and international recognition for several wines, with the 2000 North Carolina Chardonnay, the 2000 Georgia Blackstock Vineyards Viognier and the 2000 North Carolina Merlot earning the most notice.

“Our goal was high-quality wine in a hurry,” says Denka. “We sought out top individuals in all realms – from growing and wine-making to sales – it’s a talented team.”

Denka, whose 30-year career in wines includes stints as a judge, steward and educator, points to the founder/owners of Shelton as the key to the fast start and the ongoing commitment to excellence.

Brothers Ed and Charles Shelton grew up in nearby Mt. Airy (the town that inspired the fictional TV town of Mayberry, where Sheriff Andy Taylor held forth), made their fortune in commercial construction, and developed a goal of giving area farmers a crop alternative to tobacco and also help the non-farming community of the area by building visitation.

“Their father was a barber in Mt. Airy,” Denka says of the Shelton brothers noting that it was not Floyd’s Barber Shop. “They have strong ties to the region.”

Part of that dedication took the form of hard work to obtain an American Viticultural Area designation for the region of Northwest North Carolina where Shelton is located. That designation, granted in February 2003, is the Yadkin Valley AVA, the first and only North Carolina AVA.

The success of the Shelton brothers’ idea to create a new industry for their home region is evident in the short history of the Yadkin Valley AVA: At its beginning, the region (a 1.4 million-acre area including all of Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties, and parts of Stokes, Davie, Davidson and Forsyth counties), was home to six wineries. Today there are 11, and there are expected to be 20 wineries in operation by 2005.

Shelton, the signature winery of the AVA, also has a location and terroir that is emblematic of the growing area, which is comparable to the Burgundy area of France in its wine-growing character.

“The climate here is very similar,” says Denka, “with warm days, cool nights, a relatively constant wind and not too much rainfall.”

Shelton’s vines are at about 1,250 feet above sea level, and grow in a well-drained sand/clay soil flecked with mica from the mountains. The 180- to 190-day growing season is “perfect,” according to Denka.

The primary divergence from the Burgundy similarity is humidity, and Shelton works to overcome the North Carolina stickiness with careful hand-harvesting of its grapes.

The proof of the hard work and good conditions at Shelton is of course in the product. And it is here that the meticulousness that is apparent in the vineyard takes several more steps toward total precision. The “best-practice” approach in the fields includes using a cinnamon spray (rather than pesticides), the use of recycled automobiles for line posts, and the placing of vines with an extra three feet of spacing between rows of vines (to create more airflow).

Inside, as you walk through the barrel room and the bottling area, you hear several words again and again, including “sterile,” “vacuum” and “no oxidation.”

Pair those conditions with Shelton’s dedication to the taste of the fruit over manipulation of the juice, and you have an inkling of the taste of the wines.

“We work to showcase what Mother Nature gives us,” is the way George Denka puts it. “We strive for an elegant, clean approach in all our wines.”

The dedication to quality led Shelton to a hard decision that came out of the unusually rainy summer of 2003.

“The lack of sun brought us to the decision not to bottle any 2003 red wines,” says Denka. “It was a costly decision, but it was made out of a commitment not to tarnish our reputation.”

At the other end of things, Shelton is now presenting wines with the “Estate-Bottled” label, indicating that 100 percent of the fruit is from the winery. (Several of Shelton’s early vintages were brought from Georgia.)

George Denka’s graciousness as a tour guide takes a noticeable uptick when you reach the point of tastes of the Shelton product. His knowledge and enthusiasm for wines become even more keenly evident. He talks about the seven different yeasts in the chardonnay and the combination of the yeast choices and the varied oak barrels yielding “the wine-maker’s spice rack” toward building a layered flavor to the wines.

More tastes, more descriptions from Denka:
The 2003 Riesling (a gold-medal winner): “It’s Germanic, with a crisp acidity and a clean, apple finish.”

The Cabernet Sauvignon: “The Shelton reds are soft and approachable. We’re not after ‘tannic monsters,’ so these wines do very well in blind tastings.”

The 2002 reds: “These are our best wines to date. The drought did good work in stressing the vines, which brings an extra taste to the fruit.”

On the broader view, Denka says he thinks the ultimate signature wine of the Yadkin AVA may well be Merlot.

“Many people think it may be Viognier, but I think the Viogniers may not end up as consistent as the Merlots, long-term,” he says.

At Shelton, Merlot does seem to have taken the driver’s seat. The 2001 bottling has won double gold and gold in several state and regional competitions.

--Kurt Rheinheimer