Harvest at Victoria Valley Vineyard

The past two weeks have been hectic, but not too busy to gather the ripe muscadines from the vine in the backyard. Last year the boys didn’t notice them until it was too late and I had already made a batch of jelly, but this year it’s a free-for-all, and my dreams of grape pie have vanished along with the sweet, succulent berries; luckily I’ve managed to pluck a few before they’re all gone...

The harvest season for muscadines runs into early October, similar to that of grapes here in the Northern Hemisphere. While most of the grapes grown in the Upstate are the native muscadine, there is a winery within an easy drive of Greenville that grows mostly French varietals and produces merlots, cabernets, and blends – Victoria Valley Vineyards.

The Jayne family has been growing grapes and making wine in the Upstate since 2004. The founders, Les and Vicki Jayne, moved to South Carolina from wine country in Ontario, Canada some 32 years ago. They invested in eight French varietals of vines, and in the early 2000s discovered a 47-acre property for sale just north of Scenic Highway 11. The majority of the state of South Carolina does not have the elevation and soil structure to grow grapes, but at 1,300ft in elevation, Victoria Valley Vineyards has both; the winery is on the wine trail that stretches into North Carolina’s mountains.

Victoria Valley has a small annual production, with the focus on sales and tastings at their location just east of Table Rock State Park. The cafe and shop is housed in a beautiful chateau overlooking the vineyards and Table Rock Mountain, and a visit should include a stop on their open-air terrace which is dog (and family!) friendly.

For a taste of Victoria Valley, enjoy a wine tasting at the bar; select 5 wines for $8, including a souvenir glass. Or settle in at one of the tables on the terrace and work your way through a ‘tasting tower’ of five wines ($10, also includes a souvenir glass). We ordered appetizers to keep the kids busy while we tasted; a full lunch menu is available until 3pm after which a small plates & desserts menu takes its place.

A tour of the winery can be arranged by calling ahead. We descended into the dark chill of the lower floor where the oak barrels were lined up, the red wines ageing in those, while the whites await in their stainless steel barrels in the next room. The oak barrels might be from Illinois, but the sights and smells of the winery took me right back to the cellars of Bordeaux, and I savored the slight scent of oak before heading back upstairs.

The proximity of Victoria Valley Vineyards to Table Rock and Highway 11 makes it a perfect stop on an exploration of the Upstate this fall. Whether exploring one of the State Parks or the Jocassee Gorges, or admiring the fall color on a ride down Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway 11, plan a breather at Victoria Valley. Buy a bottle of wine to open on the terrace or make a selection to bring home with you, but be sure to keep an eye out for more on their harvest festival, which is coming up in the first weeks of October…

Two years ago the Jayne family terraced and replanted the front vineyard, and for the first time planted a couple of rows of muscadine vines. Victoria Valley might be among the rare wineries in South Carolina with French varietals and Vinifera wines, but now that they’ve been in the Upstate a dozen years, they’re becoming as native as the muscadine... For more on Victoria Valley, visit www.victoriavalleyvineyards.com, their facebook page, and Instagram.