Stone Ashe Vineyard Celebrates NC through Wine
By Meg Hale Brunton
The name Stone Ashe Vineyard comes from the ashe soil series that encompasses the land that the vineyard is built on. Co-owner Tina Little clarifies that the soil is a ‘sandy loam with subsurface rock.’ She and her husband Craig found the property in 2013, cleared it, and planted their grape vines in 2016. In July 2020, they opened the tasting room and began sharing their wines with the world. “This is an entirely North Carolina product,” she says of their wines. “We want to showcase a beautiful North Carolina wine made from a site that we care about and respect, so that we get the best and most balanced fruit each year.”
The Littles come from a background in the dental industry, but both have always loved wine and food pairings. In fact, it was a shared love of wine with friends that encouraged them to pursue this next step after dentistry. Wanting to advance an initial hobby of wine and its many regions, Craig enrolled in enology and viticulture classes at UC-Davis and Washington State University. Once he completed his certifications, the couple got to work building their business.
Stone Ashe offers a wide variety of styles of wine, including: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Petit Verdot, and Little’s personal favorite, the Sauvignon Blanc. All the grapes for Stone Ashe’s Bordeaux-style wines are grown, harvested, and processed on the property, a feat that Little says was achieved through unwavering perseverance. “We’re just being really true to growing everything here and keeping it on the property. It’s something we’re committed to seeing through - having this production facility here and claiming our estate-grown status,” she says. Little explains that the dramatically-sloping terrain of the vineyard property is key to growing a well-balanced and flavorful grape. She says the drainage caused by the slope prevents the vines from becoming too vigorous and overgrown due to excess water and moisture. “Grape vines like to struggle. We want to keep water away from the root zone, so that all the energy goes into the grape rather than into the leaves.”
According to Little, the team also challenges themselves to tailor their winemaking techniques to make the best-tasting wine based on the unpredictable WNC weather. “As far as the fruit goes, every year is going to have its own personality and it’s going to present just a little different,” she explains. “Our vintage variation each year is a good thing. That’s something that we really enjoy and are proud of - that we use our fruit to make the best wine each year. It can be challenging, but it’s also very rewarding.”
Another aspect of the winemaking process that Little takes pride in is their pledge to keep viticulture practices hands-on and mechanized. “We prune, shoot-thin, leaf-remove, shoot-tuck, and harvest all by hand. We farm by biodynamic principles,” she says, stating that they use no additives within the vineyard. “You can harvest the fruits any time that you want. We let the fruit stay on the vine as long as we can (checking the acids and the sugar that are occurring naturally in the grapes), so that we’re able to take advantage of that and use that for our winemaking process.”
Stone Ashe also boasts a wine club, in which members not only get access to special events, such as dinners and educational classes, but also get to sample small-batch wines made especially for them. Little says she takes particular delight in the paired dinners. “As we’ve started this venture, we really enjoy pairing wines with food. That was our goal, to foster that. It’s amazing what wines can do for food, and vice versa,” she finds, adding that she hopes to put together a collection of recipes to go with their wines. “We’re not looking to create a bar atmosphere. We want our wine to be enjoyed and celebrated with friends and family over food. That’s the culture that we want to cultivate.” Stone Ashe even has a partnership with Molly Cook at Marble & Steel Craft Chocolates, who creates truffles to go perfectly with their wine flavors. In addition to paired dinners and wine courses, the 21+ vineyard hosts regular music events, and is available for small group gatherings and elopements.
As co-owner, Little says she serves all roles from supervisor to janitor and bottle washer. Though undaunted by a little hard work, Little says that being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 made her reprioritize. “It’s kind of amazing, the way your mindset changes when that happens and you have to go through treatment. Life is just a little more chill. Life is good and everything’s gonna be okay. There’s a plan. That’s kind of how I came into it,” Little says of her outlook on the business, adding that she was relieved when her doctor said she could still drink three glasses of wine per week. Little continues that she hopes to start taking on more of a hostess-role in the near future. “I want to be the owner that comes in on the weekend and dotes on everybody.”
“It’s all about family,” Little says of the vineyard. She loves getting to work side-by-side with her family, and likes the idea that she and her husband are building a business that can be passed down to their children. As a Hendersonville native, Little also takes special pride in the fact that she and her husband have created something truly authentic to the area. Even their logo, a merlot leaf, is designed with different shades of green to represent all the colors of the native plants growing on the mountain range, visible from the farm. The leaf is streaked with veins that symbolize the natural springs that run along the Hendersonville property.
The Littles were also excited to have been selected as #1 Best New Winery by USA Today Readers Choice for Top 10 Best New Wineries in the Country. “Each day is a new set of challenges. We constantly have to pivot,” Little acknowledges. “We are working towards making a product each year that can shine a spotlight on NC as a flourishing grape-growing region, and that is something we take tremendous pride in.”
For more information on Stone Ashe Vineyard, visit their website: https://www.stoneashevineyards.com/
