Smith Mountain Lake Real Estate

Category — savoy-lee winery

“Good Wine Makes for Good Cheer” in Huddleston, VA!

by GO Agency

“I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with



old age, the true old man’s milk and restorative cordial.”

Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush


Poplar Forest, 1811

According to an old Italian proverb, good wine makes for good cheer, and this will be the case November 21st at the first ever Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival. The festival will take place at Poplar Forest, Jefferson’s Virginia retreat. Thomas Jefferson was a big advocate of the benefits of wine. He was pivotal in the import of wines from such countries as Italy and France.

At the festival you can enjoy, food, wine, crafts and live music! You must be 21 years old to enjoy the wine tastings, so be sure and bring your ID! You can enjoy wines from around the region! All of the wineries of the Bedford Wine trail will be there with some of their award winning wines to sample! Some of the wineries in the area, like the Savoy-Lee, actually use both red and white European and French American grapevines. It is these lovingly tended vines that produce the quality wine Virginia is becoming known for.

Located in Huddleston, the Savoy-Lee is a family run winery located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. If you have considered the life of a wine maker, you may want to check out this vineyard that is currently for sale! The beautiful surrounding area includes Smith Mountain Lake, Bedford and Roanoke! This is a turnkey operation that is already producing award winning wines. Many of the wines produced here are lovingly barrel fermented before being moved to the more modern stainless steel vats. This allows the wines to have a complexity that may be missing in some other wines.

You can sample the wines from this and other vineyards along the Bedford wine trail at the Festival. Come for a visit and if you like it then move here!! From wineries to luxury waterfront homes, call Vicki Millehan for all your real estate needs in the Smith Mountain Lake area!

November 6, 2009   Comments Off

Chance of a Lifetime In Smith Mountain Lake

by GO Agency

It isn’t often you have the chance to buy a turnkey working vineyard. This is the chance of a lifetime. The breathtaking Savoy-Lee Winery is available for purchase. This is a great opportunity to embrace a revenue generating lifestyle. Recently, the winery became even a better value when the owner reduced the price. Pressing personal circumstance make the owner willing to sell a lifelong dream at a bargain price.

This winery can be found in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills with 117 acres and a fully stocked 7 acre lake. You can watch over assets from a beautiful 3500 sq. ft home on the property.
The Savoy-Lee has already won awards such as the 2006 Virginia Governor’s Cup Wine Competition where they took the Bronze. Virginia wines have won praise from Bon Apetit magazine and Martha Stewart. The Savoy-Lee produces 1200 cases of wine currently but is set to ramp up to 5000-6000 cases a year. Looking to the future, the current owner have completed the tasting room and everything is laid out to accommodate tourists groups as well as weddings and private parties. So this winery works hard for its owners now and has the potential to be one of the most lucrative area vineyards. The winery is poised for nationwide distribution with creative marketing.

In the vineyard, the growing season is March to October with the harvest and crush taking place in August through October. Savoy-Lee Winery grows both red and white European and French-American hybrid grapevines. They include: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

After the harvest is over and all the bottles are laid in, you can take a rest in the glory of fall in the Blue Ridge Mountains without ever leaving your home! During the winter you can watch the snow fall or relax in the hot tub! This property offers a unique opportunity to an entrepreneur who seeks a lucrative and challenging future in a calm and beautiful environment. Vicki Millehan of Smith Mountain Lake can fill you in on how this winery could be yours before the fall crush.
You can also take a virtual tour here.

July 3, 2009   Comments Off

A Revenue-Generating Opportunity Could be Yours in Virginia Wine Country

by GO Agency

The Savoy-Lee Winery is on the market. Because it produces wine in state-of-the art facilities, it is promoted, in the words of the owner David Wood, as a turnkey operation “for someone looking for a revenue generating lifestyle.” Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on 117 acres, with a fully stocked 7 acre lake and a 3500 sq. ft. house, the winery is currently producing about 1200 cases but was built to support 5000 – 6000 cases per year.
Starting a winery is not an impulse decision, made by an impartial investor looking for a quick profit. Years of study and careful planning precede the first planting. Using digitized maps for grape growing suitability from Virginia Tech, David Woods spent 2 years searching the Eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains for a piece of property that met the requirements for growing grapes. In 2000, he bought the property in Huddleston and for first planting of grapes. Over the course of the next three years, he strategically planted a variety of grape, starting with Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and small quantities of Merlot, Traminette, and Chardonel. Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chambourcin were planted over the next two years.

The growing seasons of 2003 and 2004 were very difficult due to the unusually large amount of rainfall, but in December, 2003, the winery won its first award – a bronze medal for their “homebrew” 2002 Woodstock Merlot. The winery building, to include the rough-in construction of the tasting room, was completed during the summer of 2004. The first crush took place in September, 2004 – right around the time the winery received its winery license from the Federal TTB and from Virginia’s ABC Board. In 2005, Savoy-Lee Winery released their 2004 Chardonnay, 2004 Echo Forest Red, and 2004 Cabernet Franc.

In April, 2006, Bedford County Wine Trail was set to showcase the effort of several Bedford County wineries. This brought tourists to the wineries to taste the wine and spread the word. Savoy-Lee also attended their first wine festival, the James River Wine Festival in Richmond, Va. They won a bronze medal in the 2006 Virginia Governor’s Cup Wine Competition for their 2006 – Johnson Mountain Picnic Series – Red.

By November, 2007, the tasting room in the winery was completed. This beautiful room accommodates wine tastings several times a week and for special occasions and is a great location for wedding and other events.
Wineries usually take about 10 years to make money from their production; Savoy-Lee is nearly at that point. Since it has been making prize winning wine from the beginning, the winery is on course to increase production to meet the growing demand. Sales currently come from the tasting room visits and events, festivals, and internet sales. At this point, the winery does not work through a distributor for commercial sales, but this is the next step.

Due to family reasons, Woods is selling the winery. This property offers a unique opportunity to an entrepreneur who seeks a lucrative and challenging future in a calm and beautiful environment. Vicki Millehan of Smith Mountain Lake can fill you in on how this winery could be yours before the fall crush.

Want to see more information about this property? See the website at www.savoy-lee.com and our previous posting at Savoy-Lee Winery.

May 21, 2009   Comments Off