By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Hope blooms for countys first farm winery
0525wine 1
Matt and Lindsey Vrahiotes are growing an acre of hybrid blackberries, plus blueberries and raspberries nearby. They’re rebuilding their honeybee population after something killed off most of them in 2010, hoping to expand their current six hives back to about 50. - photo by NAT GURLEY
On a 46-acre farm in North Hall County, with much of the pine woods cleared in favor of rolling green pasture, where cattle graze and beehives produce honey, there is a niche industry brewing, growing ripe in the rows of vines and plants lining the country landscape. Here, along Bill Wilson Road in Alto, lies Sweet Acre Farms, the first farm winery in the county. “I bought some land and made a farm,” said owner Matt Vrahiotes.