Brushy Mountain Winery is what happens when a geologist who loves wine has a “Shazam” moment. Matthew Mayberry spent his career traveling around the world enjoying some of the world’s greatest wines. As Matthew explains, “he got to know the wines from the very top”.

For many years, he was just content to enjoy the wine, but his familiarity with the Elkin area and his business acumen eventually led him to a business developing vineyard properties.

The more he worked with the winemakers the more he began to see winemaking as the future of Yadkin Valley. He is very proud that his expertise in geology and the area helped Yadkin Valley get the AVA appellation.

After reaching the conclusion that wine was the future of Elkin, he enrolled in the viticulture program at Surry Community College. Next thing you know, Brushy Mountain is making excellent wine with as Matthew says “those little touches that say quality”.

This includes using local fruits and employing Jason Wiseman as winemaker. Jason has 17 years experience including working in the Napa Valley.

History is important to the Mayberrys. Their winery, located in downtown Elkin, is housed in the building that was once home to the Elkin Canning Company. Ann Mayberry‘s  grandfather started the company in the late 1800s. The Elkin Canning Company’s primary business was canning blackberries.

Along with history, family is important to the Mayberry’s; their son does the artwork for the bottles. Therefore, it no surprise that they based the label for their Blackberry wine on the label from the blackberries canned by Elkin Canning.

Brushy Mountain has an impressive array of fruit wines Blackberry, Raspberry and Boysenberry. They also have great wine names like Booger Swamp Red and Bugaboo Creek.

The Mayberry’s love to name their wines after famous characters or stories from the area.  For instance, the story behind the Bugaboo Red includes a ghostly apparition and their #1 seller Booger Swamp is named for the Booger Man (aka Boogey Man). While the Booger man is a traditional story parents use to scare children, the wine is anything but scary. It is a red blend with hints of boysenberry, raisin and a sweet finish.

Matthew is toying with the idea of using the story of Elkin Alleghany Railroad for the basis of the name of their next wine.

While Matthew can’t play favorites with his wines, he does recommend basing your wine on the food you are serving. For example, seafood and light pasta pair well with Appalachian Spring, a light fruity wine. In fact, Matthew feels that Appalachian Spring pairs well with pretty much anything.

He is also very proud of Red Bud Ridge, which won double gold medals at the State Fair and won a bronze medal against tough competition from west coast wines. Bottled last year it has a lot of character and it gets better and better with age.

Brushy Mountain plans to produce about 75 cases of Chatham Reserve a premium red, in the upcoming year. The tentative release for this wine is January 16th. If you can’t join them then how about Valentine’s day? The winery will host a Valentine’s event on the 13th and in March Brushy Mountain will host a spring forward event and celebrate the release of their Chardonnay.