A family tradition becomes Alleghany County's only winery By ROBBY LUCKE Staff A family tradition became "a small hobby that got carried away" for Larry Ehlers. It turned into a career change and helped lead him and his wife Linda to the Sparta area. As a result, the recent growth of the winery/vineyard business in North Carolina has reached Alleghany County. The couple bought the Reeves Ridge property last October and relocated their business, Chateau Laurinda, there in February. They held a grand opening last month and plan to open a bed and breakfast near the winery later this year.

Linda and Larry Ehlers pause for a photo at Chateau Laurinda's exhibition area, located in the winery's basement. Visitors can observe the natural fermentation process at work there.

The Ehlers are putting down roots here in more ways than one. In addition to going from a sideline to a vocation, and making the moves from other areas of western North Carolina, they have effected another important transition in their wine-making: While they used to import their grapes from California, now they use only Tarheel-grown fruit, and they foresee growing most of their fruit here themselves fairly soon.

Linda and Larry Ehlers have been married 35 years. They relocated to North Carolina in 1985 from Lakewood, N.J. "We were tired of New Jersey and the rat race, and we came here," said Larry Ehlers.

At first after the move south, however, he stayed in the same line of work, construction, working for Shoffner Industries of Burlington. Meanwhile, he made wine like his forebears. "Four generations of my family have produced wine as hobbyists, some more serious about it than others," Ehlers said. "I think I'm the only one with not enough good sense to stay out of it (as a career)," he added with a grin.

The couple began Chateau Laurinda ("Laurinda" is a combination of the couple's first names — Lawrence and Linda) in China Grove in 1997. The business expanded and moved to Spencer in 1998.

"We didn't know what to expect, we kind of backed into it," he explained.
 
 

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