...is the land the vineyard accepts. This old Italian adage reigns true on Raffaldini property. The more the vines struggle to grow - the better the wine.

In early 2001, Jay Raffaldini purchased an abandoned farm in Ronda, North Carolina. This farm was rocky, unbalanced and mostly unwanted land that was passed over - however he discovered exactly what he was looking for to begin the Italian wine making journey.

Against the 32 acre backdrop vines, Raffaldini opened their first tasting room in the Fall of 2005. A glorified manufactured house endearingly called the "Fattoria" known as Farm House in Italian. This special space was designed to host up to thirty guests at a time.

Within two months of opening, the Fattoria was quickly overrun with visitors and it was a wild success. 

A range of Italian varietals were planted, harvested, and bottled in the early years to determine what grew best in the area.

Raffaldini embarked on a major construction program building out both their own winery in 2007 and the grandiose Villa in 2008 to accommodate the growth of the vineyard. Raffaldini began welcoming tens of thousands of people annually to the estate.

The beautiful Tuscan style Villa is home to the tasting room and private event spaces. It transports you directly to the Italian countryside as you sip, swirl, and savor.

After a decade of growing grapes in North Carolina, Jay Raffaldini aspired to make bolder, richer, and heavier wines. Upon a visit to Veneto, Italy he witnessed the methodology behind the famous red wine called Amarone.

He learned precisely how winemakers dry grapes before pressing by using the Appassimento process.

Now Raffaldini is the top practitioner of the Appassimento drying process in the United States and continues to dry more fruit than any vineyard in the country.

Raffaldini has been honored with countless awards for their dedication to bold varietals and traditional Italian winemaking methods.

The vineyard produces some of the highest rated red wines made in the entire East Coast, some routinely rated higher than their benchmark peers in Italy.

Today the estate sees over 30,000 visitors annually with 72,000 bottles of wine produced each year.