Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Vale, NC (WNN) - In the rolling countryside surrounding the small town of Vale, North Carolina, a vineyard known for their unique wines and large events sits nestled behind fields of muscadine vines. On March 14th, 2026, Woodmill Winery held its annual spring festival. As some may recall, on September 20th last year, the winery had a fire that destroyed their entire wine stock and the main facility. Their stock of 357000 bottles of wine became a complete loss.
Rolling down the long driveway, one thing is immediately apparent. A large cross, charred but still standing, represents not only the owner's faith, but what is quickly becoming the history of this location. Larry Cagle Jr. runs the vineyard and was determined not to let the fire and losses put a damper on the business. Cagle noted that, unfortunately, the cause of the fire was never determined. He hoped to learn how the fire started so he could prevent it from ever happening again.
He recounted that following the fire, the community immediately bought almost all the available stock from local stores. In the interim, they purchased wine from other vineyards and blended it to replicate the taste of their wine. Despite this, when their housemade wine wasn't available in stores, Cagle saw sales dwindle.
“Everyone knew that we didn't have our wine. They went and bought all of our wine off the grocery store shelves.”
This year's spring festival saw the return of two of their 39 blends, with apple and blackberry wines the first to be fully produced in-house since the losses. Knowing that restarting their previous aging process, which had lasted 3 years, would have put the winery out of business, Cagle purchased new equipment. Despite a cold stabilization system being a huge expense, this allowed them to cut their process down to a single year.
Along with the new equipment, Cagle also started rebuilding the pavilion. With the opportunity presenting itself, he decided to go back bigger, increasing the facility's size by 50%. Being handy, Cagle is confident in taking on many of the building tasks himself. He plans to give it a Tuscan-inspired motif, with an indoor concert venue for around 300 people. Notably, the previous structure was mostly wooden, and the new structure has a concrete foundation. For the time being, operations are being performed in the tractor shed and the music building, with Cagle estimating the new construction is about a year and a half from completion.
Cagle noted that much of the community's connection to Woodmill comes from their festivals. This particular festival drew around 2000 participants and featured 65 vendors and 6 food trucks. While many shopped among the vendors, others hovered around the stage featuring live music from artists like Nathan Miller, a talented ukulele player. Being near the stage helped some win one of the many giveaways throughout the day. Prizes ranged in size, with common ones being tickets to the wine tastings, free wine slushies, or bottles in the giveaway. After his WNN interview, Cagle could be found in the tasting area, conversing with many festival attendees.
The winery will be releasing more of its house-made wines going forward, with muscadine and scuppernong among the next to be released. On May 16, 2026, Woodmill will host its next big event with the annual Strawberry Wine Festival. Visitors will have to wait until 2027 for the next batch of Woodmill’s strawberry wine, but Cagle estimates this festival will see at least 4,000 attendees. Woodmill is also currently booking outside events, which can be applied for on their website here. https://woodmillwinery.com/category/events/
However, these public events aren’t the only time Woodmill is open to visitors. It is open weekly, Tuesday through Friday, from 10 AM to 5 PM. Visitors can also stop by on Saturdays from 10 AM to 6 PM and Sundays from 1 PM to 6 PM. Woodmill Winery is located at 1350 Woodmill Winery Lane, Vale, NC 28168, for those who want to stop in and purchase a bottle or visit the vineyard.
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