Sanctuary Vineyards

The free wine tasting was not run very efficiently or nice and friendly by the owner, who was short staffed and interrupted himself every time new people came in. There was too much volume for him to control and so our tasting dragged on and on. He then interrupted it half way through to give the tour, at which point we left. I can only imagine a tour hosted by this grump. You get what you pay for. There wasn’t any wine that I would want to buy.

We planned day of OBX Wine Tasting, curious about North Carolina wines. Sadly, two of the vineyards we planned to visit on Knotts Island had closed! So sad! We shook off our disappointment and headed Sanctuary Vineyards.
We were the first to arrive and so had the luxury of enjoying a tasting with Elton before any other guests arrived. He let us sample the Cab Franc grapes fresh from the harvest, then let us take an impromptu tour of the «back of the house» where harvested grapes were being put though the de-​stemmer. It was an interesting and unexpected treat!
Our tasting consisted of 10 wines, 4 whites, 3 reds and 3 sweet wines. Now, come on, dude, don’t judge! The sweet wines if you give them a chance can produce quite an surprising wine note.
We each picked a glass of our favorite wine (me, Traingle; my husband, Shipwreck) and took it outside to sit on the lovely porch of the tasting room. We choose a bottle to take home to have with our seafood dinner, the Wild Pony — — a combination of NC Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. PLUS very excited that proceeds of the sale of that wine benefit the Corolla Wild Horse Fund! I love that.
When we went to pay, SURPRISE, tastings are FREE? What? That is unbelievable! Thank you, Sanctuary!
Lovely tasting room, friendly service, delightful wines and very reasonable priced.

Great, free wine tastings. 12 wines to sample. Got a lot of tips about local restaurants to try and a lot of info about wines and history. This is my second time and it never disappoints.

What a great date day this place gave us.
The free wine tasting is not too good to be true! And make no mistake the tasting list is generous. You get two pages of The Grape to meander through. It is balanced with about ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ in terms of the dry to sweet ratio.
Here is a heads up to you tempus fugit type people. Don’t come unless you have the time. You have a two page list of wine to sample, relax and enjoy or at least excuse yourself gracefully.

An exemplary place to come across! Elton and John are both extremely knowledgable of not only their wines but also the surrounding areas. Gave awesome recommendations of what to pair their wine with and where to go to find the best seafood of local restaurants. A very «home-​y» place and who can argue with FREE wine tastings?!

Love the free wine tasting! The gentlemen that served us was great about giving us tips and local hangouts to eat at and was making small talk which was great too! (We were the only ones in there at the time). The wines varied but there is something for everyone! Can’t wait to come back again and visit with friends/​family :)

FREE WINE TASTING!!! That’s five stars automaticly. Got greated as soon as I walked in the front door. The wines were decent for the muscadine variety with the reds being good to excellent. There were out of the some one of my favorates (The Wright Brothers) but then had some new ones (Double Barrell). Customer service was excellent. I would recommend to stop by on the way to and from the Outer Banks to try some North Carolina wines.
NOTES:
Free wine tasting with 10 wines on tasting sheet and she let me try two more that were not.
Limited winery tours — I think they were on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m.
WINES OF NOTE:
Costal Collage 2013 Reserve (Dry Red)
Shipwreck 2012 (Dry Red — I believe this is there award wining wine)
Double Barrell (Dry Red — this is a new one)
Aglianico 2013 Reserve (Dry Red)
The Plank (Sweet Red)
OBX Ice (Ice Style Sweet White)
If you like the muscadine grape then this is a place you need to check out.
Inexpensive to Moderate Price.

Relaxing. Free wine samples but not that packed here now. Tonight they have a music event from 18:00-. You can bring your own dinner. They have tons of wine for sure. Some bands are coming.
Well, about wine, most of wines taste not that matured and rich but fresh and graplicious;)
A young lady staff is nice.

Sanctuary is a great place for a wedding & reception! They have such great people working there, ask for John or Elton and they will do everything they can to make it a great day for whatever the occasion! The have a wonderful selection of wines to serve or will serve yours if need be…

Love love love!!! All of their wines are absolutely do-​able. The ambiance was a perfect mixer of dark and seductive with warm and comfortable. Loving the male tender with glasses, extremely knowledgable. Visit this place!!!

Love the wines. Free wine tasting of 7 – 8 different types of wine. Elton is awesome and will tell you all the great places to eat in the obx. Definitely would go back to buy another half case of wine. :) wild pony white is one of my faves for a white wine. However, Morton and shipwreck are definitely awesome reds to try.

Very nice, open tasting room and a wide selection of wines. My favorites are the Wild Pony White (dry white), Wright Brothers Reserve (red), & Sweet Serenity (sweet muscadine).
Elton was friendly & welcoming to my husband & I, and our two children. Pours are generous. The red wines are generally lighter than my husband & I prefer but the variety means there will probably be something you’ll enjoy.
I definitely recommend stopping by & trying Sanctuary Vineyards.

Great wines, great atmosphere, great staff. Stop in and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The complexity and craftsmanship of the wines improve every season. My favorites are Wright Bros Reserve and Shipwreck.
Contrary to a previous review, this place is kid friendly. My wife and I frequently stop in with small kids and always feel comfortable. Plenty of room for everyone to spread out.
A must stop on your way to or from the outer banks. Or if you live nearby, attend a festival!

Wine was really good. Staff is friendly and very knowledgeable of the different grapes and blends that go into there wines. They grow over 9 different varieties of grape on site and offer a free tour on Wed at 1pm and free tastings.
Great stop on the way to or from the Outer Banks.

Delicious wine, very knowledgeable staff, and a free wine tasting.
Did I mention they pour heavy and the wine is delicious. Huge selection of both red and white. Favorites are the Plank and Shipwreck! Plan on taking your time and spend an hour +. You won’t be sorry!!!

The people there are even better than the wines. Very knowledgable and freindly staff. Take the time to ask questions to find out what you like and make suggestions based on that. Glad to let you try there varietals to see what fits your pallet.

Sanctuary Vineyards is one of my favorites! A great place to hang out with friends over a bottle of wine. Love tasting the new ones too! Favorites are: Sweet Serenity, Life’s a Peach (excellent summertime wine or anytime you want the taste of summer captured in a bottle!), the Blueberry and Blackberry dessert wines are scrumptious, too!
Sanctuary Vineyards is always hosting great events throughout the year, it’s worth the drive and the stop whenever you’re in the area. I highly recommend it!

Went to Sanctuary back in October on the way home from the beach. I found the facility to be nice, a cool, modern, open feeling in the tasting room. My boyfriend and I were the only customers in the place. The tasting room attendant was very nice and hospitable but the 2 star rating pertains to the taste of the wines. I really disliked just about all of them. I’m not sure if it is the coastal area where the grapes are grown or the wine making style or both that turns me off about the wines but they have a long way to go in my opinion. In general I’m not a Viognier fan, but I found Sanctuary’s Vio to be especially unpallatable. I will return again next time we go down to the Outer Banks and give it another try.

It was 5:58pm, pouring rain, and we had a couple minutes before all the wineries were closing. Once I realized we weren’t going to make it, I stopped urging my husband to floor it and realized we would just have to make it out to Sanctuary Vineyards another time. We went there anyway, just to confirm they were closed, and the closed sign was up… but the owner saw us and motioned for me to come in anyway. I thought that was very hospitable and was glad I would be able to check the box.
It was empty inside but a very cool, open layout with approximately 10 – 12 different wines to taste. The owner allowed me to taste whatever I wanted and offered generous pours. They really have a wide range of drys and sweets, my particular favorites being the Whalehead White and Wild Pony White, buying a bottle of each for $ 15/​pop.
All in all, I found this to be one of the better wineries in NC because they don’t offer only sweet/​fruit ones but have a wide range to appeal to many crowds. Hope to return on my next trip to the OBX!