cartecay vineyards

Must do if in N Ga! Located in quaint Ellijay. Come here every few months. Music wine and nibbles. Great venue to hang out and enjoy! Happy Trails! The Social Single

Great place to enjoy wine tasting. The server was very nice & helpful. A variety to choose from. We bought a couple to take home. Enjoyable & relaxing! We will be back again.

Not sure how many times we have actually visited the vineyard but all in all, we have never been disappointed. Its quite easy to find and hosts an array of wines to please any palate. We typically plan our trip on a Saturday afternoon so as to take advantage of the music & wonderful outdoor amenities. They offer lite bite trays of app's but many people opt to bring their own snacks (which incidentally is allowed if done in a tasteful fashion). Great place to spend an hour of half a day!

Cartecay tasting room is in an old, renovated barn which is pretty neat. We were greeted in the parking lot by a lovely, friendly red dog. The wines were mostly just okay, and the young ladies running the shop, though friendly, were not particularly well informed. I wouldn't go for the wine, but I would go for something to do to pass some pleasant time.

Cartecay vineyards was the first vineyard in Gilmer Co. Ga.. The success of others here in the North Georgia mountains, the richness of Georgia's red clay soil and the excellent climate for agriculture coulds only mean that other would try as well. Mr. Larry Lykins, owner and operator of Cartecay, took a chance, enlisted his many friends her, including yours truly, to spend a weekend about five years ago, helping him plant 1500 grape vines in two days. We covered several acres on our hands and knees over a wet, cold weekend planting his vines. The result was spectacular. Larry dismantled an old barn, restructured it with modern materials, replaced then facia with the originals and it is now his tasting and sales room. An up stairs space serves as a meeting room for small groups such as the Gilmer Scotch Whisky Society, the Chamber of Commerace and wedding parties. Larry's product has taken hold and he has expanded his acerage to about 15 acres.Cartecay winery does not have a cafe or restaurant, yet, but, once or twice a year he hosts an exclusive catered wild game dinner. He has an out door area with an entertainment stage centered around an old existing pioneer home chimney that is the logo of his enterprise.Cartecay's wine has become an award winner in several catagories and his weekend business suggests the spread of his fame deep into the metropolitian Atlanta area.This is a quaint but first class run operation. A few hours on a summers Saturday or Sunday is hard to beat for relaxiation and pleasure.simply

Great set up! We loved the friendly server, the wines are good, bought a few bottles to take home. Like the patio with live music. An overall great experience.

I have been to many wineries in New Zealand, Europe and the U.S., and have never been to one as substandard as Cartecay Vineyards. To begin, there isn't a tour, and it doesn't appear as if the wine is made on location. Putting this aside, the wine is terrible. The location is pretty and there is a big fireplace outside. Tasting costs $8, and this allows you to taste five different types of wine: we dumped most of the wine out after a few sips despite generous pours. I LOVE dogs, and this winery seems to have two beautiful resident dogs. The only problem is that one of the dogs beg and jumps up on the tables. After moving where we sit from next to the "winery" building to the outdoor fireplace, we noticed that people were just driving up, unloading their cars with their own wine and food and hanging out. One man even had his own I-Pad with a speaker and he provided musical entertainment. This was probably the best part of the trip: hanging out for a little while with my family near the fireplace and hearth on a beautiful day while listening to some nice music provided by a passer-by.

Nice outdoor fireplace from the original house with patio seating. Entertainment some afternoons. Wines are improving.

If you want to sit on the patio and listen to music a Friday or Saturday evening it would be okay, in fact, could be fun. But, going any other time just isn’t worth the trip. All they have is a one room building acting as a tasting room. You pay $8 for your first glass of wine then $5 thereafter (if you go the cheaper wines). You stand around and drink your wine and that’s it. If you get really adventurous you can walk up the hill and look at a bunch of grape vines.Guess I am more into something like the Biltmore House or Chateau Elan. If I want to pay that kind of money for wine, I would prefer sitting in a sidewalk café somewhere.

We visited during the Apple Festival, yet it still was not crowded. For ten dollars you get five generous samples (half a wine glass full!) of the wines and/or hard cider you decide to try after reading their descriptions. They have a covered porch and areas you can walk around while sampling, and an area you can just sit a relax by a fireplace while drinking your wine. The souvenir glass is yours to keep. Their Chimney Red and Chimney Blush were my favorites, so we did buy some bottles, but their is not pressure to do so. We didn't stay for the music, but many people had brought their dogs, a picnic lunch, and a bottle of wine to sit and enjoy on their chimney patio facing the vineyards.

My family lives near Carecay Vineyard. We used to enjoy going to Cartecay Vineyard on Saturday, to buy some wine, and relax listening to music on their patio. Then Cartecay started charging a $5 per person cover charge when music was being played on their patio. We have visited 2 vineyards at Dahlonga, and neither winery charged a cover charge for music at their Vineyards. Today my sister was visiting from Tn, and Cartecay wanted to charge us $5 a person just to sit in their tasting room and another $8 to sample their wine ..That is $13 a person to sample their wine in their tasting room. Their is nothing special about the Cartecay Vineyard tasting room. We felt like this was a rip off to be charged a cover charge of $5 a person just to sit in their tasting room and drink their wine. Maybe their wine is not bringing in enough business. I am really disappointed in Cartecay.Vineyards. If you are a family of 4, you can pay $52 just to sit in their tasting room and sample their wine. We bought a single bottle of wine for $16 to take home, and left, as fast as we could. This is not reasonable. Save your $52 and go have a nice dinner in Ellijay.

I had a great experience here. I went on a Saturday afternoon and they had live music on their patio. I like that you can get your (generous) pour and then walk around the vineyard while doing the tasting instead of having to stay in the tasting room. We had a lovely and relaxing time.

We went to this winery over Labor Day weekend because we were in the area visiting family. The grounds were gorgeous and the barn style tasting room had great ambiance. The wine is good and they even have tastings for hard ciders. The staff is very down to earth and friendly. We went on Sunday but next time we'll try for Saturday because they have live music outside every Saturday from 1-5. The only downside is that the tasting fee is not applied towards a purchase like most of the wineries in Napa and Sonoma.

Self guided walks through the vineyard. Very nice to see the rows of grapes. Sampling was available. I think it was $10 and you got to keep the glass. Nice selection of local wine to purchase. Very nice staff.

I had such a great time in a summer afternoon with my husband at Cartecay Vineyards.While enjoying our wine in the wonderful scenery we get to see red cardinals playing through the vineyards. I bought one of their candles and every time I use it at home the smell of mandarin transports me to the memories of the day we were there. I personally recommend their Cabernet and also their Chimney Red Beaujolais style wine. Will be back in December during our upcoming Winter vacations.