Round Peak Vineyards owners Kari Heerdt and Ken Gulaian.
Journey to the
N.C. WINE COUNTRY Round Peak Vineyard Owners Ken Gulaian & Kari Heerdt
W
hen Cornelius resident Ken Gulaian found himself in North Carolina without a job, he started looking online for companies to buy. Round Peak Vineyards in Surry County appeared on the list. After a visit to the vineyard with his wife, Kari Heerdt, they were sold on the wine, the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the vineyard’s rolling hills. In late 2008, the couple became the new owners of Round Peak Vineyards. “This was not exactly a planned 10 LimitlessMagOnline.com | April 2021
BY » Vanessa Infanzon
venture,” Gulaian, 58, says. “We didn’t know at the time that there was wine being made in North Carolina. We knew nothing about making wine, growing grapes. We just liked wine.” Gulaian worked with the long-time staff at Round Peak to run the 12acre vineyard. He took night classes at the Shelton-Badgett NC Center for Viticulture and Enology in Surry Community College’s to learn about the wine-making industry and how to grow grapes. “It’s one of the top-rated wine programs on the East Coast,” he says.
An estate winery
Round Peak grows 10 grape varietals including Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Tannat. The vineyard specializes in French and Italian style dry red wines, traditionally aged in French barrels. One hundred percent of the grapes in the wines are from Round Peak’s vineyards, making it an estate winery. Visitors to the vineyard have access to a tasting room, a covered outdoor seating area, set up for social distancing, and an open lawn.
Photo courtesy of Ken Gulaian.
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