Nassau Valley Vineyards
31818 Carneros Ave, Lewes, DE
Lewes, DE
Delaware's very first winery, planted in the sandy soil just inland from the beaches, where a family fought to change state law so they could pour their own wine.
Nassau Valley Vineyards holds a real place in Delaware history: it was the first winery in the state, and it exists only because the family behind it went to the legislature to make winemaking legal. In the late 1980s Peggy Raley set out to plant a vineyard here, and discovered that Delaware's laws, a legacy of the Prohibition era, effectively made a farm winery impossible. So she helped write and push through a new farm-winery law before a single bottle could be sold.
The winery opened in the early 1990s in the sandy farm country just inland from the beaches, and it remains a family operation. Alongside the tasting room is a small, thoughtful museum on the history and craft of winemaking, so a visit is both a tasting and a lesson. It makes an easy, unhurried inland stop for anyone spending time in the Cape Region.
What Guests Love
- Tasting Delaware's original winery's bottles in a relaxed, unpretentious tasting room
- A self-guided walk through the small winemaking museum that explains how wine is made
- The story of the family who had to change state law to open the doors
- An easy, low-key inland stop between beach days, surrounded by vines and quiet farmland
Worth Knowing
- This was Delaware's first winery, and the family led the effort to pass the farm-winery law that made it possible
- The tasting room and small museum are open to visitors; tastings are for those of legal drinking age
- It is a short, easy detour from the beaches, a good change of pace from sand and boardwalk
- Hours and event offerings shift with the season, busiest in the warm months when the beach crowds arrive
Details
Lewes, DE
Learn about Nassau Valley Vineyards
Changing the law to make wine
When Peggy Raley decided to open a winery in Delaware, she ran straight into the state's old alcohol laws. Rules dating to the years after Prohibition had never made room for a small farm winery to grow grapes and sell its own wine directly to visitors. Without a change in the law, there could be no Delaware winery at all.
Rather than give up, the family worked to draft and pass a farm-winery act that opened the door for wineries across the state. It was a genuine act of pioneering, the legal groundwork that any later Delaware winery would build on. When Nassau Valley finally opened, it was not just a new business but the beginning of a whole small industry that had not existed before.
Growing grapes near the coast
Southern Delaware's coastal plain is flat and sandy, warmed by the nearby ocean and bay, a climate that suits certain grape varieties well. The vineyard works with the conditions of this Atlantic country, where humidity and weather off the sea shape what grows best, and produces a range of wines from its own fruit and other sources.
The setting is unpretentious farm country, rows of vines running out toward the tree lines, a world away in feel from the boardwalks a few miles east. It is the kind of place where the winemaking is the point, not a manicured resort experience, and that plainspoken quality is part of its charm.
The tasting room and the little museum
Inside, the tasting room is easygoing and welcoming, a place to sample the winery's bottles and talk with the people who made them. There is none of the hush of a grand estate here; it is a family business, and it feels like one.
The self-guided winemaking museum sets Nassau Valley apart from an ordinary tasting stop. It walks visitors through the history of wine and the steps of turning grapes into the glass in front of them, from the vine to the bottle. You come away having learned something, which makes the tasting that follows a little more meaningful.
A break from the beach
The vineyard's location, tucked between Lewes and Rehoboth just off the main beach highway, makes it a natural change of pace on a coastal trip. Summer is the busy season, when the beach crowds pour into the Cape Region and the tasting room stays lively, and the vines are green and full.
Spring and fall are quieter and often the most pleasant, cooler air and thinner crowds, with the vineyard settling into harvest as autumn comes on. Winter is the slow season along this whole coast, and the vines stand bare in the sandy fields, waiting for spring.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Lewes
Lewes
About 3 miles, a 10 minute drive
Delaware's first town, a walkable historic seaport with the Zwaanendael Museum and the Lightship Overfalls.
Rehoboth Beach
About 4 miles, a 12 minute drive
A classic boardwalk resort with a mile of boards, saltwater taffy, Funland, and a busy summer scene.
Cape Henlopen State Park
About 5 miles, a 15 minute drive
Dunes, beaches, a historic coastal fort, and observation towers where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic.
Tanger Outlets
About 3 miles, a 10 minute drive
A large tax-free outlet shopping complex along the highway between the beaches and the mainland.