Fall is here and none too soon. The last few days of August were brutally hot and all of us are looking forward to some cooler weather.
Another thing many people are looking for is the answer to a burning question. When is Burntshirt going to reopen? This is one of the more frequent questions I get so I decided to sit down with owners Lemuel and Sandra Oates to get the answer.
We had a great conversation and I learned quite a bit about the Winery as well as their long experience in the area. They are both from nearby, Sandra from Hendersonville and Lemuel from Bat Cave, so their roots run deep in Hickory Nut Gorge.
Lemuel’s grandmother weaved blankets and quilts at her home in Bat Cave in the early 1900’s and sold them across the street at their fruit stand on Highway 74 between Bat Cave and Gerton. The family farmed and sold fruit, souvenirs and mountain crafts to tourists traveling to and fro from Asheville.
In 1932 the family businesses were consolodated under the name Manuel Woodworkers. The power for the operation came from a water wheel that Tom Oates developed to generate electricity from Hickory Creek. This water wheel generated power for all of the Manual Woodworker properties along Highway 74 and some houses across the highway until the early 1970’s. Talk about mountain ingenuity.
Lemuel and Sandra came back into the family business in the 1970’s and were very successful. A few years later they decided to use some underproductive farmland to grow grapes, having heard from their stockbroker that grapes could be profitably sold to Biltmore for their expanding wine making operation. The Oates planted grapes in 2007 but when they were ready 3 years later Biltmore was buying grapes elsewhere and the Oates decided to turn their grapes into wine themselves.
Burntshirt was born in 2012 and after a learning curve the winery and adjoining restaurant in Ednyville turned into a profitable business. Not one to sit still, Lemuel had bought the old Chimney Rock Park bunkhouse as an invesment several years before. Then in 2017 he decided to open his second wine tasting room and Burntshirt Tasting Room in Chimney Rock was born.
The Oates felt that Chimney Rock Village was a natural for this business and they have been proven right as the views, mountains, and Lake Lure drew customers to their store.
So now for the scoop, when are they going to reopen? Well progress is being made as DOT is filling in the hole that Helene dug in front of the building, and hopes are high that the summer of 2027 will see the restaurant and tasting room welcoming customers again.
They are planning to replace the front porch with a larger deck because that was the most popular part of the business. They will also add additional wine storage coolers in the back to take care of the increased demand that they see in the future.
“I don’t want to retire,” says Lemuel. “I want to keep busy and keep going. We’ve learned a lot about the Chimney Rock Village customer base and we are looking forward to reopening and putting that knowledge to good use while serving our customers.”
In other Village news the employee parking lot below the CR VFD has been paved and restriped to provide additional parking spots. As part of this project the driveway up to the CR VFD has also been repaved.
Be sure to look for details on this and other happenings on the Village FaceBook page. You can also see information on all the Village’s projects and plans on the “Raisetherock.com” website.
Please keep me posted as to any changes, news, or information you would like me to include in future Village reports. You can email me at bubbaolearys@bellsouth.net or call 828-545-1243. You may also contact any of your Council Members; Peter O’Leary, April Schick, Buck Meliski, Bruce Godzik, and Patrick Warncke with any concerns or questions.
Remember the Chimney Rock Village Council always meets the third Tuesday of every month at 5:30 pm in the Chimney Rock Volunteer Fire Department building (unless a special meeting is called or the Council votes to change a particular date). These meetings are open to the public. Please contact Peter O’Leary 828-545-1243 or Village Clerk, Steve Duncan 828-777-5718 if you have any questions or concerns.
