johnson's orchards

We were looking for a winery and this was one of the few that were open during the week. It was a wonderful environment. The staff was extremely friendly and knowledgable about their wines. This is a place for families including those with children. Their friendly atmosphere was most appealing and we recommend this for all types of wine drinkers. Of note tho, their wines are fruit wines. Most of them are mixed with the 150 types of apples they grow at their orchard. Despite the label "fruit wine " , these wines were delicious and not too sweet (I do not have a sweet tooth). They included "flavors" from pumpkin to pepper to coffee with strawberry and blueberry in between. We ordered two cases of wine that we intend to use for our wedding. We fully intend to return in the spring to enjoy everything they have to offer!

Please don't be fooled by the name. We were traveling on the Blue Ridge parkway and saw the "Peaks of Otter" wine in the gift store. We decided to explore the winery which proved to be a total waste of time. This place is not a winery but rather an apple orchard with a few lines of grapes to show off. No real cellars and no real technology. The wine is most probably made by mixing cedar or a cheap white wine with a fruit flavors. We figured it out rather quickly and shifted our attention towards other things in the store and ended up buying a few jars of jam and a honey instead. The jams and the honey proved to be of a very low quality though. The only thing which was more or less good was the apple butter. I guess, if you want a jar of a decent apple butter, you can go there, otherwise, don't bother.

This cozy orchard is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Roanoke, Virginia and about 8 miles from scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. You can pick your own apples and picnic in their pavilion, and they also have an affiliated vacation rental home and winery. Recommended!

We stopped by the Peaks of Otter Winery as part of a day trip while visiting Smith Mountain lake. I'm glad we did. The wine tasting was fun, and we left with a few bottles of delicious fruit wine.

Peaks of Otter Winery is somewhat hidden -- if you don't know you're looking for it, I can't imagine you'd just randomly stumble across it. Our toddler was napping, so we wanted to find some way to pass the time while she slept -- and we ended up at the Winery. However, we were very pleased with our experience there!A tasting is free if you bring your own glass, or you can purchase one of theirs for $3, which was what we chose to do. The girl informed us then that the tasting is for "Thirty-five wines, but if that's too many, we'll just hit the highlights." The tastings are small servings, but just keep that in mind -- thirty-five wines! -- when you go! However, the farm itself is a large size, so after we did our tasting, we did explore the barn in which they serve you, as well as the farm behind the building. They have an assortment of animals that you can visit, so it's great if you have little ones with you, or are just looking to burn off some of the wine before getting back into the car. As far as their wines go, the majority are more of a novelty thing than anything. Kiss the Devil, for example, I'm sure would make a great chili -- but to buy an entire bottle seemed wasteful to me, since I'd never use the entire thing for meals before it would go badly. I wish they sold that one in a smaller bottle, I would have been all over that! Our favorite was an off-dry apple wine; simple and crisp, so delicious. All the wines we tasted were good, but there were many that I know I couldn't drink a full glass of, let alone split a bottle. They are on the sweeter side, as far as wines go, but they have a knack for delivering good taste for a reasonable price!All in all, if you're in the area and like to taste wines, I highly suggest POA. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun!

This was worth the drive to visit this "sweet" wine-tasting site. They have wine-tasting in which you purchase a small glass ($3-4). Very knowledgeable staff working there. What i didnt know until i was leaving is that you can purchase the fruit from the orchards. You pick and pay by the pound. Great concept, great atmosphere, just great!

July always brings the "Horse & Hound Festival" to the Johnson's Orchard each year. We attend to see the horse exhibits, the dogs having fun with their owners, arts and crafts & delicious food for sale & various wineries offering samples from their vineyards. A band performs wonderful music on stage throughout the festivities. It's always a fun time for all!

NOT WORTH YOUR TROUBLE EITHER!!! At their gift shop....the lady behind the register was very condescending and a bit of a SmartA$$ when I asked her a simple question. Also, the stuff ( jellies, jams, wines ect.) on the shelves were dirty and dusty, which make you wonder how old they are.OH!!!....I only gave them 1 star because you can't submit a review with giving them something. They didn't even deserve this one :(

My wife just started drinking wine and we pass this place every weekend on our way to visit family. So we decided to stop in and check it out. It is winter time so the only thing going on it the little wine shop. (Although we were told that during the summer they have various activities for kids and families.) Walking in we were greeted by a very nice lady who was quick to offer any help she could and offered a wine sampling. All of the wines that i samples except one were very sweet wines. This is not the place to come looking for dry red wines. This is fruit punch with a kick. Which we like. After sampling who knows how many i walked away with 4 bottles. No need for me telling you which is the best.... Strawberry shortcake, pear, passion fruit, mango, and about 15 other ones. Go check it out and pick your favorite. Its free and something to do on the weekend. They were all very good. I also picked up some 4 bean salad which was very good. Tasted like granny's..... So now this is a every sunday stop. Passion fruit is the best... :)

I like it due to the fact that it is family oriented. I will most likely go back. It can get quite warm in the summer.

Apples and more apples. Nothing could compare with the peaches that old Mr. Ike Rose used to produce. The wine is terrible. Danny needs to go to school..

My family and I (an adult only visit) went to Peaks of Otter because it was not too far from Roanoke and we were looking to do some wine tasting. We had a wonderful time. There was A LOT of wine to taste and we enjoyed a visit to see the animals. If you are looking to do some laid back wine tasting, this is definitely the place to go. The photo I included was a very funny one, it was after the very last wine we tasted.

Didn't have any idea they had this every year. It was alot of fun. They had a great religious band that sang all day. Tthey sold applebutter and all different kinds of things.Beautiful pottery from surrounding areas were on display. It was just a nice relaxing atmosphere and all around something good to do on a Saturday morning.

Johnson's Orchard is a fun destination, they have all sorts of items that can be purchased and they also have wine tastings, great mountain views

Stopped by the Peaks of Otter winery just to see what they had. It is FREE wine tasting and boy did we taste. The combinations go from nice to outrageous. Started with blackberry cobbler and ended with Kiss the Devil (a wine that consist of 30 varieties of peppers, yes HOT peppers). Mostly all sweet wines with zany fun to be had by all.