Sweet Acre Farms was more than just a winery.
It was where owner Matthew Vrahiotes' oldest daughter took her first steps. It was where his family hosted Thanksgiving dinner. It was where family heirlooms hung on the walls.
On Wednesday afternoon, the building that held all those memories burned down.
Most of the winery’s 40 or so acres of land in northern Hall County escaped damage, though some grassy areas were charred by the flames that blew with the strong wind. And the grapevines, which were harvested in the fall, can still bring wine next season.
But the three-story building on Bill Wilson Road where the family hosted events, welcomed guests and stored most of their wines is gone.
“We don’t know what the future holds, but we’re not down and out,” Vrahiotes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “We didn’t want this to happen. We wanted to keep going. It meant too much for us to be negligent. We love this place.”
Vrahiotes said he had stopped by around 11 a.m. Wednesday to drop off some items right outside the building’s front door before heading to a liquor store to make a sales pitch.
He got the deal. Sweet Acre would be selling at yet another package store.
Not long after, Vrahiotes said he got a call from a friend who lives across the street from the farm.
“She said, ‘Get to the winery as fast as you can. It’s on fire,’” he recounted, adding that he grabbed a fire extinguisher before driving over.
Vrahiotes and his wife Lindsey then watched the flames engulf the building before Hall County firefighters arrived and got to work.
The fire, which broke out at about 1 p.m., was contained by around 3:30 p.m. and no one was injured. The cause is being investigated by the county’s fire marshal’s office, and Vrahiotes said he had been asked countless questions.
Credit: GoFundMe
Credit: GoFundMe
The farm was purchased by the Vrahiotes family in 2010, but the winery only opened in 2016. That’s mostly due to the fact that the land was heavily wooded and the family did most of the labor themselves.
“We cut the trees down, pulled the stumps up, we gridded the land, put the fences up, we built the building. And it was all with the assistance and help and inspiration of my in-laws, Jackie Crumley and Judy Crumley,” Vrahiotes said.
Judy drove a bulldozer to pop up every stump, painted all the artwork displayed at the winery and created the bottle labels. Jackie, Vrahiotes’ father-in-law who died in May, built the light fixtures and hung up various family heirlooms.
Lindsey was pregnant with now 8-year-old Maddie as they finished up the building in 2016. Vrahiotes described a big-bellied Lindsey painting the outside of the winery and laying down tile.
Sweet Acre Farms opened in April and Maddie was born in September. She would eventually take her first steps at the winery, which then became like a home to her and her two siblings, Vrahiotes said.
The business had been a longtime dream for Vrahiotes and his wife, who met at Valdosta State University on a blind date. Lindsey was born and raised in Hall County and grew up at a home across from Sweet Acre Farms.
Vrahiotes said they still have bottles to sell at their Helen tasting room on South Main Street and various liquor stores across northeast Georgia. The family has also put together a GoFundMe campaign to help with rebuilding efforts, which Vrahiotes said he hopes to do himself.
“I don’t know what the future holds for us. I know that my heart’s desire is to keep going and to not let anything hold me back from pursuing the dream that my family and I have had for a long time,” he said.
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