Nassau Valley Vineyards

Winery Description

Nassau Valley Vineyards is the first and only award winning winery in the state of Delaware.

Founded in 1987, our vineyards were the first commercial wine vineyards to exist in the “First” state. Peg Raley and her father, Bob Raley founded the vineyards on a family farm site just outside of historic Lewes, Delaware.

Peg got her start in the wine business working for Les Amis du Vin International and The Friends of Wine magazine. After several years of globe trotting for the publication she decided it was time to stop writing about other people's wines and start making wines in Delaware. Delaware's laws prohibited farm wineries, so Peg drafted legislation and lobbied the Delaware General Assembly to create Farm Winery legislation for the state. The law passed in 1991. The Raley's opened Nassau Valley Vineyards in October of 1993.

Our vineyards are comprised of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. We use other regionally grown fruit to produce the 14 wines in our product line. We purchase grapes and fruit from growers on the eastern shore and supplement with other regionally grown fruit.