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Max Lloyd's grapes have just begun to ripen - and the birds will have a feast if the crew at the Grove Winery and Vineyards doesn't move fast to protect them.

Last week, the manager of Lloyd's vineyards and other workers spent five days carefully covering 8 acres of vines in netting.

Now, most of the grapes are out of reach of the birds' beaks. They'll continue ripening until harvest begins about the first week of September.

However, it's not birds but the weather that is Mother Nature's biggest challenge to Lloyd's business.

"You can be having the best season you've ever had and a hail storm in August can knock you out, destroy your entire crop," he said.

But Lloyd loves the work.

He produces about 3,000 cases of wine each year, mostly from the grapes he grows on site and at his other vineyard near Altavista, Va.

He began growing grapes in 1993 and opened Grove Winery in 2001.

Grove Winery is open daily for tours and tastings, and visitors are welcome to sit outside on the patio or at tables at a nearby pond.

"A lot of people after their tasting will order a glass of wine and have a picnic," Lloyd said.

During the harvest in September and October, many volunteers help to pick the grapes, sometimes as many as a dozen on Saturdays.

"It's foodies, it's families, it's people on dates ... it's a lot of restaurant folks," Lloyd said.

After the volunteers come in from the vineyards, the staff usually feeds them some Italian food and the wine made from the specific grape being harvested that day. The kids drink fresh-squeezed grape juice.

"They have fun," Lloyd said.

A few times a month, local musicians such as Bruce Piephoff, Jonny Colley and Andrew Evesole perform at the winery.

Lloyd also sells local foods including cheese from Gibsonville, salami from Elon and honey from Burlington.

"If we can, we're getting everything locally," he said.

He tries to farm in the most environmentally friendly way, he said. He sometimes uses fungicides, but no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. He uses manure from a neighboring farm to fertilize, releases 3,000 ladybugs each spring to eat pests and composts leftover grape skins.

Business has doubled from last year, he said, guessing this could be because of higher gas prices. Instead of staying at Grove Winery for 45 minutes during a day of vineyard tours, people are choosing to stay for several hours, he said.

Lloyd said he also believes more people are beginning to understand that buying local goods is good for the environment.

And although people typically don't associate North Carolina with wine making, Lloyd said his 44 acres here is great for growing wine grapes.

"I think that people would be surprised at the quality of wine coming out of the Haw River valley," he said.

Many of his wines have won local, regional and international awards.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at jamie.kennedy@news-record.com or 449-4610.