Photo by Don Petersen | Special to The Roanoke Times

Steve Hanks of Goodview gets a taste of Savoy-Lee Winery Wine.

MONETA -- Shirley Archer had been to Smith Mountain Lake before, but this was the first year that her Halifax County vineyard, Bright Meadows Farm, took part in the 19th Annual Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival.

It won't be the last.

Archer was so impressed with the turnout at this year's festival, she's already made plans to come back next year.

By noon Sunday at Bernard's Landing in Franklin County, Bright Meadows Farm had sold out of two of its seven wines, and the crowd of tasters was just beginning to grow.

An estimated 8,500 people attended the festival Saturday, said Linda Nardin, a spokeswoman for the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, the event's organizer. That's believed to be several thousand more people than at last year's event, and a good crowd tally was expected Sunday as well.

"By far and away this is the biggest year we've ever had," Nardin said. "The entire shoreline was filled with boats."

Getting to the event by land was a little more daunting. Car riders were directed to park in fields and were taken by Abbott buses to the festival.

But that didn't deter people from bringing their camp chairs to sit and listen to the music of Domino and visit more than a dozen food vendors and dozens more booths where shirts, hats, cigars, crafts and specialty food items were for sale.

And then there was the wine.

Tasters apparently liked what they were sampling, and made purchases from among the 27 wineries present.

"I'd say we went through close to 20 cases yesterday," Archer said of her business Saturday.

Bright Meadows Farm is an old tobacco farm much like the ones that dotted the land in Franklin County long before Smith Mountain Lake was created in the 1960s.

So when Archer and her husband retired and began growing grapes about six years ago, they were mindful of those roots.

"This whole area was tobacco, and we don't need to forget our heritage," Archer said. "We named a couple of our wines after the tobacco. We have a Bright Leaf White, and a Burley Red."

While Bright Meadows had sold out of its Bright Meadows Red and an apple wine by noon Sunday, folks were lining up to try the whites and reds, as well as a blackberry wine.

"We're doing great," said Archer, who rented a home for the weekend at Bernards Landing so she wouldn't have far to go at the end of the day.

"If you stay close by you get to have your camaraderie with the other wineries afterwards," Archer said. "You get to know the other people. So it's fun."