CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Hark Vineyard’s new tasting room opens Saturday on the winery’s Earlysville property, a project a decade in the making.

Aaron and Candice Hark first started the vineyard in 2015.

“Now, we have this gorgeous tasting room that we hope to kind of carve out its own niche as a new place in the story of wine enjoyment in Central Virginia. It’s a design and a feeling all its own,” Aaron Hark told Cville Right Now.

The Harks initially bought a 70-acre tract of land in January 2015, but didn’t begin planting their pick of grapes until early 2016.

Through the years, the Harks have expanded their property while focusing on the visitor experience.

Now, after 10 years of owning the vineyard, five years of planning and about six months of construction with their contractor Alexander Nicholson from Design Develop LLC, the Harks are ready to open the new tasting room.

The facility is a 2,500-square foot indoor space, with an additional 1,000 square feet of covered, outdoor patio. It has a catering kitchen to support outside caterers doing events at the vineyard.

With all that time focusing on planning, the possibilities for creating an eye-catching as well as welcoming space were seemingly endless.

“It feels like it wasn’t that long ago when we started the planning,” Candice Hark said. “It’s hard to believe it’s here, but we are just over the moon about it.”

According to their website, Hark Vineyard is, “focused on the belief that beautiful views and delicious wine can bring people together.”

This new addition to their property adds to that focus.

“The room itself offers a nice welcoming space that we think blends seamlessly from the outdoors to inside,” said Aaron Hark.

Their tasting room offers views of the mountains through a complete wall of windows that can open and close depending on the weather.

“This really takes our operation from being one that was great for perfect weather days to one that’s great for pretty much any day,” said Aaron Hark.

With scenic views, spacious modern interiors and long wooden tables crafted from trees cut down on the property, the new Hark tasting room is designed to create community and encourage connection, the Harks said.

The Harks said it serves as a celebration of their loyal customers and staff. Winemaker AJ Greely, for example, has been with the vineyard for over seven years. During that time, the vineyard has received over 35 awards from the Governor’s Cup, a prestigious wine competition.

Now, the Harks believe that they can elevate the customers’ experience to match the quality of the wines.

“Our customers would all say, ‘Don’t sleep on Hark even though they don’t have a real tasting room,’ but now there’s no, ‘but,’” said Candice Hark. “It’s just, ‘Don’t sleep on Hark’.”