Wineries

Believe it or not, North Carolina, the largest tobacco producing state in the nation, is also the twelfth largest wine producing state. In fact, the earliest explorers from Europe called America “Vinland” because of the profusion of grape vines they found growing here. Our friend Giovanni de Verrazzano discovered grapes growing in the Cape Fear region in 1524 and reported that he saw “many vines growing naturally there that without doubt would yield excellent wines.”

The original wines produced in North Carolina were from the Scuppernong variety of muscadine grapes originally discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh’s colonists on Roanoke Island. The “mother vine” there has a trunk two feet thick and covers half an acre.

Initially just called the “big white grape,” cuttings from the mother vine were introduced into an area around Scuppernong, a small town in Washington County, and it became know thereafter as the Scuppernong. Wine making, which had long been a farm activity, saw its first commercial winery, Medoc Vineyard, in 1835, and by mid century, North Carolina was the leading wine producing state in the nation.

Unfortunately, the Civil War followed by Prohibition took its toll on wine making in North Carolina, and many of the vineyards declined. However, during the 50s and 60s, muscadine growth rebounded as did wine production. In recent years, wine producing in North Carolina has been so successful that while we had just 25 wineries in 2002, that number more than doubled to 55 by 2006, with more on the way.

For those of you interested in pressing the flesh - of the grape, that is - two delightful wineries are located within an hour of Wilmington, and both offer tours of their facilities.

To the north, just off I-40 in Rose Hill, Duplin Winery produces an unusual variety of wines that don’t exactly fall into old-fashioned conventional wine categories. With names like Bald Head Red, Blackberry, Scuppernong (the oldest wine made in America), Almondage Champagne, Carlos and Carolina Red, Duplin Winery produces delicious wines that are a bit off the beaten path of winemaking.

As the oldest winery in North Carolina and the largest muscadine grape winery in the world, Duplin Winery produces nearly 200,000 cases of wine per year. Pressing grapes from 43 growers in three states for their wines, Duplin also uses the magnolia and scuppernong grapes from their own vineyards to produce their estate wines, Midnight Magnolia and Beaufort Bay. Those wines plus Hatteras Red, Magnolia, Pink Magnolia and Scuppernong Blush have received gold, bronze, silver and double gold awards.

The Duplin Winery features a store offering wines you can sample at the 40-foot tasting bar as well as such items as a Muscadine orange-poppy seed dressing and grape-related health products. Their Bistro Restaurant serves luncheon daily Monday through Saturday and dinner Thursday and Friday evenings. The winery also presents holiday theme and specialty dinner shows throughout the year.

Silver Coast Winery is located west of Wilmington and a bit north of U.S. Highway 17 near Ocean Isle Beach. Situated on 40 acres of vineyard surrounded by lush woods, Silver Coast produces about 10,000 cases of wine per year. The winery offers tours of their facility that take you from the vineyard to the bottles in the wine cellar.

Silver Coast wines may be sampled in their lovely tasting room and are available for purchase by the glass or by the bottle. The winery has picnic grounds for their visitors plus an art gallery showcasing works by local artists.

Throughout the year, the Silver Coast Winery hosts a variety of events, festivals and competitions including a Wine and Chocolate Pairing, Irish Festival, Country Festival, Beach Music Blast, Purple Feet Festival, Oktoberfest and Festa Italia, plus Silver Coast Christmas during December and Wacky Wednesday Dance Parties every other week during the summer.