Photo courtesy of Botanist and Barrel
PLAN A WINE ADVENTURE EXPLORE VITICULTURAL OFFERINGS IN THE TRIANGLE AND BEYOND
Photo courtesy of Cloer Family Vineyards
Like its barbecue and beaches, North Carolina’s wineries are eclectic, unique and worth getting to know. From nearby Cloer Family Vineyards just off the American Tobacco Trail in Apex, to 70-acre Childress Vineyards at the base of the Yadkin Valley, Triangle residents have convenient access to a variety of wine adventures in all directions.
BY CAITLYN WHEELER
N
orth Carolina has a surprisingly robust viticultural history. The oldest cultivated grapevine in the U.S., the gnarled “Mother Vine,” is on Roanoke Island in Manteo. The U.S.’s most visited winery is the Biltmore Estate Winery in Asheville (it draws more than a million guests a year). And, before Prohibition, North Carolina’s “Virginia Dare” wine, made near Medoc Mountain, was one of the country’s best-selling brands. (The Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Sonoma, California, now owns and celebrates this wine.) Over the last 20 years, the Tar Heel state has re-embraced their viticultural promise, claiming more than 200 wineries from Manteo to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Vintners are producing not only sweet wines from Muscadine grapes, which have traditionally grown well in the Sandhills and Piedmont regions, but also a variety of dry, European-style wines from vinifera grapes, which favor the mountains’ hillier landscape and milder temperatures. As the North Carolina wine industry accumulates accolades, discover how the “terroir” (climate and soil) here affects this ancient beverage. Many wineries offer more than wine: verdant views, excellent food, live music, grape-stomping festivals—even sporting events. Best of all, their winemakers will woo you with passionate personal stories and their individual approach to making wine. Let’s take a tour.
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8/23/21 4:20 PM
