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GIL KULERS
'Fine-wine ambition' fuels N.C. success
Published on: 01/25/07
This is the first of two columns on North Carolina wines. In two weeks, Kulers will give the results of his review of more than 40 Tarheel wines.
Childress Vineyards
(ENLARGE)
Childress Vineyards Childress Vineyards, owned by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, is a winery that shows itΥs serious about its product.
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Here I am sipping a glass of sparkling wine pondering this week's column. You might naturally think it's bubbly from Champagne or various locals in California. But, nope, this fine wine made in the method perfected in Champagne hails from North Carolina.
It seems appropriate to raise a celebratory sparkler from the Tarheel State while writing about wines from North Carolina, one of the more fascinating, fastest-growing wine regions east or west of the Mississippi.
Just 10 years ago, there wasn't much going on winewise in our neighbor to the north. In that short time, numerous tobacco farmers turned to grapevines for a living, numerous winery owners of various stripes set up shop, a school for fledgling winemakers was founded (including a bonded winemaking facility on campus) and the only demarcated sub-region in the Southeast outside Virginia (Yadkin Valley) was christened. North Carolina now ranks 10th in wine production in the United States, up from 14th in 2002. The state boasts 50 wineries, more than double the number in 2001.
A lot of people might be scratching their heads, saying: "Where did this winemaking locomotive come from?" There is no single reason for North Carolina's ascension, but a confluence of political, social and economic winds has given daring winemaking pioneers an honest shot at success. This is what my colleague Matt Kramer in his book "New California Wine" calls "a fine-wine ambition" the key ingredient lacking in so many aspiring wine regions.
What's the difference between fine wine and just any wine, you may ask? Just about any hill or valley between 30 and 50 degrees north and south latitude can spit out grapes that can be turned into wine. Wine is made in all 50 states. When we talk fine wine, however, we're talking expressive, soul-stirring wine that, yes, comes from special locations, but location is not everything. It takes more than a couple of artisan winemakers even those with the deepest of pockets and best of intentions for a region to develop a reputation for fine winemaking. They just can't do it alone.
Here are the two key ingredients necessary for a wine region on the rise:
1. Lawmakers' support. Winemaking is a regulated industry. If your local, state or federal government doesn't want the wine industry to thrive, it won't. Not only have state and local governments supported grape growing by helping convert tobacco farmers into grape growers and allowing Surry Community College in Dobson to operate a bonded winery as part of its winemaking degree program, but legislators have also removed barriers that hamper good business.
In 2003, the North Carolina Legislature approved a bill that allows its residents to receive direct shipments of North Carolina wines, or wine from any other state for that matter, thus making it a "reciprocal shipping state." This means wine lovers in other reciprocal states can order North Carolina wine over the phone or Internet. Wineries can also sell their wares at wine festivals, like the sixth annual Yadkin Valley Wine Festival, which will be held on May 19 in Elkin, N.C., Municipal Park. Children may also attend with their parents.
This is a very attractive atmosphere for people who are crazy and rich enough to get into the winemaking business.
2. People crazy and rich enough to get into the winemaking business. The joke goes like this: If you want to make a small fortune in the winemaking business, start out with a large fortune. To make fine wine and sell it on a reasonable scale, you need big bucks and a fair amount of vision. Someone like NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, for example, who opened the doors to his 35,000-square-foot Childress Vineyards winery in October 2004.
Childress and his business partners not only constructed a palatial tribute to wine 60 miles northeast of Charlotte, they also brought in a first-class grape grower and a talented winemaker. More significantly, they furnished them with all the equipment (including plenty of French oak barrels at $800 a pop) they need to make premium wine. I've tasted two vintages of Childress wines and can say that they are all good, with some remarkably excellent standouts.
Before Childress, there were the Shelton brothers, Ed and Charlie. In 1994, they bought some 200 acres of farmland in Dobson. Wine hobbyists, they figured it would be cool to make a little wine. ... OK, a lot of wine. So they built a 33,000-square-foot winery and spent untold amounts of time and money to spearhead the creation of the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area.
"We saw the impact these vineyards and others in the area could have 20 to 30 years down the road," Charlie Shelton says. "With tobacco farming on the decline, we saw it as a great way to diversify the farming industry and open doors to new industries in the area, such as tourism. People love to tour vineyards, taste the wine and hear the story of winemaking. And, at Shelton Vineyards, we believed we had a great story to tell."
Of course, the Sheltons' ambition to be a tourist destination does not guarantee quality wines. Far from it. There are plenty of examples of operations that ply tourists with lots of weak wine in their gift shops. These businesses benefit only themselves and do nothing for the region. Fortunately, the Sheltons and the other 15 winemakers along the Yadkin River have higher aspirations. They've endeavored to make distinctive wines. With the leadership of the Sheltons, they've suffered through the arduous task of getting the federal Tax and Trade Bureau to recognize the 1.4 million-acre region, stretching along the Virginia border from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Piedmont, as a unique winemaking area.
Why do you need people like Childress and the Sheltons? Well, someone must silence the doubters those who say you can't grow quality grapes here or that nobody will pay $50 for a bottle of North Carolina wine. Once others see the potential for success, they can see the same potential in themselves. This cycle repeats continuously, and pretty soon you have an entire community of believers. The North Carolina Winegrowers Association has more than 350 members.
By the way, I'm not saying that North Carolina and specifically the areas around Yadkin Valley, those in the western end of the state and those in the central Piedmont region has scaled the heights of wine immortality. However, I sense a growing indomitable, "git 'er done" spirit that may have many of us thinking of quality wines instead of tobacco and college basketball when someone mentions North Carolina in the near future.
Well, my sparkling wine is gone. Time to sneak a late-night piece of chocolate cake. Hmmm, maybe I'll have my cake with a taste of Port wine from Shelton Vineyards. See? It's not too hard to believe in wines from North Carolina.
Gil Kulers, a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators, is the beverages instructor for the culinary arts program at Chattahoochee Technical College.
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