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Drinking Local Not Just for Yokels: NC Wines And Wineries Offer Top Choices
By Barbara Ensrud
Metro Magazine
The current buzz phrase is “eat local.” Good advice, especially with the fabulous bounty on display weekly at our local farmers’ markets. Well, let’s take it a step further: It’s time to drink local too!
I just read this comment somewhere online: “About 11 years ago I tried a North Carolina wine — it was awful.” Wow! If that’s your experience with NC wines, better try again. There are some awfully good ones out there today. Unfortunately, some aren’t … not yet anyway. But I can easily recommend 25 to 30 wines — at the very least — that will change your mind.
On one evening during my recent wine class at Duke, we tasted blind three cabernet francs, one from France, one from Childress Vineyards and one from California. Thirteen out of 14 in the class — a wine-loving group of young professionals from around the Triangle — preferred the Childress Cab Franc. This quite surprised them — but the wine was livelier, juicier, well-balanced and a much better choice with food than the overripe Californian. The Chinon from France was still rather tannic, not really ready to drink.
It is true that selection is key. I taste our state’s wines often (as well as those from Georgia and Virginia), frequently alongside the same types from other places, be it California, Down Under or Europe. The best of our local wines do stack up, often exceedingly well, especially those from recent vintages, such as 2006 and 2007 — both excellent in North Carolina wine areas, especially reds from 2007. The drought was hard on the rest of us, but the warm, dry weather produced some beautifully ripe, rich reds from ’07, including Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet blends, Syrah and Sangiovese. Look for them to come along this summer and fall.
There are over 75 wineries in North Carolina. The Harris-Teeter grocery chain carries wines from the bigger ones — Childress, RayLen, Biltmore, Shelton, Westbend and occasionally others. Triangle wine shops are stocking more too. Many wineries, however, especially the newer ones, are small — producing only a few hundred to a thousand cases — and are mostly available only at the winery.
Soooooo … this is the perfect time for a road trip. National Public Radio’s “The State of Things” program recently featured a segment on NC wine with Margo Metzger, executive director of the NC Wine & Grape Council. “Wine is a beautiful part of agriculture in North Carolina,” said Metzger. “Everyone here lives within 100 miles of a family-owned winery.” That means you, wherever you happen to live in our fair state. Check out the NC wine map at www.visitncwine.com for directions, visiting hours and contact numbers.
Road Trip!
The wineries do their best to attract visitors, offering music, picnic facilities and special events throughout the year. RayLen, for instance, frequently features live music on weekends; Raffaldini hosts North Carolina artist exhibitions at their stunning new tasting room that looks like an estate villa in Tuscany. Many other wineries offer food, drink and merriment at special events.
Make a weekend of it by visiting the Yadkin Valley, the heart and center of Carolina’s wine industry. (Actually, to cover the whole valley would take more than one weekend.) Good food, good wine, great places to stay — they’re all available in what is shaping up to be one of the Southeast’s top destinations. Just as in Napa, you can rent a driver, even a limo.
The Yadkin is anchored at either end by two of the state’s largest and most imposing wineries — Childress Vineyards at the southern end in Lexington, and Shelton Vineyards in the north near Mt. Airy. Each boasts a state-of-the-art winery and tasting rooms that rival any in California. Each has nearby accommodations for comfortable stays, as well as good restaurants overlooking the vineyards. Shelton’s Harvest Grill is excellent for lunch or dinner and regularly attracts patrons from Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Raleigh-Durham. The adjacent Hampton Inn is the only one in the country with a wine-tasting bar, featuring Shelton wines.
You can eat extremely well in the valley now. Century Kitchen restaurant at Flint Hill Vineyards is a must for your itinerary. Housed in a 130-year-old yellow farmhouse built by owner Tim Doub’s great-grandfather, the restaurant boasts several cozy dining rooms, as well as a tasting bar for sampling Flint Hill wines.
It’s a quaint and picturesque setting, inside and out. Last summer I enjoyed the cool evening air on the shaded terrace, sipping Flint Hill’s briskly dry, unoaked Chardonnay and watched Chef Sean Wehr through the terrace window at work in his gleaming kitchen. Artfully presented dishes streamed forth to “oohs” and “ahhs” from fellow diners: shrimp étouffée, wild mushroom bruschetta, mole-braised pork tenderloin, seared filet mignon with buttermilk whipped potatoes — to name just a few.
Other not-to-miss restaurants are Shelton’s Harvest Grill and The Kitchen at Elkin Creek that offer a perfect venue for pairing fine wines with good food.
Wine-and-swine? You gotta try it! Great barbecue can be found all through the area, but especially around Lexington, well known as the Western NC-style Barbecue Capital of the World. Childress Vineyards even makes an annual Swine Wine, a chillable, lightly sweet red that sells out quickly at the annual Lexington Barbecue Festival each fall.
North Carolina Wine Buys
These are by no means the only good NC wines — but they are a start! All have Web sites and sell their wines online. Remember that sweet wines have their place — those recommended here are delicious!
Biltmore Sparkling Blanc de Blancs (make sure the label appellation says North Carolina)
Brushy Creek Bugaboo Creek Red (merlot and cabernet)
Buck Shoals Rocco Red
Childress Vineyards Cabernet Franc, Reserve Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris, Barrel Select Merlot and Reserve Merlot
Dobbins Creek Merlot
Duplin Hatteras Red (sweet Muscadine)
Elkin Creek Rossa
Flint Hill Vineyards Syrah, Viognier
Hanover Park Viognier and Michael’s Blend
Hinnant Strawberry Wine
Horizon Cellars Viognier
Laurel Gray Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay
McRitchie Ring of Fire Red, Pinot Gris
Old Stone Winery Sweet Muscadine
Raffaldini Pinot Grigio, Bello Misto, Vermentino
RagApple Lassie Chardonnay
RayLen Vineyards Carolinius, Pinot Grigio, Syrah
Shelton Vineyards Riesling, Kudzu Block Syrah
Westbend Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay, Chambourcin
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