A Fall Road Trip to North Carolina Wine Country
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Imagine back-road tours of scenic countryside, well-tended vineyards bursting with ripe grapes, delicious wine, charming tasting rooms, authentic regional cuisine and historic accommodations. That sounds like the travel brochure for a tour of French or Italian wine country, but all these things are available a short drive from Charlotte. The N.C. wine industry has grown in the last couple of years. If you haven’t discovered the pleasures of a winery visit, treat yourself on one of these beautiful fall afternoons. |
Wine is not new to the Carolinas. Scuppernongs are North Carolina’s official state fruit. In fact, before Prohibition, North Carolina was the largest wine-producing state in the country. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that Westbend Vineyards in Lewisville planted the first vitis vinifera, grapes of European descent like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. These European varieties do well in the central and western portions of the state, and produce a dry style of wine. While grapes will never replace the more traditional tobacco and soybean crops, many hope wine-making and its kissing cousin, tourism, will help replace lost textile and manufacturing jobs.
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