Muscadine Grapes and the Deep Roots of North Carolina Wine

There is a vine growing on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, that is believed to be over 400 years old.

It is a muscadine — Vitis rotundifolia — and it was already ancient when the first English colonists arrived in the 1580s. Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition reportedly found the island's shores "so full of grapes as the very beating and surge of the sea overflowed them." The settlers called it the Mother Vine. It still produces fruit today.

That vine is as good a place as any to begin the story of North Carolina wine — a story that predates the Napa Valley by centuries, runs through the Civil War and Prohibition, and arrives in the present day with more than 200 wineries and a growing national reputation.

It is a story that starts, and keeps returning to, the muscadine grape.

Muscadine is a species of grape native to the southeastern United States. Unlike the European Vitis vinifera varieties — Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir — that dominate the wine world, muscadine evolved in the American South and is uniquely adapted to its hot, humid summers and mild winters.

The grapes are large, thick-skinned, and grow in small clusters rather than the dense bunches you see on vinifera vines. They range in color from bronze-green to deep purple-black, and they ripen in late summer and early fall. The flavor is unlike anything in the European tradition — intensely fruity, musky, and aromatic, with a sweetness that is almost tropical.

The most famous muscadine variety is the Scuppernong, a bronze-skinned grape that became so closely associated with North Carolina that it was named the official state fruit in 2001. The name comes from the Scuppernong River in the northeastern part of the state, near where the Mother Vine still grows.

Other important muscadine varieties include Carlos, Noble, Magnolia, and Ison — each with slightly different flavor profiles and winemaking characteristics. Carlos tends toward lighter, crisper wines. Noble produces deeper, more tannic reds. Magnolia is prized for its floral aromatics.

The history of wine in North Carolina is inseparable from the history of muscadine. Native Americans had been fermesting the grapes long before European contact. The colonists who arrived in the late 1500s quickly recognized the potential and began making wine almost immediately.

By the early 1800s, North Carolina was the leading wine-producing state in the country. The Medoc Vineyard in Halifax County was one of the largest wineries in America. Scuppernong wine was being shipped up and down the East Coast and exported to Europe. Sidney Weller, a pioneering viticulturist in the state, wrote extensively about the commercial potential of muscadine and helped establish North Carolina's reputation as a serious wine region.

Then came the Civil War, which devastated the state's agricultural economy. Then came Prohibition in 1919, which shut down what remained of the wine industry. By the time Prohibition ended in 1933, North Carolina had enacted its own restrictions that kept most of the state dry for decades.

The modern era of North Carolina wine began in 1972, when the state legislature passed the Farm Winery Act, allowing small wineries to produce and sell wine directly to consumers. The first licensed winery under the new law was Biltmore Estate in Asheville, which opened in 1985 and remains one of the most visited wineries in the United States.

If you have never tasted a muscadine wine, it is worth approaching with an open mind and without European expectations.

These are not Chardonnay. They are not Riesling. They are something entirely their own.

Scuppernong whites are typically semi-sweet to sweet, with flavors of ripe peach, honeysuckle, and a distinctive musky quality that is hard to describe but immediately recognizable. They are best served cold, and they pair beautifully with spicy food, barbecue, and fresh fruit desserts.

Noble reds tend toward medium body with flavors of blackberry, plum, and a slight earthiness. The tannins are softer than most vinifera reds, and the wines are often made in a semi-sweet style, though dry versions are increasingly common as winemakers push the boundaries of what muscadine can do.

Dry muscadine wines are a more recent development and represent some of the most interesting work being done in North Carolina today. A handful of producers have shown that muscadine, vinified dry and aged thoughtfully, can produce wines with genuine complexity and aging potential. They challenge the assumption that muscadine is only suited to sweet, simple wines.

One thing that sets muscadine apart from virtually every other wine grape is its nutritional profile. Muscadine grapes have extraordinarily high levels of resveratrol and other polyphenols — significantly higher than vinifera grapes. Whether that translates to meaningful health benefits is a question for scientists, but it has become part of the muscadine story and has attracted a new generation of health-conscious consumers.

North Carolina now has four recognized American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), and the wine industry has expanded well beyond muscadine into vinifera and hybrid varieties.

Yadkin Valley, established in 2003, was the first AVA in the Southeast. Located in the Piedmont foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it has become the heart of North Carolina's vinifera wine production. The elevation — between 1,000 and 1,400 feet — moderates the summer heat and allows varieties like Cabernet Franc, Viognier, Chardonnay, and Syrah to ripen with good acidity and structure.

Swan Creek, a sub-appellation of Yadkin Valley, sits at higher elevations and produces some of the state's most elegant cool-climate wines. The diurnal temperature swings here — warm days, cool nights — are among the most pronounced in the state.

Haw River Valley, established in 2009, covers the Piedmont region between Greensboro and Chapel Hill. It is home to a growing cluster of wineries producing both vinifera and muscadine wines, and it has become a popular wine tourism destination for the Research Triangle.

Upper Hiwassee Highlands, the state's newest and highest-elevation AVA, straddles the North Carolina-Georgia border in the far western mountains. Elevations here reach 2,000 feet and above, creating conditions that are genuinely cool-climate by any standard. Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and other aromatic varieties show particular promise.

Shelton Vineyards in Dobson is one of the largest family-owned wineries in the Southeast, with 200 acres of estate vineyards in the Yadkin Valley. Their Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay are consistently among the best in the state.

RagApple Lassie Vineyards, also in the Yadkin Valley, is a family operation that has been farming the same land for generations. Their estate wines show a genuine sense of place, and their Viognier is a benchmark for the variety in North Carolina.

Childress Vineyards, owned by NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, is one of the state's most polished operations, with a striking winery building and wines that have earned national attention. Their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is worth seeking out.

Duplin Winery in Rose Hill is the largest muscadine winery in the world and the standard-bearer for the traditional North Carolina style. Their Scuppernong and Carlos wines are exactly what muscadine wine is supposed to taste like — unapologetically sweet, intensely fruity, and deeply Southern. They produce over a million gallons annually and ship to all 50 states.

Raffaldini Vineyards in the Yadkin Valley takes a distinctly Italian approach, focusing on Vermentino, Montepulciano, and other Italian varieties that thrive in the North Carolina climate. Their wines are some of the most distinctive in the state and have attracted attention well beyond the region.

It would be easy to tell the story of North Carolina wine as a progression — from the primitive sweetness of muscadine toward the sophistication of vinifera. That narrative misses the point.

Muscadine is not a stepping stone. It is the foundation.

It is the grape that survived when every European variety failed. It is the grape that kept winemaking alive in the South through centuries of agricultural hardship, war, and legal prohibition. It is the grape that is uniquely, irreducibly American — evolved here, adapted here, belonging here in a way that no imported variety ever fully can.

The best North Carolina winemakers understand this. They are not embarrassed by muscadine. They are proud of it. They are working to show what it can do when treated with the same seriousness that California winemakers bring to Cabernet Sauvignon or Oregon winemakers bring to Pinot Noir.

That work is ongoing. The results are increasingly impressive.

The Mother Vine on Roanoke Island is still producing grapes. North Carolina wine is still finding out what it can become.

Late September through October is the ideal time to visit North Carolina wine country. The muscadine harvest typically runs from late August through September, and the vinifera harvest follows in October. Many wineries host harvest events and offer the chance to taste wines straight from the tank.

The Yadkin Valley Wine Festival in October is one of the largest wine events in the Southeast, drawing producers from across the state and attracting visitors from up and down the East Coast.

For muscadine specifically, the Duplin Wine Festival in Rose Hill is a celebration of the Southern wine tradition that draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.

If you are visiting the Yadkin Valley, the town of Elkin makes an excellent base — it sits at the center of the appellation and is within easy driving distance of a dozen wineries. Asheville, in the western mountains, is one of the best food and drink destinations in the South and offers easy access to Biltmore Estate and the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA.

North Carolina wine is not trying to be California. It is not trying to be France. It is trying to be itself — and after five centuries, it is finally getting the recognition it deserves. If the mountain wine country appeals to you, the Appalachian High Country wine guide covers the high-elevation AVAs of the Blue Ridge in depth, and Virginia wine country — just across the border — offers a compelling companion for any East Coast wine itinerary.