September marks North Carolina Wine Month, so here are a few facts you may or may not know about North Carolina and their wines:
- The single-most visited winery in the US is the Biltmore Estate Winery (pictured above), a huge point of note that it is visited more than any single famous Napa or Sonoma winery.
- Aside from having the most visited winery in the US, North Carolina has 185 more wineries to checkout.
- The oldest cultivated grape vine in the US also resides in North Carolina. The variety is Scuppernong and the vine is almost 500 years old.
- While the state is known for Muscadine wines, largely due to the size and age of the Duplin Winery, European varieties also have seen success in the central and western parts of the state.
- Scuppernong and other Muscadine varieties are native to the state and are the first varieties of grape to be cultivated in the US.
- North Carolina wines and the industry as a whole make up about $2 billion in revenue and supports over 10k jobs.
- In 1835 the leading wine producer in the US was in North Carolina, the Medoc Vineyard.
Cheers to historic North Carolina wine!