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If you live in central North Carolina (or if you are ever visiting the area) and you are looking for a unique weekend experience you might want to try wine tasting in the Yadkin Valley. I concede that chances are North and South Carolina do not immediately come to your mind when you think of fine wines? Someday they might. Recent legislation and lawsuits have made one of the Carolinas' traditional cash crops, tobacco, not so profitable and there is now a big push to transform former tobacco acreage into vineyards. Some local community colleges in the area now offer degrees in viticulture to prepare students for careers in grape growing, wine making, as well as vineyard and winery management. As of the time this article published in September 2003 there were 25 wineries operating in North Carolina and at least seven that are open for business in South Carolina (and these numbers will probably double over the next two years). In addition there are over 275 vineyards in operation across both states. In case you are wondering, the difference between a winery and a vineyard is that a winery is an establishment that produces wine from grapes and other fruits and a vineyard is basically a special farm that produces grapes. Some wineries produce wines made from grapes grown at their own vineyards, some mix their own grapes with those purchased from other vineyards to make their wines, and still others make all of their wines from grapes purchased from outside vineyards.
More recently grape growing and winemaking have become much more popular in central North Carolina and this year a portion of Yadkin River Valley was officially recognized by the United States federal government as Yadkin Valley Viticultural Area making it the first such area in the Carolinas. An area can only receive such recognition if it is found to have ideal conditions for growing grapes appropriate for wine production. Currently there are seven wineries located in Yadkin Valley and another seven are scheduled to open within the next year. Three other wineries are within an easy drive of Yadkin Valley. All of these wineries are located within a two hour driving radius making Yadkin Valley area an ideal tourist attraction for wine lovers in the Carolinas. Yadkin Valley is also ideally situated to take advantage of several large population areas in the Carolinas. Part of Winston Salem, North Carolina's fifth largest city) actually falls within the boundary of Yadkin Valley Viticultural Area. Greensboro, North Carolina's third largest city, is within a thirty minute drive from the area and Charlotte, the largest city in the Carolinas, is just over an hour away. |
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