CityView Magazine

And muscadine vineyards are showing that their wines – both dry and sweet – are worthy of the same attention as any chardonnay, cabernet or merlot with the added benefits of reserveratrol, a substance in red wine that has been shown to provide health benefits to the heart. from scuppernongs won the grand prize for sparkling wines, besting efforts from California and France. Still, muscadine wines were considered inferior, the sticky- sweet stepchild to the more refined vinifera varieties. That was then, this is now. Childress Vineyards of Lexington, owned by NASCAR racing legend Richard Childress, works with both muscadines and viniferas. Duplin Winery, one of the largest producers of muscadine wine in the country, thrives as North Carolina’s oldest vineyard, even after it struggled in the 1980s when the state lost its preferential tax rate for native wines in a Supreme Court ruling. Legislation later appropriated taxes to be utilized for the research and promotion of muscadine wine. Since then, the North Carolina wine industry has grown tremendously. The number of wineries quadrupled in the 2000s, growing from 21 wineries in 2000 to 89 today. North Carolina is also now home to three American Viticultural Areas: Yadkin Valley, Swan Creek and Haw River Valley. And muscadine vineyards are showing that their wines – both dry and sweet – are worthy of the same attention as any chardonnay, cabernet or merlot with the added benefits of resveratrol, a substance in red wine that has been shown to provide health benefits to the heart. A recent analysis at Louisiana State University found that muscadine wine had up to six times the amount of resveratrol than red wine from Spain. 26 | Food & Wine • 2010

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