North Carolina Wine TV Review:
The Hinnant Family Vineyards Muscadine Blush has a typical nose of muscadine with straw, clay and burned rubber band. This pale peach colored wine also has some peach Kool-Aid notes and some sandiness. While well-balanced in the mouth, there is a metallic taste at the top and some earthiness to this wine. It is a solid middle of the pack muscadine wine that is not overly sweet. And this episode was shot a couple months ago, which is why it includes a reference to the nice weather and snow on the ground. It was still winter.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $8.50

Availability: In select wines stores and directly from the winery

About Hinnant Muscadine Blush (from the winery)
Our Award Winning “Best of Show”. Rich berry flavors, and smooth from start to finish, this blush wine is made from two varieties of muscadine grapes to make a wonderful treat. Pair with barbeque and spicy foods.

About Hinnant Family Vineyards (from the winery):
Since the first vines went into the ground in 1971, the Hinnant family has dedicated years to cultivating and maintaining the largest muscadine vineyard in North Carolina. It was not until October 2002 that the Hinnants started producing wine commercially.

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North CarolinaWine.TV Review
This semi-dry muscadine wine, Cypress Bend Isabel, is made from Magnolia grapes and appears viscous. Nose contains butterscotch, caramel, earthy with an organic woodsy smell. The predominant flavors are orange peel with candied apricot. There is a mineral water feel as well, which we described as mineral water without the bubbles. This is a good muscadine wine to share as a gift.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $12

Availability: Select wine stores or available directly from the winery.

About Cypress Bend Vineyards Isabel (from the winery):
A bold, semi-sweet white Muscadine revealing the nuances of the Magnolia grape,Isabel was inspired by John Charles McNeill’s verse. Bright and beautifully balanced on the palate, with a special affinity for hors d’oeuvres, salads and cheese varieties.

About Cypress Bend Vineyards (from the winery):
Cypress Bend Vineyards officially opened its doors in late June of 2005. After four years of cultivating thirty acres of muscadine variety grapes (better known as Scuppernong), Dan and Tina Smith have decided to share their passion for these grapes with the public. Growing the muscadine cultivars — Carlos, Noble, Magnolia, Doreen and Triumph — Cypress Bend Vineyards is taking the sweet taste of the muscadine grape to new levels in their eleven muscadine table wines and one after dinner wine.Cypress Bend’s wide variety of wine includes a Chardonnay and a Syrah.

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Merry Christmas from North Carolina Wine TV. We hope you are having a great day with family and friends, and are drinking some North Carolina wine. We created a hot wine beverage using Duplin Christmas Wine and spiced cider and paired it with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Watch this episode for a number of firsts on North Carolina Wine TV and to see how the pairing works.

Watch Wednesday’s wine tip to see how we made the mulled wine.

North Carolina Wine TV Review:
The North Carolina Red Christmas Wine from Duplin Winery has a traditional muscadine nose of burnt rubber and earth, with a side of cherry candy. In the mouth, this wine begins with a sweetness that dissipates on the finish. Kipp’s description is of Fun-Dipp Cherry dumped into muscadine wine, but we also describe the winemaking style as a little different from other Duplin wines. A good, solid Christmas wine for the sweet wine drinkers in your family.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $7-10

Availability: Widely available in most major stores in the Southeast and from the winery.

About Duplin Winery Christmas Wine (from the winery)
Just one of the most favorite things shared by Duplin lovers during the holiday season! Christmas Wine is a limited-release, seasonal wine.
Start a new Christmas tradition with Duplin Winery’s festive wine that is sure to warm the soul. Christmas Wine is a wonderful blend of North Carolina Muscadines and will brings in the taste of a true Southern Christmas.

The sweet berries laced with a hint of spice is a holiday favorite and perfect paired with the season’s culinary delights.

About Duplin Winery (from the winery):
Today, this North Carolina winery has a tank capacity of over 1,000,000 gallons, is the largest winery in the South, and produces the best selling wine in North Carolina. Over 100,000 visitors experience our Rose Hill winery and production facility each year.

Duplin’s award winning North Carolina wines include Magnolia, featured in Martha Stewart Living as a favorite summertime wine, Hatteras Red, a North Carolina favorite enjoyed with good-’ol southern barbecue, and Scuppernong, the oldest wine in America. In 2009, Duplin Winery proudly received honors normally reserved for the traditional west coast winery belt.

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North Carolina Wine TV Review:
This is a light and fruity muscadine, more than most we have had before. The earth and burnt rubber traditionally found on the nose and palate play background notes on this wine. While not very complex this wine would be a great starter for someone who is just starting to drink wine.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $12

Availability: From the winery and in stores across NC

About Old North State Winery:
Old North State Winery started as a cooperative in 2002 and has since evolved into a winery owned by two families with one vision. Our vineyards were established on farms that have been in our families for generations. We hope you enjoy the culmination of our dreams, our devotion to our farmland, and our passion for our wines produced at Old North State Winery.

Most of our wines start out as luscious wine grapes grown on Yadkin Valley North Carolina family farms. We are the Old North State Winery, Inc. located in Mount Airy, in the headwaters of the Yadkin Valley AVA. Wine, beer and fine foods are our passion and our legacy.

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We love food Fridays here at North Carolina Wine TV! We don’t often do muscadine wine with food, but today we are going to have some fresh pineapple with some Sanders Ridge 2008 Carlos Muscadine and see how the pair works. Watch today’s episode to see what we thought of the combo!

North Carolina Wine TV Review:
This Carlos muscadine wine from Sanders Ridge blew us away. It is easily the best example of muscadine wine we have tried to date, and the grapes were grown in the Yadkin Valley. This North Carolina State Fair winner has an incredibly complex nose for a muscadine wine with earth and fruit perfectly balanced. In the mouth it has the perfect blend of sugar, acidity and tannins. Do whatever you can to give this a try if you are a muscadine fan.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $14

Availability: Directly from the winery

About Sanders Ridge 2007 Big Woods Red (from the winery)
A Bordeaux blend of the Cabernets – Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot, and a dab of Syrah suggests rich black cherry with light licorice and pepper and a smooth velvety finish. A great food wine.

About Sanders Ridge Winery (from the winery):
In the late 90’s, after 40 straight tobacco crops along with corn, soybeans, cattle, and timber, it was becoming ever clearer to Neil that the conventional farming of his day would not offer his 2 sons and daughter and their families – the livelihood that it had afforded him. With the realization that he was going to probably be “it” (the last Shore to farm this special place), he started researching alternative cash crops and implementing a more forward thinking farm plan which he hopes will sustain the land and all of the natural resources it supports (including his children and grand children!) for years to come…

Between 1999 and 2001, he laid the groundwork and established the vineyard for the Sanders Ridge Vineyard and Winery. (View photo diary). In December 2005, he began producing USDA certified organic vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers at the Farm at Sanders Ridge and in June of 2009 he opened the Winery and The Big Woods Restaurant – in a rustic and towering post and beam structure built from lumber and stone he harvested right off the farm.

Neil’s goal has always been to make Sanders Ridge a place where folks can laugh, relax, and experience the farm and the special places within it. He and his family invite you to visit the Winery and The Big Woods Restaurant for a taste of a simpler time and place. And, if you are so inclined, to wander…

Locate Sanders Ridge Winery:

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North Carolina Wine TV Review:
This white muscadine wine breaks out of the traditional mold with its dry finish. Scent of earth, rubber and sugar are clear on the nose of this North Carolina Wine. In the mouth though no sugar is present, just dry clean flavors of lemon and earth. This wine finishes more like a dry white wine than a muscadine wine. This would be ideal for a white wine drinker looking to try muscadine wine for the first time.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $10

Availability: Directly From the winery and select wine shops in North Carolina.

About Vineyards on the Scuppernong Somerset:
This dry white wine has the aromas of carefully selected Muscadine grapes. It’s clean and crisp finish is perfectly paired with fish or poultry dishes

Locate Vineyards on The Scuppernong:

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North Carolina Wine TV Review:
Duplin’s Magnolia wine starts less sweet and more floral on the nose compared to some of the wineries other selections. Additionally, green apple, straw and earth dominate the nose of this muscadine wine. In the mouth the wine starts as a roasted peanut flavor, earth, apple, along with floral notes. The alcohol is a little high in this wine, but it is still approachable by people who have not had muscadine wines before.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

according to the North Carolina Wine Ratings Scale

Price: $7.50

Availability: Widely available in most major stores in the Southeast and from the winery.

About Duplin Winery Magnolia (from the winery)
Duplin Winery’s Magnolia is the winner of the NC Muscadine Cup for an unprecedented three years in a row. Magnolia is a medium, smooth, and fruity wine with a crisp finish and a balanced sugar-acid ratio. It is made from the late harvest of the Magnolia grape, whose very name evokes the magic of the South.

About Duplin Winery (from the winery):
Today, this North Carolina winery has a tank capacity of over 1,000,000 gallons, is the largest winery in the South, and produces the best selling wine in North Carolina. Over 100,000 visitors experience our Rose Hill winery and production facility each year.

Duplin’s award winning North Carolina wines include Magnolia, featured in Martha Stewart Living as a favorite summertime wine, Hatteras Red, a North Carolina favorite enjoyed with good-’ol southern barbecue, and Scuppernong, the oldest wine in America. In 2009, Duplin Winery proudly received honors normally reserved for the traditional west coast winery belt.

North Carolina Wine TV Interviews Duplin Vineyard Controller from Jeffrey L. Cohen on Vimeo.

Duplin Winery Magnolia on 12seconds.tv

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Muscadine wine and food is often a forgotten combo in the food and wine world. Normally food pairing is left to dry wines. On this Food Friday Kipp and Jeff try their first attempt at pairing food with North Carolina muscadine wine. Because most muscadine wine is so earthy and fruity we thought that pairing one with a simple fruit could yield interesting results. So that brings us to today’s show blueberries and 38 Vines Starlight White muscadine wine. How do they work together? Watch them video to find out!

If you have a food and wine pairing suggestion that you would like to see on the show please leave a comment below!