The 2010 NCMGA Bus Tour was a success!

The annual North Carolina Muscadine Grape Association Bus Tour was held Friday, August 6, 2010.  The fun began with a Thursday night social featuring wines from Adams Vineyards (the site of the NCMGA’s 2010 Winter Meeting back in March).  On Friday, attendees visited muscadine growers in the north central part of the state including Benjamin Vineyards & Winery and GlenMarie Vineyards & Winery, both on the Haw River Wine Trail in Alamance County.  The final tour stop was at Rock of Ages Vineyards & Winery in Person County.  NC State University Extension Specialists answered questions on the bus and in the field about muscadine cultivars, vineyard establishment, pruning, and pest and disease management. 

The annual bus tour is an excellent opportunity for new and existing growers to see vineyards in operation under different climatic and soil conditions and learn from other growers’ challenges and successes.  For aspiring winery owners the tour is an opportunity to see behind-the-scenes of existing wineries of different sizes and ask questions of the owners and winemakers.  Plan to join us next year for a day filled with interesting sites, practical vineyard and winery information, good food and motivating conversation. 

Please contact the NCMGA Association Administrator, Dianne Nordan (diannencmga@aol.com), if you know of an area of the state we should consider visiting in 2011 and with your thoughts about the proposal to move the winter meeting to January and the bus tour to July.

The 2009 Annual Conference Bus Tour

The NC Muscadine Grape Association Bus Tour August 7th was a huge success with a full bus of attendees.  The summer meeting format is designed to offer participants a field-based experience with NC State University Extension Specialists on-board to answer questions throughout the day. Each summer a new region of North Carolina is selected to spotlight our muscadine industry.

This year the southwestern corner of the state’s muscadine range was selected to showcase the diversity of the North Carolina muscadine industry.  The tour's first morning stop was Cauble Creek Vineyards in Rowan County where we heard about the benefits of research and planning in the vineyard. 

Next we toured the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis and heard more about the collaborative research projects going on there that focus on health and wellness - an area we know muscadines fit very well. 

After a delicious catered lunch attendees heard more about fresh market muscadine production and marketing at Ervin Lineberger's Kildeer Farm in Cleveland County, and later visited Woodmill Winery in Lincoln County where they learned tips about growing muscadines on clay soils and stressing the vines for higher antioxidant content in the finished wines.  Attendees this year seemed particularly interested in organic production, a common trend that we've been seeing for the last few years from fresh muscadine growers across the state.

The 2009 Annual Conference Bus Tour Photos

The 2008 Annual Conference was a big success! 

The 2008 NCMGA Bus Tour gave participants a taste of the past, present, and future of the NC muscadine industry.  The first day of the bus tour included a stop at the historic Newbold-White House with a tour of their
newly planted vineyard and a ferry ride to Knotts Island where we visited Martin Vineyards and Moonrise Bay Winery to hear more about the unique microclimate available for grape growing on the NC coast. 

While on Knotts Island attendees learned about soil fertility from Dr. John Havlin and sensory evaluation of wine from Professor Emeritus Dr. Dan Carroll. 

Day two began with a presentation on winery record-keeping by Mark Friszolowski of Childress Winery.  Next we visited the renowned Mother Vine in Manteo, followed by a wine tasting and tour of Vineyards
on the Scuppernong, one of NC's newest wineries.  Another highlight of the 2008 meeting was the presentation by Dr. Jim Ballington titled "Muscadine Breeding in NC: Past, Present, and Future."  We are very excited to have Dr. Ballington working on breeding new muscadine cultivars for our industry and his presentation gave participants some insight into just how far we've come since the first muscadine was
brought into cultivation in the 1700s.

2008 Annual Conference Photos


2007 Annual Conference

The North Carolina Muscadine Grape Association (NCMGA) held its 34th Annual Meeting, Trade Show, and Vineyard Tour on August 2-3, 2007.

The NCMGA, with direct support and assistance from Ms. Connie Fisk, North Carolina Extension Associate for Muscadine Grapes, provided this two day educational event designed to increase awareness and knowledge of NC grape production and industry initiatives. The meeting/trade show kicked off in Raleigh, North Carolina at the North Carolina State University Faculty Club. On day two, the group toured five vineyards and two wineries in eastern NC to learn about production and economic risks as well as weed, pest, and disease control.

This annual event provides a great opportunity for those who are interested in the Muscadine grape industry to learn more about grape and wine production.

 2007 Annual Conference Photos