Governor Perdue Declares September 2010
N.C. Wine & Grape Appreciation Month
In a proclamation praising North Carolina as a significant
producer of grapes and wine, Governor Beverly Perdue
has declared September 2010 as Wine & Grape Appre-ciation
Month in North Carolina.
Governor Perdue urges restaurants and retailers to help
support the growing wine industry by promoting local
North Carolina wines throughout the month of September.
Read the governor’s proclamation of Wine & Grape Ap-preciation
Month, and her letters to restaurants and retail-ers
at www.nccommerce.com/wine.
FROM THE CELLAR
Volume 4, Issue 2 Summer 2010
Sustainable Tourism Webinar
Energy Management
Sept. 2
Grape Day
Sept. 10, Raleigh Farmers Market
NC State Fair Wine
Competition
Oct. 6-7, Raleigh
NC Wine & Grape Council
Meeting
Oct. 28, Raleigh
WineAmerica Fall Meeting
Nov. 8-10, Dobson
National Wine Experience
Nov. 20, Washington, D.C.
- Exhibitor Application
Upcoming Industry
Events
For more industry events
and meetings, visit
www.nccommerce.com/wine
N.C. State Fair Wine Competition
The N.C. Wine & Grape Council invites you to enter the 2010 NC State Fair Wine
Competition. The competition will be held October 6-7,
and has commercial and amateur divisions. The council
encourages all N.C. wineries to participate and enter your
wines in the competition. Judges will award gold, silver,
and bronze medals, along with trophies for Best of Show
and Best of Muscadine wines.
The deadline for entries is September 10. For
information, rules and entry forms for entering the
competition, visit http://tinyurl.com/lqksme or go to
www.ncstatefair.org.
www.visitNCwine.com
www.nccommerce.com/wine
919-715-WINE
Grape Day At Raleigh Farmers
Market
Celebrate N.C. Wine & Grape Appreciation Month with
the Wine & Grape Council at Grape Day at the Raleigh
Farmers Market. Grape Day will be from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Septem-ber
10, and includes N.C. wine tasting, muscadine grape sampling, dessert sampling
and more.
Wineries are invited to sample and sell wine and grape products. Please RSVP by
September 3 if you would like to participate on Grape Day.
2 Summer 2010
Wine Sales On The Rise
The Nielsen Company reports that wine sales have
increased this summer. Off-premise wine sales rose 2.2
percent in June and 2.8 percent in July. Domestic sales
grew 4.7 percent over the last three months.
Symphony IRI Group also saw sales rise in the spring.
Wines at $20 and up had seen the most growth, rising
18.5 percent over the last year. Wines priced $11-14.99
grew 12.3 percent and wines $15-19.99 rose 8.3 percent
in April. Sauvignon Blanc had the highest growth among
the varietals, while Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon
also saw growth as the top selling varietals.
North Carolina Ranks 5th in Wine Sales
According to a recent report by Symphony IRI
Group, North Carolina ranks fifth in wine sales in the
U.S. The state had nearly $15.4 million in off-premise
wine sales in 2009, placing N.C. in the top five behind
California, Washington, Oregon and Texas.
New N.C.
Wineries
Slightly Askew
Winery
Elkin, NC
www.slightlyaskewwines.com
Sweet Vine Winery
Denver, NC
www.sweetvinewinery.com
Ventosa Plantation
Vineyard & Winery
Scotland Neck, NC
visitNCwine.com Enhanced With New Features
The N.C. Wine & Grape Council launched sev-eral
new enhancements in June to its consumer
web site, www.visitNCwine.com. Improved
navigation, mapping, search capability and ad-ditional
content make the site even more engaging
and help spark interest in visiting North Caroli-na’s
wineries.
Additional navigation options provide easier ac-cess
to the richer content, including the past and
present of North Carolina’s wine story. “Winer-ies”
provides maps, listings and links to all North
Carolina wineries across the state by geographi-cal
region or by viticultural area. A streamlined
search capability for “Events” highlights fun festivals and special programs known to spark
spontaneous visits among travelers looking for new experiences. “Tasting and Tips” covers top-ics
ranging from the wine making process, how to properly sample and savor a wine, and food
and wine pairings. Go to www.visitNCwine.com to see all of the new enhancements.
Wine Sales To Grow 13% By 2013
Wine sales in the U.S. are expected to grow 13 percent by 2013, according to the new RN-COS
report US Wine Market Forecast to 2012. America’s wine market makes up
12 percent of all global wine consumption and is the second largest wine consuming nation.
U.S. wine sales are predicted to rise 3 percent annually over the next three years.
3 From the Cellar
Consumers Plan To Go Out More But Spend Less
According to a recent poll by AlixPartners, consumers plan to go out to eat more often this
year but spend less. In a possible sign of economic recovery, 58 percent said they will eat out
as much as last year and 12 percent plan to go out even more often. However, consumers
expect to spend less when dining out at $11.60 per meal, a slight decrease from 2009.
Extreme Heat
Vineyard Alert
NCSU and Cooperative
Extension released an
alert to grape growers in
July on the extreme heat
and its affect on vines.
The alert recommends
checking your vines for
water stress and offers
watering suggestions
necessary to combat the
heat.
Read more at Vineyard
Alert: Extreme Heat and
Droughty Conditions
Affecting NC Vines.
CARE Act (H.R. 5034) Update
H.R. 5034, the bill better known as the CARE (Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Ef-fectiveness)
Act of 2010, is still ongoing. According to WineAmerica, a hearing for the bill
in July had been postponed indefinitely but is now being discussed possibly for September.
The bill was originally introduced in April in attempt to help improve alcohol regulation by
giving more rights to the states, but in turn, could greatly harm the wine industry and direct
shipping laws. There are now 136 sponsors for the bill, however, the Senate has not yet
introduced a similar bill.
The Wine & Grape Council will continue to monitor the bill and update its progress. Read
more about the bill and its potential effects HERE.
Saluda Wine & Cheese Opening
Saluda Wine & Cheese is opening a new store in western North Carolina focusing on N.C.
wines. The store is located off of I-26 in Saluda, and is looking to carry a wide variety of
wines from across the state. If your winery or distributor is interested, please contact Allen
McCullough at 828-817-3496.
Appalachian State Enology Lab Accepting Wine Samples
Appalachian State University Enology Services Lab is now accepting samples of grapes,
wine, and must for analysis. They are currently providing preliminary analyses including
Brix, Titratable Acidity (TA), pH, Nitrogen (FAN + NH4), Malic Acid, Soluble Solids,
Glucose + Fructose, Volatile Acidity (VA), SO2 (Total and
Free), and Alcohol.
Contributing samples will aid in establishing the lab and al-low
them to cater services to the N.C. wine industry based on
your feedback. Please see the shipping instructions and
send samples with return contact information. There will be
no fee for current analyses as listed. Please contact them re-garding
inquiries for more detailed analyses (petiole analysis,
phenolics, aroma compounds, microbiology panels, etc.).
Appalachian State also welcomes Hollis Price as Wine
Analysis Coordinator. Price is returning to her native North
Carolina after 10 years of working in California. Contact Price at priceeh@appstate.edu or
828-406-6014.
4 Summer 2010
Visit us on
the Web!
www.nccommerce.com/wine
Become a fan of
North Carolina Wine
Carolina Gold
Below are N.C. wineries that won gold medals at recent wine competitions:
N.C. wineries received 16 medals at the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition in July,
including Vineyards on the Scuppernong Somerset winning Best of White Muscadine/
Scuppernong.
Benny Parsons, Cellar 4201 and Old Stone won a total of
five medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition
in May.
Shelton Vineyards won 4 medals, including a double gold for its
Yadkin Valley Riesling, at the Tasters Guild 23rd International
Wine Judging in May.
Shelton Vineyards Yadkin Valley Riesling won Best of Show
honors at the inaugural Budbreak Festival competition.
Cheers To Your Health!
A glass a day may do more than just keep the doctor away.
Follow the links below to see new research showing even more
benefits to raise your glass to.
1. Resveratrol May Reduce Causes of Blindness
2. Wine May Help Arthritis
3. Red Wine May Help Fight Prostate Cancer
4. One to Two Glasses a Day May Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
5. Moderate Wine Drinkers Can Have Healthier Hearts, Lower Stress and
Body Weight
More Americans Are Drinking
A new Gallup poll showed that 67 percent of Americans drink alcohol, the highest rate
in 25 years. Thirty-two percent of drinkers choose wine, ranking second behind beer at 41
percent. Wine is the preferred drink of females, as well as all consumers over 55 years old.
A recent study by the University of Texas and North Texas also found similar
results. From 1992 to 2002, the percentage of men and women drinking increased across
all ethnic groups. Men rose nearly 7 percent while women grew
by 9 percent. While the study found that more Americans are
drinking, the average number of drinks per person each month
remained the same.
Buying or
Selling Grapes?
Check out the
Grape Exchange
to see or post
what’s available.
Yadkin Valley
Wine Company
Names New
Winemaker
The Yadkin Val-ley
Wine Company
named Dan Tallman its
new winemaker in Au-gust.
Tallman comes
most recently from Vir-ginia
and previously
worked in Napa Valley.
Tallman brings his wine-making
experience to
the custom crush facility
owned by Laurel Gray
Vineyards and Shadow
Springs Vineyard.
5 From The Cellar
N.C. Wine & Grape Council
N.C. Department of Commerce
N.C. Division of Tourism,
Film & Sports Development
4324 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699
Phone: 919-715-WINE
Fax: 919-715-5001
www.nccommerce.com/wine
The mission of the
North Carolina Wine
& Grape Council is to
facilitate development of
North Carolina’s grape
and wine industries
by enhancing product
quality or consumers, and
encouraging economic
viability and opportunity
for growers and processors
through education,
marketing and research.
For North Carolina wine industry events, information,
classifieds and resources, go to
www.nccommerce.com/wine
News & Observer highlights
Iron Gate Vineyards and
Haw River Valley.
Fayetteville Observer examines
the potential damaging impact
of the CARE Act.
Times-News previews the
Asheville Wine and Food
Festival.
Raleigh Telegram previews
the Pinehurst Food and
Wine Festival.
Los Angeles Times reports on
saving the Mother Vine.
The Apex Herald features
the opening of Cloer Family
Vineyards.
FOX News highlights
RagApple Lassie and
Surry Community
College.
KTVU highlights the
vineyards of Swan Creek
and N.C. wine.
NBC’s Today Show features
Biltmore Rosé and N.C.
wine.
Charlotte Observer examines
the condition of the Mother
Vine ailing from pesticides.
Architects and Artisans
profiles Raffaldini
Vineyards’ winemaker
Stephen Rigby.
The owners of Hanover
Park Vineyards talk N.C.
wine on Charlotte Talks,
WFAE 90.3.
Our State picks Duplin’s
Muscadine Grape Hull
Pie in the 100 best things
to eat in NC.
WTKR-TV reports the
Mother Vine will survive
after damage from weed
killer.
Richmond County Daily
Journal celebrates Cypress
Bend’s five-year
anniversary.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
highlights N.C. wine and
Yadkin Valley wineries.
RagApple Lassie discusses
opposition to HR 5034 with
FOX8 News.
Charlotte Observer highlights
the Yadkin Valley.
Metro Magazine honors
Shelton Vineyards recent
awards.
My Carolina Today highlights
Duplin Winery.
Triangle Arts & Entertainment
previews the Epicurious
Vino Challenge at Hinnant
Family Vineyards.
Benny Parsons Blush
was served at the NASCAR
Hall of Fame opening in
Charlotte.
Winston-Salem Journal shares
highlights from the Salute!
NC Wine Celebration.
Winston-Salem Journal
recaps a great turnout at the
NC Wine Festival.
WFMY News 2 highlights
the NC Wine Festival and
wine industry.
Winston-Salem Journal
recaps the Salute! NC
Wine Celebration.
News & Observer enjoyed
the wine at the Got To Be
NC Festival.
YES! Weekly honors the fifth
anniversary of Salute! NC
Wine Celebration.
Charlotte Observer celebrates
Biltmore Winery’s 25th
anniversary.
Childress Vineyards and
N.C. wine were featured
in TrailBlazer magazine in
April.
News & Observer previews
upcoming N.C. wine
festivals.
Winston-Salem Journal
highlights the Yadkin Valley
Wine Festival, Salute!
NC Wine Celebration
and NC Wine Festival.
North Carolina Wine in the News