Winemaking Tradition
Lives On In Edentori
EDENTON - Almost 400
years after Sir Walter
Raleigh's colonists saw the
first wild muscadine grapes,
a small winery on the shores
of Albemarle Sound is mak
ing native grape wine in a
tradition that is older than
North Carolina itself: -
In a converted stable five
miles south of here, Deer
field Vineyards Native
Grape Table Wine is hand
bottled four at a time, hand
corked and hand labeled. -
It is the only winery in
North Carolina.
Sir Walter Raleigh's col
onists reported: "In 1584, we
departed from England with
two boats and found
Roanoke Island on the
fourth of July and the smell
was as sweet as if we had
been in the midst of some
delicate garden, and grapes
grew abundantly. "Every
shrub was covered, climb
ing towards the tops of high
cedars and we think the like
is not be found."
There are several
varieties of muscadines,
which is the generic name
for native North American
grapes. One of these is the
scuppernong, from the
Algonquin Indian name,
"ascopo," meaning sweet
bay tree. Eighteenth cen
tury maps of North Carolina
show a village and a river,
both named Scuppernong.
As early as 1809, the "white
grape" was commercially
planted around Lake
Phelps, which was known
then as Lake Scuppernong.
A census made in 1810
showed that there were 1,368
gallons of wine being made
in Washington County.
Visitors are bid welcome
by a sign in front of the red
barn in which Wine Cellars,
Inc. is housed. The people
who stop in to taste, look and
buy are local curiosity
Construction Begins
Salem Construction Company, Inc. announces the
commencement of construction of Nursing Facilities
located in Yadkinville, Elizabeth City and Morehead City,
North Carolina. These facilities total 300 beds.
Architect for the project is Ray Troxell Associates, Inc.
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
All facilities are scheduled for completion in late summer
of 1977.
SfifrSll fkS' f& VV 1im ii mi iiiiinMj' t Tm L
jyy vsJ: "1" ' '" "1'r'"ni';"l'lri"ni1l'"llir""riliriTri - . h-wimihi J W JEijil
X Sale Starts November 29th And Goes Thru Christmas Eve. W
M Store Hours 9 A.M. Til 5:30 P.M. Monday thru Saturday December 23 A 24 9 AM. til 8:30 P.M.
' Store nlll be closed December 27 & 28 th and twill re-open December 29th
fdS Yffiim. fi s.i beds V fc?t .k1"! M
M Jafff? -JUSSP 7
: ' ts. : eF I
m I Atthlstlmeof the year it Is a pleasure to turn aside from everyday affairs and TX
r . express to our friends, old and new, sincere appreciation for their friendship and patronage.
seeker and tourists who are
"on the wrong road" or have
relatives nearby, according
to winemaker Rick Ervin.
Many of them are
amateur wine makers
themselves. They discuss
their home operations and
seek Ervin's advice on pro
blems they may be having
with the sometimes tricky
fermentation process.
Recently the winery has
been getting 12 to 25 visitors
daily, which indicates
unusually high interest con
sidering its off-the-beaten-track
location.
"It took us a long time,"
Ervin says, "to get the laws
changed to permit tasting
and selling on the same
premises." In little plastic
cups, he offers tastes of the
two wines the winery is cur
rently producing. Both are
Deerfield Vineyards Native
Grape Table Wine. One is
dry scuppernong, the other
is a demi sec, a sweet scup
pernong wine that outsells
the dry two to one. The cost
is $2 per bottle.
The company has plans to
market a rose soon and Er
vin has developed a new for
mula for the demi sec to
make it more mellow, less
acidic, and lighter in body
and aroma.
Ervin, 24, is originally
from Morehead City.
He worked in Goldsboro
as a hairdresser and began
working at the winery last
year as a utility worker with
a job in Edenton didn't pan
out. The former winemaker,
now a cooper with another
winery out-of-state, taught
him the fundamentals of
making wine and he has
read intensely on the sub
ject. A chemist helped him
with the fine points.
Frank Williams is vice
president of Wine Cellar Inc.
and manager of the winery.
express to our friends, old and new, sincere appreciation for their friendship and patronage.
May we convey warm Season's Greetings and extend our best wishes for Good Health, Happiness and Prosperity In the Conning Year.
A former shrimper and
farmer, Williams helped
produce a grape harvester
for DARF, a farm imple
ment manufacturing com
pany of which he is a cor
porate officer. DARF
planted grapes for the
harvester, and that led to
plans for the winery.
Originally,' the wine was
made in Arkansas and bot
tled in North Carolina. Deer
field Vineyards Wine has
been made in North
Carolina since December of
1975.
The winery's present an
nual capacity is 14,500
gallons. Williams said they
hope to grow to 100,000
gallons per year. If they do,
they will still be among the
smallest wineries in the
nation.
"We never intend to get
big," Williams said, "you
lose that personal touch.
"We want to proceed slowly,
let the wine age naturally."
Visitors escorted through
the winery may see the wine
fermenting or aging in two
large wooden tanks. They
were bought for $48 each
form a Virginia winery that
went out of business. Later
they were dismantled and
reassembled in the North
Carolina winery's barn. The
redwood stables are caulked
with cattails and flax seeds
and the tanks are sealed
with tallow and mop heads.
Deerfield Vineyards Wine
is sold only in North
Carolina between Elizabeth
City and Morehead City and
east to Greenville. It also
may be bought in Raleigh
and Chapel Hill.
The grapes from which
the wine is made are grown
near Columbia, N.C. on the
company's 80-acre
vineyard. Presently there
are about 3,000 acres of
grapes grown commercially
in North Carolina.
Edenton is on the northern
edge of scuppernong coun
try, Williams said. "It
grows from here south to
Florida and west to
Mississippi. "So it is a
southern grape, and our
customers are mostly
southerners. "It suits a
southern taste."
Williams said that Deer
field Vineyard wines are not
Atthlstlmeof the
I I 4
m a v a
1
WINE LEVEL Rick Ervin checks the wine level in one of
the vats at Deerfield Vineyards in Edenton as two visitors
observe. (Photo courtesy of The Chowan Herald)
blended as much as some
other scuppernong wines.
"We try to hold the scupper
nong aroma and taste."
No other winery makes a
dry scuppernong wine, ac
cording to Williams.
"Others are sweeter and
have a higher alcoholic con
tent," he said. "This is more
of a table wine."
Many happy
returns.
year it Is a pleasure
North Carolina's early
settlers found a wealth of
grapes growing wild and
soon wine making was an
important part of colonial
life in the eastern part of the
state. At Edenton, Deerfield
Vineyards Native Grape
Table Wine continues that
tradition.
Takt stock in America.
Give US. Savings Bonds.
to turn aside from everyday affairs and
The Perquimans Weekly, Hertford, N.C, Thursday, November 25, 1976 Page?
Promotions Are Announced
Norfolk Carolina
Telephone Company Board
of Directors at its November
10 meeting ' announced
several promotions. Chas.
Camden Blades moved from
Vice-President to Senior
Vice-President. W.C.
Meekins, Jr., moved to
Vice-President, retaining
bis titles of Secretary,
Treasurer, and Commercial
Manager. T.F. Daniels also
moved to Vice-President,
retaining his titles of Assis
tant Secretary, Assistant
ALBEMARLE PRODUCTION
CREDIT ASSOCIATION
207 E. CHURCH ST. ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.
U.S. HIGHWAY 17, N. EDENTON, N.C.
Treasurer, and Marketing
Manager. R.M. Byrum
moved from Chief Accoun
tant to Vice-President-Comptroller;
and D.G.
Steele from Assistant Chief
Accountant to Assistant
Comptroller. S.T. Barrow, a
management trainee,
became Assistant Com
mercial Manager.
Blades began his career
with the company in 1919,
and has held various po
sitions since that time. He
has been a director since
Farming requires hard
work, time and determination.
That's a lot to give, but it has
kept us clothed and fed better
than any other people on earth.
It is to the American farmer that
we owe our celebration of
Thanksgiving. Without him there
would be no horn of plenty.
The Production Credit
Association would like to thank
the farmer for his contributions
to America and to let him know
that he can depend on us.
1919. He serves as Chairman
of the Executive Commit
tee. Meekins began in 1954 as
Commercial Represen
tative. He has been a direc
tor since 1973, and is on the
Executive Committee.
Daniels began in 1968 as
General Staff Assistant. He
also served as Assistant
Commercial Manager. He is
on the Executive Commit
tee.' Byrum began in 1965 as an
Accountant.
Depend on us