Skip to Content

Muscadine Wine: What You Need to Know

Share with a friend

Muscadine wine? Is that like the moonshine of wine? This grape may surprise you. With tons of antioxidants and cancer-fighting radicals, muscadine wine is heart healthy. Keep reading to learn more about muscadine wine.

Disclosure: My trip to Johnston County was provided courtesy of the Johnston County Visitors Bureau before the #OCNC2017 #NATJA conference. All opinions are 100% mine.

Muscadine Wine

Made from American grapes, muscadine wine is a sweet wine, almost like a dessert wine. And while the fruit is already sweet many of the winemakers add sugar. Muscadine wines pairs with beef, lamb, and seafood.| wine | Hinnant Vineyards | Things to do in Johnston County, North Carolina | TravelingWellForLess.com

You’d think with 4,653 bonded wineries in California there would be no need to travel to drink wine. So when I had a chance to try muscadine wine in Johnston County, North Carolina, who was I to say no?

Made from American grapes, muscadine wine is a sweet wine, almost like a dessert wine. And while the fruit is already sweet many of the winemakers add sugar. Muscadine wines pairs with beef, lamb, and seafood.

Fun tip: Resistant to many diseases, some California vineyards use Muscadine root for grafting stock.

Health Benefits of Muscadine Wine

Muscadine grapes favor warm, humid climates in the Southeastern US like Johnston County, North Carolina. Because the grapes range in color from green to dark purple (almost black), they’re used for making red and white wine.

vines can grow to over 100 feet a year, producing up to 90 lbs of grapes. The grapes, large, round, almost like golf balls, grow in small, loose clusters. | muscadine wine | Beer, wine, and shine trail | Things to do in Johnston County, North Carolina | wine | TravelingWellForLess.com

If unchecked, vines can grow to over 100 feet a year, producing up to 90 lbs of grapes. The grapes, large, round, almost like golf balls, grow in small, loose clusters.

Muscadine wine, rich in polyphenols, resveratrol, and ellagic acid is a powerful antioxidant.

Studies have proven that:

  • It’s good for your heart
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Kills cancer cells
  • Improves learning in Alzheimer’s patients

Muscadine Wineries in Johnston County

Only thirty minutes from Raleigh there are two muscadine wineries in Johnston County, North Carolina.

Hinnant Vineyards

Established in 1971, Hinnant Vineyards is the largest muscadine vineyard in North Carolina. They started making wine in 2003. | muscadine wine | Beer, wine, and shine trail | things to do in Johnston County, North Carolina | wine | TravelingWellForLess.com

Established in 1971, Hinnant Vineyards is the largest muscadine vineyard in North Carolina. But it wasn’t until 2003, that they sold their first bottle of muscadine wine.

Their wines have won many awards including:

  • 2011 Platinum Medal San Diego International Wine Competition
  • 2011 Gold Medal San Francisco International Wine Competition
  • 2014 Double Gold Medal NC State Fair Wine Competition
  • 2014 Best in Show, NC State Fair

Daily wine tasting including a souvenir glass, is available for $5 per person.

Hinnant also makes a non-alcoholic grape juice.

Interested in trying your hand at picking muscadine grapes? Visit Hinnant Family Vineyards in September during harvest season.

Hinnant Family Vineyards
826 Pine Level Micro Road, Pine Level, NC

Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm

Gregory Vineyards

Gregory Vineyards produced their first muscadine wine in 2011. This one stop shop (wedding venue, winery, restaurant, and distillery) has won many awards. | muscadine wine | Beer, wine, and shine trail | Things to do in Johnston County, North Carolina | wine | TravelingWellForLess.com

Gregory Vineyards produced their first muscadine wine in 2011. This one stop shop (wedding venue, winery, restaurant, and distillery) has won many awards including:

  • 2013 Gold Medal NC State Fair Wine Competition
  • 2013 Double Silver Medal NC State Fair Wine Competition

The family friendly vineyard offers wine tasting, tours and a trolley ride from $17 per person.

Pro-tip: Check Groupon and Living Social for deals.

Make like Lucy and join the fun of pigeage aka grape-stomping at Gregory Vineyards from 1 pm to 6 pm on Oct 1, 2017.

Gregory Vineyards
274 Bowling Spring Dr, Angier, NC
Wednesday through Saturday from 12 pm to 9 pm

Note: Coupons only accepted from 12 pm to 4 pm.

Conclusion

While I’m not normally a fan of sweet wine, muscadine wine was a pleasant surprise. Sweet enough to satisfy a picky palette but without being cloyingly sweet. And with all the health benefits of the muscadine grape, what’s not to like?

What’s your favorite muscadine wine?

Pin this to your food and drink, wine, travel, or vacation board:

Muscadine wine is a semi-sweet wine made from American grapes. It's one of a few wines that have tremendous health benefits. | muscadine wine | Beer, wine, and shine trail | Things to do in Johnston County, North Carolina | wine | TravelingWellForLess.com

Comment, tweet, or share this post.

Get the best credit card bonuses.

Follow us on Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube

Got a question? Or want help, suggestions, travel tips, learn how to travel for free, find out about travel deals, and maximize your miles and points? Use the subscription box below to sign-up and get post updates by email.

Featured image courtesy of Johnston County Visitors Bureau.

Traveling Well For Less has partnered with Your Best Credit Cards for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling Well For Less and YBCC may receive a commission from card issuers.


Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best card to get started in the world of miles and points. It is the first card you should get to start traveling for free because the welcome offer is 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months.
 
My favorite perks about this card are earning 5X points on travel when booked through the Chase portal (2X if direct purchase), 3X points on dining, $50 yearly credit on hotels booked through the Chase portal, no foreign transaction fees, and transferring points to 13 airline and hotel partners like Hyatt, United, and Southwest.
 

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is one of my favorite cards for earning cash back card and travel rewards. It offers a welcome offer of an additional 1.5% cash back on all your purchases up to $20,000 your first year.
 
My favorite perks about this card are earning 5% cash back on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal, 3% cash back at drugstores and restaurants (including delivery and takeout), 1.5% cash back on all other purchases and no annual fee. When paired with cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, you can use your points to travel for free.
 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Krupa Nagda

Wednesday 6th of September 2017

Very well written. I have never tried Wines but this post has certainly tempted me to do so. Thanks :) great stuff.

Adrenaline Romance

Sunday 3rd of September 2017

How does it pair with cheese? We are alcohol-intolerant, but after reading that it is a sweet wine, I think we can handle Muscadine wine. We hope it's available in wine shops here in Cebu, Philippines.

Anita

Monday 4th of September 2017

I have not heard of muscadine wines before. I love visiting wineries, so it would be a great addition to the list. Thanks for sharing.

Lydia Smith

Thursday 31st of August 2017

I was going to ask you to preach on about a wine that is good for the health, my folks don't think that way. A wine tour at the the vineyards for that less is something amazing for popular wine such as Muscadine. I'll treat myself to such affordable luxury whenever I visit North Carolina

Katy

Tuesday 29th of August 2017

A wine that's good for you?! This is a dream come true! Gorgeous photos and great post, will definitely try and get my hands on some of this!

Indranil Chowdhury

Monday 28th of August 2017

We would love to visit this someday. Your article was so comprehensive. We love wine and vineyards. This was beautifully written. Thanks for sharing. PS: Love the pictures.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.