Relatively quiet summer yields sweet muscadine grape season

DUBLIN, NC (WWAY) — Good news in our local wine industry!

Mother Nature brought just the right conditions this summer for area wineries to have a profitable season.

Ron Taylor at Lu Mil Vineyard and Winery in Dublin said a late freeze last year made way for a poor season for muscadine grapes.

With plenty of rain this summer, this season was much more favorable.

Taylor said they starting picking the day after labor day but with a threat of a tropical system they got in the field quickly.

“Because the wines are so heavy a little bit of wind would have blown a lot of fruit off and could have severely damage the vineyard as far as that goes, but we were blessed,” Taylor said. “We had a good crop and a big crop. There were a lot of grapes that were in the field.”

Taylor say if they are making juice or jams, they will be crushed immediately then bottled. For the grapes that will turn into wine it takes about six months.