United States of Wine

Duplin Winery – Carolina Red – Sweet Muscadine Wine – North Carolina

Purchased: Whitey’s Liquors, Linthicum Heights, MD

Purchase: $13.99

I lived in North Carolina 15 years ago, so I had previously heard of Duplin Winery. Though I had previously tried a glass of their wine, I couldn’t remember anything about it. So as I looked for a wine from the Tar Heel state, I decided to go back and try a wine from their oldest and largest winery.

Duplin was founded in 1975 in Rose Hill, a small town in eastern North Carolina, that also happens to be the home of the “World’s Largest Frying Pan.” The weather gets hot and sticky in the summer months, which is perfect for their native Muscadine grape.

The Muscadine grape thrives in the summer heat, and it grows from the south central part of the Atlantic coast to the far southeastern part, stretching into Florida. And with that heat comes a sweet, round grape with thick skin. It’s ideal for making a refreshing wine for hot days.

As someone who isn’t fond of sweet wines like Moscato, I knew this wasn’t going to be my cup of tea … wine. I searched a shop for the driest wine from Duplin, settling on their Carolina Red, identified as a 10 out of 13 for sweetness. I chilled the wine as instructed.

As you can see in the images, this wine was a bright red color, like cranberry juice, but clearer. The first scent I got was of a cherry-scented car freshener that was wearing out. It was almost too cherry, especially for a wine that wasn’t made with cherries. Inhaling more deeply, I got the light scent of antiseptic, like when you walk into a hospital. But I couldn’t tell if it was from the wine, where it was stored, the bottle it came in, or from my wine glass.

Reminding myself that this was a sweet muscadine wine, and not a drier red, I took my first sips. There was an immediate juice-like sweetness to it with a slight carbonation. There was a bit of a sweet and sour play on my tongue. As my tasting partner said, “it takes like a child’s juice drink that was created to try to taste like wine.”

But with each sip, it only felt sweeter. At one point, I had to wonder if I could develop diabetes from drinking this wine. I contemplated pouring a second glass for this tasting, as all I could taste was a very sugary juice, the kind that came in plastic jugs as a child.

Though I tasted this Muscadine wine in the winter, I sense that would be a nice treat during a summer day. It could be refreshing under the shade, but the 12% ABV could easily sneak up on you.

In the end, I would say that as a sweet wine, this Carolina Red would do well for someone who didn’t like drier, more well-rounded wines. If someone like overly-sweet cocktails, this muscadine wine is for you. Unfortunately, it’s not for me, and in the end, I had to pour out half of the bottle.

Score: 3/10