The chicken coop was the first clue we weren’t visiting a typical California winery. The second clue was the adjoining moonshine liquor distillery. And the third clue was that I had never heard of, or tasted, the grape they grow here.

The heat and humidity of the Carolina summers are too severe for the most common winemaking grape varietals, but the hardy muscadine thrives here and is the foundation of the region’s wine country. Most of the wine produced from this grape is of the sweet and semi-sweet varieties that I don’t usually care for. But Irvin House Vineyard is different in that they primarily produce dryer “table style” wines. The six wines we tasted were solid efforts for a winery that is just seven years old. And while this ain’t Napa, it ain’t bad either.