Discovering NC Agriculture is a year-long series focusing on twelve N.C. grown, raised, caught, and made commodities. Tune in each month to see how an N.C. commodity is grown, harvested, packed for consumer use and more. Learn nutritional value, find fun recipes to try, hear from local chefs who use that product, and other unique commodity facts throughout the series. We look forward to helping you better understand some of our N.C. commodities and how they impact your everyday lives!
For some North Carolinians, the taste of muscadine grapes is the taste of their childhood. At the 250-acre Lu Mil Vineyard in Dublin, named after Lucille and Miller Taylor, they’ve been growing these nostalgia inducing grapes since the early 2000s.
The Taylor family, before opening the vineyard, was a leader in US agricultural innovation and development. They worked on inventing, patenting, manufacturing, and distributing large, mechanized equipment such as the nationally sold Taylor Waterstove. The family used their farm as a test site for their many inventions. They first began growing grape vines to test their over-the-row mechanical grape harvester, the Taylor Grape Harvester.
It was in 2005 that they produced and sold their first estate wines, and they’ve continued to grow since then. Today, they have 78-acres of their land currently under vine and they grow 12 different varieties of muscadine grapes across the vineyard.
Muscadine grapes are naturally sweet, making them perfect for eating by themselves or making into products. At Lu Mil’s sister company, D’Vine foods, they make products such as muscadine pepper jelly, muscadine preserve, muscadine salsa, muscadine barbecue sauce, alcohol-free wine, and their popular muscadine cider slushie. Their muscadine wine selections range from a semi-dry to a traditional full bodied sweet red with each being distinct from the other.
Muscadine grapes have big health benefits that not many people know about. The simple science is that they have an extra set of chromosomes making them healthier than other grapes. Denise Taylor Bridgers, granddaughter of the Taylors, shared that doctors have sent their patients to the vineyard with “100% muscadine grape juice” written as their prescription.
“When people mention muscadine grapes they think back into the history. It invokes a feeling of nostalgia,” Bridgers said, “People say this tastes just like the grape vines that used to grow on the edge of the woods when I was little.”
For visitors looking for a taste of muscadine wine, you will find the Lu Mil Vineyard Gift Shop and Tasting Room open 364 days a year — every day but Christmas!
“We do it for the families,” said Bridgers. She encourages people to come out to the farm for the day, taste the delicious muscadine offerings and enjoy time in nature on the walking trails or by the fishing ponds. They pride themselves on being a family-friendly vineyard and working farm with something for all ages. Multiple event spaces are available for hosting weddings, receptions, birthday parties, retirement dinners, small trade shows and more.
If you visit this beautiful vineyard and decide you can’t get enough, they also have several cabins on the property with stunning views of the grape vines and the surrounding scenery. We are so thankful for all that Lu Mil Vineyard does for our state’s agriculture industry!
