{"id":2184,"date":"2017-10-05T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T17:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2024-08-25T20:34:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T00:34:28","slug":"cypress-bend-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/cypress-bend-vineyards\/","title":{"rendered":"Cypress Bend Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently had to a chance to visit Cypress Bend Vineyards<\/a> in Wagram, NC. \u00a0Cypress Bend is located near the Lumber River in Scotland County and opened in 2005. \u00a0Dan and Tina Smith are the owners. \u00a0The area is known as Riverton Farm and has been in the family since the early 1800s. \u00a0They have been featured on North Carolina Weekend<\/a> and Flavor NC Presents From the Vineyard in North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vineyard<\/h1>\n

\"\"Cypress Bend Vineyards has around 35 acres under vine. \u00a0They exclusively grow muscadine. \u00a0Carlos is the predominate variety. \u00a0They also grow smaller amounts of Noble, Magnolia, Doreen, and Triumph. Grapes are usually harvested in mid to late September using a harvester. \u00a0Muscadines to do not grow in bunches like other grape species making a harvester the most efficient means of harvesting them.<\/p>\n

Carlos makes white wines. \u00a0It’s bronze in color. Fruit grows to about half an inch in diameter.<\/p>\n

Noble is a red variety. \u00a0Its fruit also grows to about half an inch in diameter. \u00a0Pressed juice is usually bright red in color.<\/p>\n

Magnolia, Doreen, and Triumph are all white varieties. \u00a0The fruit is medium to large in size while the skins are bronze in color. \u00a0Doreen is noted for its football like shape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Winemaking<\/h1>\n
\"\"

Bottling Line at Cypress Bend Vineyards<\/p><\/div>\n

Luckily for us, the day we visited was a bottling day. \u00a0Winemaker Nadia Hetzel was there overseeing the process. \u00a0She took some time to talk with us and take us on a tour.<\/p>\n

While we don’t want to reveal all of Nadia’s approach, we will say that she strives to avoid the foxy notes that are often found in muscadine wines. \u00a0She has a few “secrets” to that. \u00a0One is the gentle pressing. \u00a0This leads to less bitterness. \u00a0Also, she uses a specific type of yeast. \u00a0We’ll leave you guessing on that one. \u00a0We believe this makes a difference in the wines.<\/p>\n

As only modest fans of muscadine wine, we loved everything we tasted at Cypress Bend. \u00a0Nadia trained in Germany and has worked in several wine regions around the world. \u00a0She’s well versed, personable, and passionate about her job. \u00a0This seems to be a trait of everyone at Cypress Bend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wine Tasting<\/h1>\n
\"\"

Carlos grapes at Cypress Bend Vineyards<\/p><\/div>\n

After our tour and tasting, Nadia joined us in the tasting room to lead us through the tasting. \u00a0Here are our notes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Christina’s Magnolia – This dry wine has a delicate nose with a palate that gives flavors of honey, pineapple and lemon. \u00a0The acidity is bright.<\/li>\n
  • Riverton Estate – Made from Carlos, it gives a jammy muscadine nose with tart fruit and a clean finish. \u00a0This was our favorite wine.<\/li>\n
  • Livy Estate – Named for Dan Smith’s grandfather, this semi-dry wine has a floral nose with flavors of pineapple and tart fruit.<\/li>\n
  • Catherine – Named for the matriarch of the family, this semi-sweet wine has a light, delicate nose and drinks like a lightly sweet Riesling. \u00a0This would pair well with spicy Asian food.<\/li>\n
  • Reminiscene – Slight effervescent and semi-sweet, this wine has had papaya and kumquat added. \u00a0This leads to floral orange blossom nose with lots of papaya and kumquat on the palate.<\/li>\n
  • 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon – Made from North Carolina fruit and producing a leathery and dark red fruit nose, this wine has red currant and cocoa on the palate.<\/li>\n
  • 2013 Malbec – Also made from North Carolina fruit, the nose shows dark currant and cocoa. \u00a0The currant continues on the palate with a touch of vanilla. \u00a0The tannins are soft.<\/li>\n
  • Sundown – This semi-sweet wine made from Noble and Carlos has a jammy nose with hints of raspberry. \u00a0The palate provides more tart raspberry.<\/li>\n
  • Isabel – A semi-sweet wine made from Magnolia, the nose is floral with a hint of ripe apple. \u00a0The palate is slightly sweet with flavors of apple and pineapple.<\/li>\n
  • Sunburnt Boys – A wine with blueberry and grapefruit extract added, the nose is largely citrus. \u00a0The palate moves from lighter blueberry and jammy muscadine notes to a big grapefruit finish.<\/li>\n
  • A Sweetheart Stream – Infused with pineapple and mango, the pineapple predominates on the nose with the mango in the background. \u00a0The palate begins with sweet pineapple and finishes with a hint of mango.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    We highly recommend a visit to Cypress Bend. \u00a0Even if you’re not the biggest fan of muscadine, we feel confident you will find one you like. \u00a0And if you don’t, there’s also vinifera wines made from North Carolina grapes for you. \u00a0So, go see them! \u00a0Tell them we sent you!<\/p>\n

    Cheers!<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We recently had to a chance to visit Cypress Bend Vineyards in Wagram, NC. \u00a0Cypress Bend is located near the Lumber River in Scotland County and opened in 2005. \u00a0Dan and Tina Smith are the owners. \u00a0The area is known as Riverton Farm and has been in the family since the early 1800s. \u00a0They haveContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[406],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-muscadine","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2184"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2240,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2184\/revisions\/2240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}