North Carolina - Pine Level - Hinnant Family Vineyard and Winery

Hinnant Family Vineyard and Winery - (July 2017) There is only one type of tasting at the winery so my wife and I would educate ourselves on NC wines.

We started with Carlos, a type of muscadine grape, done in a semi-dry style. It was sweet at first, similar to a Niagara, but with a clean finish, similar to some Diamond wines. Next was the blanc du Bois, a University of Florida hybrid, that is similar to sauvignon blanc; it had an interesting flavor, but not as crisp as a sauvignon blanc. The Carolina Wildflower was Carlos sweetened with honey; a good porch wine where it could take you by surprise. We ended the whites with the Southern Sangria White, made with the blanc du Bois and peach, mango, pomegranate and strawberry juices. The peach caught you at the aroma, the mango with the first taste and the strawberry lingering finish.

The first red, norton, a Virginia native, was aged in whisky barrels; unfortunately, the aging was overpowering. The Southern Red is a noble, another muscadine variety, based wine reminding me more of church wine, but just not as sweet. The Loggerhead Red is 75% Noble and 25% blanc du Bois for a blush; it was a surprisingly light wine, but not sweet. The red wines were finished with the Southern Sangria Red, the noble base with peach, pomegranate, blackberry and strawberry juices; it was not as good as the white version.

There was one fruit wine, blackberry, but the aroma was not blackberry, but the taste was.There were other wines available to purchase and we chose the Dangerous Waters blanc du Bois, a fortified version of what we tasted.