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Florida Wine, Wineries
and Wine Tasting
The Florida wine industry has been around since the first European settlers put out their welcome mats.
In 1562, two years before William Shakespeare was born, French Huguenots settled in an area near what is today Jacksonville and found grapes growing wild and in abundance. They soon discovered that these grapes made delicious wine and quick as you could say Vitis rotundifolia, the first commercial wineries were established in America.Fast forward about 450 years and you find there are over 30 wineries located throughout the state. Some are major producers that ship wine all over the country and some are tiny, family-run businesses that sell small amounts of wine to local customers; but they all have one thing in common - a passion for the grape.
The grape, in this case, is a hearty native variety called Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia). Muscadine grapes grow only in southern climates and are extremely resistant to the fungi and pests that can kill the European varieties such as Chardonnay and Merlot. Muscadine grapes have been found to be high in the antioxidant Resveratrol and include varieties called Carlos, Noble and Magnolia. These grapes are, by nature, sweeter than European varieties and the wines produced are generally sweeter as well. In Northwest Florida there are eight wineries producing and selling Florida wine. They range in production capacity from 1,000 gallons to 75,000 gallons. Three of these wineries are located on the beach, giving sunbathers a different kind of tourist attraction to enjoy in between slathering on sunscreen.
All of the wineries offer wine tasting of their wines which include Carlos, Noble, Magnolia and Conquistador, a Florida hybrid bunch grape, as well as Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Some have fortified wines like port and sherry, some have sparkling wine and some have fruit wines like blueberry wine, blackberry wine, even mango, key lime and grapefruit wines (think Sauvignon Blanc goes tropical). Most of them have gift shops that sell wine and wine accessories and several of them offer Florida wine gift baskets for special occasions or just for fun.
The eight Northwest Florida wineries are:
Yellow River Vineyards in Holt, Okaloosa County
Chautauqua Vineyards & Winery in DeFuniak Springs, Walton County
Emerald Coast Winery in Miramar Beach, Walton County
Old Oaks Vineyard in Bonifay, Holmes County
Three Oaks Winery in Vernon, Washington County
Panama City Beach Winery in Panama City Beach, Bay County
SeaBreeze Winery in Panama City Beach, Bay County
Monticello Vineyards & Winery in Monticello, Jefferson County
I have to admit, I love visiting wineries, sampling the wines and talking to the winemakers. I don’t actually want to make wine myself – it’s hard work – but I love to hear about the process and taste the results. In my first wine book, I wrote about the North Carolina wine industry in “Carolina Wine County, The Complete Guide.” At that time, the industry was just re-emerging from a long sleep that included Prohibition and other government regulation. Today there are over 100 wineries in North Carolina with more being added each year, a testament to the love of the grape.
Although the Florida wine industry has been slower to grow, a lot of the research that has helped catapult other states into vino economics has occurred in the agricultural sciences departments at both the University of Florida and Florida State University. Over the years, many hybrid grape varieties have been developed in these labs along with research into more productive vineyard methods.
With so much happening in the wine industry, and being a self-proclaimed wino, it was inevitable that I should write another book. So, it's here, the "Northwest Florida Wine Tour.” I decided to make this an eBook so that wine travelers could download it to their laptops, smart phones and other devices and have the information with them on the go. Read more about it on the Buy my Wine Book page or click on the Add to Cart button in the right column of this page to buy the book now.
The book is a complete travel guide featuring interviews with the winemakers and owners, complete wine lists for each winery, places to stay, fun places to eat, things to do, state parks, historical sites, wine festivals and more. You can take the tour or create your own mini-vacation. So, are you ready to taste some Florida wine? I say, wine not?
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Northwest Florida Wine Tour
Print Edition
Did you know wine was made in Florida more than 50 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? Or that Muscadine grapes are native to the Southeast? You can learn about Florida wine and visit all the wineries in Northwest Florida with this unique travel guide. If you like wine and you like wineries, this is the only guide that tells you where to find all of the Northwest Florida wineries, who are the wine makers and what wines they make. There's also a complete list of wine festivals so you won't miss any Northwest Florida wine events, recipes and cooking with wine, things to do and more. You can buy the Northwest Florida Wine Tour print edition today and get it in time to take with you on spring break!
This is the only travel guide to the vineyards and wineries of Northwest Florida and it's an easy to use, comprehensive listing of attractions, B&Bs, shopping, state parks and historic sites, places to eat, annual wine festival events and more. You can use the book to make a daytrip, or plan a complete wine tour vacation. Best of all you can get it two ways, either as a downloadable e-book ($5.00) or in the popular print version ($11.95).
Go to the Northwest Florida Wine Tour page for more details or you can order the book now by clicking on the Add to Cart button above and start Exploring right now.
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