Wine
Wine & Grape Council
- Promoted 108 North Carolina wineries in 49 counties across the state in 2011. The number of wineries has doubled since 2005 and grown five-fold in the last decade.
- The North Carolina wine and grape industry generates an economic impact of more than $1.28 billion, and produces more than $51 million in state and local tax revenue.
- The wine industry supports nearly 7,600 jobs for North Carolinians.
- Wineries attract more than 1.26 million tourists a year across the state, and generate $156 million in visitor spending.
- North Carolina ranks 10th in the nation for wine and grape production.
- New legislation in July 2011 created two wine advisory committees: Muscadine Advisory Committee and Vinifera Advisory Committee. The wine program is focused on promoting wine tourism in North Carolina and driving visitation to the state’s wineries.
- North Carolina wineries and wines were promoted locally, nationally and internationally through public relations and advertising.
- Participated in the Division’s media missions throughout the year to showcase North Carolina wines for the media in New York, Washington, D.C., etc.
- Redesigned and produced the new N.C. Winery Guide, a 56-page booklet featuring maps, breakouts on grape varieties, history, amenities and photos. There were 200,000 copies produced and distributed to travelers, tourism authorities and welcome centers across the state, nationally and internationally.
- Developed and launched a mobile website for visitncwine.com that includes listings, geo-location for proximity searches, search capability for wineries and winery events and filters for the state's three American Viticultural Areas and winery amenities.
- Upgraded the N.C. wine consumer website, visitncwine.com, with additional content and improved site navigation and mapping.
- Redesigned the N.C. wine industry site, nccommerce.com/wine, with improved content, resources, navigation and layout consistent with Department of Commerce sites redesign.
- Promoted N.C. wineries and visitncwine.com with outdoor billboards on key corridor highways throughout the state.
- Participated in N.C. Winegrowers Association and N.C. Muscadine Grape Association annual conferences and meetings.
- Partnered with University of North Carolina Greensboro to begin conducting a wine tourism study to better understand wine tourists’ motivations and demographics for targeting and improving marketing strategies.
- Gov. Perdue declared September 2011 as Wine and Grape Appreciation Month in North Carolina.
- Partnered with North Carolina State Fair to host 2011 N.C. State Fair Wine Competition in October. Nearly 450 commercial wines and 100 amateur wines were entered in the competition. Top award winners were displayed and winery guides were distributed during the N.C. State Fair.