Silver Coast Winery

A taste of elegance has emerged in Brunswick County. The Silver Coast Winery is just a few miles west of U.S. Highway 17. Tucked neatly between pine forests and farmland, the 40-acre site is home to an award-winning winery with a very full-bodied future.

Proprietors John and Maryann Azzato began with the idea of a wine club. Her idea grew into a winery after she learned that it was illegal to import wine into North Carolina. Together she and her family found and renovated an old barbeque restaurant 15 minutes inland from Ocean Isle Beach. The doors to the Silver Coast Winery opened in May 2002.

Named for the silvery white beaches of the South Brunswick islands, the 13,000-square-foot winery houses two tasting rooms, an art gallery, a gift shop, a banquet room, and the wine making room. The art gallery highlights local artists and displays the Silver Coast labels, all of which have been designed by local artists. Wine is available to purchase by the glass or by the bottle.

The winery's one-acre vineyard of "Carlos" Muscadine grapes are harvested in the fall by home winemakers and churches who preserve the grapes for jams and jellies. The rest of the grapes are used in the winery's fall festival.

For production, the winery imports most of the grapes from the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, where growing conditions offer more variety. Two to three times a year, the grapes are harvested and shipped overnight to Silver Coast. Here they are cleaned, juiced, and blended to be stored for bottling. At bottling time, Silver Coast hires a contractor that uses a self-contained tractor trailer bottling system.

Silver Coast produces between 8,000 and 10,000 cases per year. That amounts to about 25,000 thousand gallons. The winery offers seven reds: Merlot, Reserve Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tesouro, and the Touriga "Cape Fear Blood Wine." The non vintage Calabash Red and the Holiday Red round out the list. White wines include Chardonnay, American Oak Chardonnay, and Premium Oak Chardonnay. Also offered are a Seyval Blanc, a Viognier, and a Calabash White. The two blush wines offered are the White Merlot and Rose.

The Calabash White is a table wine created by the winery that is blended from a Chardonnay base with a touch of Sevyal and Viognier grapes. "It is a lighter wine designed to accompany Calabash seafood or simply to enjoy on a hot summer day," says Dana Keeler, a 30-year veteran winemaker who has been with Silver Coast for several years. He recommends the Reserve Merlot, which is a dry red that is soft and silky with a hint of black cherry and vanilla – a good match with grilling – especially steak.

The winery has become known regionally for its festivals....