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it newsobserver.com nwsobsrv+. com pKint window A close window 0 Published: Oct 3, 2005 Modified: Oct 3, 2005 1:15 HM N.C. turns.over a new leaf: grape Tobacco giving way to vineyards The Associated Press MOUNT AIRY -- Like many North Carolinians who've ventured into growing wine grapes, Van and Kathy Coe came from farming families but didn't consider themselves farmers. The threat of losing her family's farm changed that. Five years ago, the Coes planted about five acres of grapes on the Surry County farm that had been in Kathy Coe's family for more than 100 years. "This was the farm I was raised in," said Coe, who works full time as a registered nurse. "It was tobacco when I was growing up. It's the field I said I would never go back to." As tobacco fades as a prominent North Carolina crop, interest in growing grapes and making wine is on the rise. The number of wineries has more than doubled in the state in five years -- from 21 in 2000 to 50 today, with another five expected to open by the end of 2005. At least 350 vineyards produce grapes for wine production, many of them in the Yadkin Valley. But grapes may never surpass the production of such North Carolina commodities as hogs or soybeans, state agriculture officials say. Grapes are unlikely to replace tobacco, as many people hope, though they thrive in similar soil and climate. And an export wine industry is years away. Success largely hinges on one point: quality. Consistency in the quality of the state's wines is one of the bigger challenges the industry faces as it grows, said Gil Geise, a viticulture instructor at Surry Community College. Quality, he said, starts in the vineyard, where some say about 75 percent of winemaking begins. "The state has spent a lot of money marketing the wines that are being produced," said Grant Holder, a chemistry professor at Appalachian State University. "Now, they should concentrate on maximizing the quality of the wine, maximizing consistency so that those prices that must be charged for North Carolina wines are true reflections of the quality." Finding a signature grape is another challenge, experts said. Rainfall and humidity force growers in North Carolina to harvest grapes early at 21 percent or 22 percent sugar -- rather than the ideal 24 percent or 25 percent. A new variety may be the answer, experts said, possibly one that thrives in wet conditions. Andy Walker, a viticulture professor and grape breeder at the University of California at Davis, said the Yadkin region's growers would always have to compensate for the early harvest of grapes, either through viticulture techniques or.in winemaking and blending. "Learning that is going to be the tricky part," he said. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast http : / /www.newsobserver. com/news /v- printer /story /2 80893 0p -925 3 673 c.html 10/3/2005