When traffic shifted, the Squire started pouring

What does Interstate 40 have to do with the creation of a winery? A lot, if you hear the history behind the Country Squire Winery in Kenansville.

Duplin Journal spoke with Country Squire Winery manager Robbie Smith, who revealed the concept came from his mother-in-law, who purchased the Country Squire in 1992.

“My mother-in-law was part of the Duplin County Tourism Board,” Smith said. “She noticed an upswing in the number of wineries in North Carolina. She thought it would be a great crowd drawer.”

The hope was to replace the traffic lost through the area after I-40 was completed.

“A lot of traffic that normally would be coming by us, like people going to Camp Lejeune or going to Fort Bragg, we were no longer getting,” Smith said.

His mother-in-law presented him and his wife with an idea and an offer. They had been married since the mid-1980s and their children were all teenagers and almost out of high school.

“She offered to back us in opening a winery if we would run it,” Smith said, adding, “We jumped all over it.”

Jumping all over it meant work, as well as using products sourced from others.

“I raise some of our own grapes,” Smith said. “I buy grapes from local growers. I buy juices from all over the country, as a matter of fact, some out of California, some out of New York.”

The grapes Smith grows are cultivated in a vineyard on his farm and in another vineyard in Kenansville, adjacent to the Country Squire Restaurant.

The journey to learning how to make wine began close to home at James Sprunt Community College.

“My wife had taken a course at James Sprunt, so she knew a little bit about winemaking. I was raised on a farm, so I knew a little bit about growing stuff and we put two-and-two together,” he explained.

Smith said he has been “hitting the road” for the last 20 years promoting the restaurant, the winery and the motel.

When asked if eastern North Carolina had become “Napa Valley East,” Smith laughed and said, “Well, people in Napa Valley would disagree with that.”

One notable difference in eastern North Carolina winemaking is the focus on one type of grape.

“We basically stick with the muscadines,” Smith explained. “There are some guys a little further out east that are trying to raise some of the vinifera grapes, but we’ve done really well with muscadines. Our muscadine sales way outnumber our vinifera grape sales in eastern North Carolina.”

Smith believes that having two well-known wineries in Duplin County — Country Squire and Duplin Winery — benefits both businesses.

“People come to visit us and they’ll come visit Duplin Winery, and vice versa.”