
The N.C. Food Wine and Beer Expo is this weekend at the State Fairgrounds as part of the Got to Be NC Festival.
Sample some North Carolina goodness at the State Fairgrounds this weekend as the N.C. Food Wine and Beer Expo sets up in the Exposition Center on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This event is part of the annual Got to be N.C. Festival.
“The Got to Be N.C. Festival is a celebration of N.C. agriculture,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “What better way to celebrate than giving everyone an opportunity to sample products that are made in our state.”
The expo features more than 80 companies sampling and selling products made in North Carolina. A $2 admission fee for ages 12 and up includes a coupon sheet with more than $24 in deals with the vendors.
Visitors will find a wide range of products including barbecue sauces, cheese straws, candy, honey, sausage, dressings and breads. Eleven wineries will also be sampling and selling their products, plus Raleigh Brewing Company will offer several different styles of craft beer. The wineries represent some of the locations that are included on the Muscadine Heritage, Coastal Plain and I-40 wine trails. It’s a great way to take a winery tour without leaving Raleigh. Wineries include:
• Adams Vineyards, Willow Springs
• Cauble Creek Vineyards, Salisbury
• Dennis Vineyards, Albermarle
• Duplin Winery, Duplin
• Gregory Vineyard and Winery, Angier
• Locklear Vineyard and Winery, Maxton
• Lumil Vineyard, Elizabethtown
• Stephen’s Vineyard and Winery, Lumberton
• The Country Squire Winery, Warsaw
• Vineyards on the Scuppernong, Columbia
• Woodmill Winery, Vale
D’Vine Foods, located in Elizabethtown, has been a part of the N.C. Food and Wine Expo for years and visitors look forward to their popular, alcohol-free Muscadine slushies. “We look forward to the expo every year,” said Allie Nance, vice president of sales and marketing for D’Vine Foods. “It is a great way to connect with customers and other businesses with our products.” In addition to the slushies, customers can sample other products including LuMil wines and apple-pie moonshine jelly.
This is the first year in the expo for Roote NC from Chapel Hill. Roote’s mission is to open up opportunities and support local N.C. producers. Products for sampling and selling include cheeses from Cultured Cow Dairy, Lusty Monk mustard, Boone Barr energy bars, and Chapel Hill toffee. The company will also be accepting orders for their online gift boxes. Roote NC was founded by students from the University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Kenan Flager Business School. “I just graduated Sunday,” said co-owner Matty Baldwin. “That makes this my first official full-time work week.”
The Food Wine and Beer Expo will be open Friday, noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.