{"id":2533,"date":"2012-02-24T15:23:23","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T20:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/college.web.unc.edu\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2024-07-02T13:27:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T13:27:04","slug":"duplinwinery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=2533","title":{"rendered":"Fine Wine: N.C. winery has UNC ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bg8Wazn-rBs&feature=youtu.be[\/youtube]Jonathan Fussell (history \u201998), who runs North Carolina\u2019s largest and oldest operating winery with his brother, Dave, shows up for an interview true to his Tar Heel roots. He\u2019s wearing a blue-checked dress shirt with a Duplin Winery <\/a>logo, topped off by a Carolina belt. His smile oozes Southern charm like warm honey on a biscuit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jonathan Fussell's Tar Heel roots run deep. Duplin Winery, the state's largest, has been in his family for more than 35 years. (photo by Mary Lide Parker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s an invitation to stay for lunch (fried pork chops are on today\u2019s Bistro menu), but first a tour. If the many billboards on I-40 East pointing to exit 380 in Rose Hill are not clear enough, look for this landmark on the way to the winery: \u201cthe world\u2019s largest frying pan,\u201d a 2-ton, 15-foot behemoth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, where are ya\u2019ll from?\u201d Jonathan asks a family touring the 92,000-square-foot production facility, which is about a half-mile down the road from the winery\u2019s retail shop, tasting room and restaurant. The sour-sweet smell of fermenting muscadine grapes fills the cavernous space, along with the clink, clink of bottles.<\/p>\n

Scuppernong Blush, one of the winery\u2019s 42 varieties, is being bottled on this fall day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in school, we weren\u2019t far from licking the labels ourselves,\u201d Jonathan says, shouting to be heard over the whish and whir of a large machine which today is bottling 4,920 bottles of wine per hour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Scuppernong Blush bottles roll off the assembly line. (photo by Mary Lide Parker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duplin Winery may be located in a small town, but it\u2019s having a big economic impact. Founded in 1975 by Jonathan\u2019s dad, David, and his uncle, Dan, this family-owned business brings in about $18 to $20 million a year in retail sales, and hosts around 100,000 visitors. The winery sold about 20 cases of wine its first year and is expected to sell 360,000 to 370,000 cases during its current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

Jonathan manages the retail side of the business, which includes a line of gourmet foods and frozen drinks. Dave, a 1990 East Carolina University alumnus, oversees the production side.<\/p>\n

Jonathan broke with the longtime family tradition of attending ECU by heading to Chapel Hill. He lived in Connor dorm and was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Initially, he had no intention of returning home to the family business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Carolina and always wanted to go there,\u201d Jonathan says, adding that he still orders football and basketball tickets, although he often gets too busy to go to the games. \u201cI wanted to get an education and go off and do better things \u2014 I wanted to be a lawyer. But in 1996, the winery started to grow, and I could see there was a need for me here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focus on family<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
These 'Mothervine' scuppernong grapes grow from a clipping that reportedly dates to 1585. (photo by Mary Lide Parker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind the wheel of his beige Chevy Tahoe, on the way to the winery\u2019s vineyards, Jonathan waxes philosophical for a minute \u2014 about growing up in a family business. Thirty-seven acres of \u201cMothervine\u201d grapes now thrive from an initial clipping that reportedly dates to 1585, to Sir Walter Raleigh\u2019s time. The grapes are used to produce a special scuppernong wine. In addition to more than 120 acres of vineyards in Rose Hill, the winery contracts with 47 growers across 1,800 acres in four states.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of everything I\u2019ve been given, my kids are the best thing I\u2019ve been given,\u201d he says, referring to Ayden, 7, and Camryn, 4. \u201cIf I could have the perfect day, it would be spending the day with them. They are what bring a smile to my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

That focus on family and relationships is a core part of the company\u2019s business philosophy as well, along with the Fussells\u2019 religious faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three priorities: God is number one, family is number two, and business is number three. These are our core values,\u201d Jonathan says. \u201cWe are a business, but the business is [made up] of people who work here and people who visit here. When you walk through that door, Aunt Jo greets you. We want you to feel like you\u2019re a part of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Sutton, a professor and head of the viticulture program at nearby James Sprunt Community College, also is a part-time employee at Duplin Winery. He echoes the sentiment of Duplin\u2019s family-oriented atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day I\u2019ve worked, they do a [group] \u2018line-up,\u2019 and the retail room manager always asks at the end, \u2018Is there anything anyone wants to add?\u2019 And people will say things like, \u2018My kid\u2019s on the state championship football team,\u2019\u201d Sutton says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a rare sight to see [customers] come in and not leave with a bottle or two of wine. It\u2019s Southern hospitality, and Duplin has set the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan\u2019s appetite for business started early. He grew up playing hide-and-seek behind the wine tanks (He claims that brother Dave once locked him in one). He got paid for his first winery job at age 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to make wooden boxes that we\u2019d put our wine in, gift boxes with a rope handle,\u201d he says. \u201cI remember tying rope handles, 10 cents for every handle. My mom thought I would do five an hour, but I was doing 50 an hour. I always loved being a part of it, but your childhood is different because I always saw my parents at work. But without my father making the sacrifices he made, I wouldn\u2019t be in this business today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservative growth strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fussell family knows all about sacrifices. In the early \u201880s, they lost nearly everything they owned when North Carolina ruled that preferential tax laws that had been established by the state to promote grape growing and winemaking were unconstitutional. Sales dropped. But from the depths of rock bottom, the winery began to climb back up. Those hard times influence Duplin\u2019s growth strategy today.<\/p>\n

An amphitheater opened last year on a site several miles down the road, closer to the interstate, where eventually the brothers hope to build a new winery, a hotel, an events center and a spa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a 10-year plan,\u201d Jonathan says. \u201cWhat shaped who we are is when we almost went bankrupt. We don\u2019t want to borrow money to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past three years, Duplin Winery has won the Impact Hot Brand Award, a key industry honor. When people ask him why the winery continues to do well, at first Jonathan says \u201cpure luck.\u201d But it also comes full circle, back to family and relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great folks who work for us, folks that care about the company. They are the ones who\u2019ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duplin County Manager Mike Aldridge has his own theory about the secret to Duplin Winery\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the main ingredient has been persistence, their stick-to-it-tive-ness. They have really put their heart and soul into making this business what it is. I think they\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n

[ Story by Kim Weaver Spurr ’88, video by Mary Lide Parker ’10, spring ’12 Carolina Arts & Sciences<\/em> magazine. For more, visit http:\/\/www.duplinwinery.com<\/a>.\u00a0 ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Fussell’s Tar Heel roots run deep. The 1998 history alum co-runs Duplin Winery, North Carolina’s largest and oldest operating winery, with his brother, Dave. It has been in his family for more than 35 years. (CLICK ON HEADLINE FOR VIDEO EXTRA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carousel","category-social-sciences","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45122,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions\/45122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}