Sweet tea, moonshine and wine

A worker picks grapes at Persimmon Creek Vineyards in Clayton, Ga., on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008. Persimmon Creek Vineyards is part of a rapidly expanding winery industry across the South, where lands once given over to tobacco now produce a more tourist-friendly crop. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

In the same mountains where generations of Georgians distilled corn into moonshine, the Hardman family is fermenting a libation of another flavor.

Along the banks of a babbling creek near Clayton are acres of twisting grape vines that will yield bottles of riesling, cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc and merlot.

The Hardmans' winery, Persimmon Creek Vineyards, is part of a rapidly expanding winery industry across the South, where lands once given over to tobacco now produce a more tourist-friendly crop.

"It's not something you can only grow in France and California," says Mary Ann Hardman, who runs the winery from her home on 100 acres of picturesque farmland. "I believe wine is the taste of a place."

And in the American South, the taste ranges from sweet, wet whites from the local scuppernong grapes (a muscadine variant) to Euro-style like chardonnays and merlots.

The Hardmans began producing wine six years ago on the cusp of an explosion in the region's viticulture industry, which has begun drawing tourists from across the globe to the rural South.

Today there are 433 wineries across the region, a nearly 50 percent increase from just three years ago, according to the National Association of American Wineries. That's almost four times as many wineries as 15 years ago.

The growth mirrors a national trend, with every state now boasting at least one winery _ even Alaska.

Southern vintners are particularly proud that their region finally has developed a foothold in the U.S. wine industry after years of connoisseurs looking down their noses at vintages from below the Mason-Dixon line.

Not that the stigma has completely vanished. But experts say the South is making a place for itself in the wine world.

"I have had some good Southern wine and some interesting Southern wine," says Lettie Teague, executive wine editor for Food & Wine magazine. "There is reason to look forward to the Southern wines of the future."

Southern wines tend to go the way of the region's tea _ incredibly sweet _ especially from scuppernong grapes.

"There is an exceptionally good sparkling scuppernong being made in southeast Georgia. There's a good chardonnay being made in North Carolina, as well," said John T. Edge, contributing editor at Gourmet magazine and head of the Southern Foodways Alliance at Ole Miss. "The diversity of topography and the diversity of grapes lends itself to the South emerging as a contender on the international stage."

Regional wine sales are tough to track because most Southern wineries are small and mostly sell directly to customers.

Tourism has played a key role in the boom. As at wineries in California, tasting rooms welcoming visitors are common. Some wineries even have built rental cottages for travelers wishing to rest among the vines.

The South was a leader in the U.S. wine industry during the early part of the 20th century, but Prohibition devastated the nation's industry. While other parts of the country bounced back, recovery has been slower in the South.

For decades after prohibition, farmers in the heart of the Bible Belt shied away from wine grapes. But modern vintners have discovered the cool weather in southern mountain towns is ideal for many varieties.

They've also needed to find new uses for land once dominated by tobacco.

"The industry we've been depending on in the South is no longer here," says Kim Myers, president of the North Carolina Winegrowers Association and owner of Laurel Gray Vineyards in Hamptonville, N.C. "People are looking for alternative things to do with farm land."

California remains the country's largest wine producer, with 2,600 wineries. North Carolina has just 91 wineries, but that's up from just 54 three years ago. Virginia went from 122 to 169 in that time.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Georgia agriculture.

(AP)