Cypress Bend Vineyards

Location & Atmosphere:  Located just under 15 minutes from Lumberton, NC, and US 74, Cypress Bend Vineyards is a rare Scotland County/Sandhills winery. They grow several varieties of sweet grapes on the property, and produce a couple of good dry wines, with grapes from the Yadkin Valley. But their most unique feature is the dry wines they produce from traditional sweet grapes.

The Wines:  Cypress Bend’s Riverton Estate wine is a very dry Muscadine wine, with no residual sugar. It tastes like you are drinking Honeysuckle, with an explosion of flowery and fruity flavors. Christina’s Mag Estate (sold out at our visit), is also a dry Muscadine. These wines are wonderfully different than anything else you will find in NC, but something we could not picture drinking on a regular basis. Their Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are both solid dry wines. And while we typically don’t review sweet wines, they produce A Sweetheart Stream, a pineapple infused wine which tastes like a Pina Colada.

Tastings & Tours:  In the pleasant tasting room, wine tastings are available for $6 per person.

 
Events/ Shopping/ Other Amenities:  Jazzy Fridays keep large crowds in their party tent virtually every Friday night, with full-sized bands performing soft rock and beach music. Cypress Bend is probably one of the social centers of Scotland County. It is a large, very open feeling property that makes a great wedding venue. Plus, the tasting building has a number of winery themed shopping items for you to peruse.

Value:  Costing between $12 and $16 per bottle, Cypress Bend’s wines are very reasonably priced. You can also purchase certain Cypress Bend wine at local Total Wine & More stores.

 
Rating:  We didn’t think it would be possible to produce a quality dry wine from Muscadine grapes, so we give Cypress Bend high marks for producing such a great, dry wine. If you are a sweet wine lover, you will be in heaven with the vast selection of sweet wines. But if you are a dry wine drinker, the Cab and Malbec are good wines, but trying the dry Muscadine is really a wonderfully different experience. In addition, the social and wedding scene here is fantastic, making this a great four-star winery.