Amid a national downturn in wine consumption, NC growers face issues of their own

North Carolina’s wine business has grown tenfold since the start of the century. But the industry as a whole is flat and facing concerns it hasn’t seen in decades. 

The state's growers face their own set of challenges, including the lingering effects of Helene and an invasive insect that could damage crops if not contained. 

Chuck Johnson and his wife Jamey started Shadow Springs Vineyard on a gently rolling former tobacco farm in Yadkin County 20 years ago.

“I had a corporate job and got bored of it,” he says. “So I thought that a vineyard would be fun and would be a challenge. And it has. It has been both.” 

Wineries like theirs are a relatively new phenomenon in North Carolina. Twenty-five years ago, there were about 20 vineyards across the state. Now there are ten times that many.

All told, they’ve created an industry with a $6 billion economic impact.

In recent years, though, wine demand has been on the decline nationally, according to a 2025 report on the industry by Silicon Valley Bank. 

Experts say part of the reason lies in demographics. Younger generations don’t view alcohol consumption as positively as older generations. Whatever the reasons, demand has plummeted by numbers not seen since the 1980s. 

North Carolina wines haven't been spared from the downslide, says Johnson, who is also chair of the NC Wine & Grape Council. 

“Our wine business in general is off a little bit. It is,” he says. “And I think that alcohol is off a little bit. But I also think this is a business where it goes up and down. I think it's something to be concerned about, and we're addressing that with different wines that we make.” 

Helene also took a toll on producers in the mountains. Johnson says some growers saw their crops hit with 20 inches of rain. Many still had grapes on the vine.

One or two wineries are not likely to recover from Helene, Johnson says. For others, the challenge has been getting the word out that the roads are clear and they are back open for business.

“And it’s gorgeous up there,” he says.”So I would encourage everybody to go up and travel and support these businesses.”

Local winegrowers also face a new six-legged threat..

Reid Hernandez is a surveyor for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. He specializes in tracking the spread of a newly arrived invasive insect, the spotted lanternfly, and its host plants like the non-native tree of heaven. 

Recently, Hernandez led a hunt for egg masses and nymphs in a Kernersville forest as part of a lanternfly workshop. It didn’t take long to find what they were looking for.

At the edge of the forest, a larval spotted lanternfly is scampering its way up a tree. It’s tiny, black with white spots  — like something designed by Kate Spade —and very fast. 

When it grows up, it will have gray spotted forewings and striking scarlet hind ones.

“I go out every day into the field,” Hernandez says. “And I either use intuition to go to new places and hopefully find new spots of infestation. Or we’ll go back and we’ll tree check and look at the efficacy of maybe the treatments we’ve done in certain areas.”

The bug arrived in Kernersville three years ago, and the area is now infested with them. Officials say it’s the only large population in the state.

Lanternflies reproduce quickly. Once established, they’re difficult to eradicate. And they love everything sweet, like grapevines. That's caught the attention of local winemakers.

If there’s a saving grace about lanternflies, it’s that they don’t fly well. But, “It’s a great hitch-hiker,” Johnson says.

Lanternflies spread largely by highway traffic. Rockingham County, connected to Kernersville via interstates, has the latest outbreak, though it’s relatively contained.

Johnson says the bugs haven’t hit the Yadkin Valley wineries yet, but they’re likely to within the next few years. 

State officials have set up a tracking page where people can upload sightings of spotted lanternflies so they can follow their spread.