I’m here today to help you discover the fabulous array of North Carolina wines, meads and ciders featured this year on the GotToBeNC Cooking Stage at the 2025 NC State Fair. It was my pleasure to share the stage for almost every demo with Nicole Chesney, the Executive Director of the North Carolina Wine & Grape Council. She selected the pairings for each chef’s dish or dessert. I was delighted to be there to sip and swirl them all. Consider this your go-to guide for great wines to drink and great wineries to visit, this fall and holiday season.
Individual posts for each of the cooking demos ( with recipes and recaps) will post soon and will be cross linked to this list as they post – stay tuned!
This is Your Mental Mise en Place of Wines Served at the Got To be NC Cooking Stage
That’s right. Think of this as your prep list for what’s to come. What follows is a pour-by-pour glossary of every wine, cider and mead we served at the 2025 NC State Fair Cooking Stage.
My suggestions is that you Order Now, online, using the links in the post; then sip & swirl for yourself.
Then, plan your fall and holiday travel around each of these wonderful NC wineries, meaderies and cideries. Sip through the lineup while you wait for the recipes and behind-the-scenes stories to hit the blog.
Your Go-To Glossary of What We Poured and Paired
I’m listing the North Carolina wines, meads and ciders that we poured onstage here. They are listed by day, in the order we had the pleasure of tasting them; day by day, demo by demo.
You’l find where to shop links with each listing – look for the wine glass 🍷.
And then, as I write the recipe posts for each demo, I will continue to add in the links so that you will have the big picture, recipes, photos and all – these links each have a green checkmark ✅ .
But first, here’s a fun fact: Did you know that the state of North Carolina is home to 200 different wineries, meaderies and cideries? And even more fun, no matter where you are in the state, you are only 45 mins away from a winery. 🍷🥂🍯🍇🍎 Make plans now, to visit them all.
Day 1 – Friday Oct 17, 2025
Winner, Winner, the BEST fried chicken Dinner with Capt. John Mallette of Southern Breeze Seafood in Jacksonville NC. Paired with “The Mothervine” from Duplin Winery in Rose Hill NC.🍷 Order wine here. ✅ Get the recipe and see the recap…Read all about the demo here.
Keeping it Local with NC Beef and Chef Ade Carrena of Dounou Cuisine in Raleigh with WRAL’s Ken Smith. Paired with Sanctuary Vineyards, 2024 Old Vine Traminette. This pour garnered Bronze Medal honors in the 2025 NC Wine Competition! 🍷 Order wine here. You are going to want a t-shirt as well, just saying …
Day 2 – Saturday October 18, 2025
Spice & Simmer: Indian Home Cooking, Carolina Style. This demo with James Beard Finalist Chef Preeti Waas of Cheeni in Durham NC with Spicewalla Spices in Asheville NC. Paired with Stardust Cellars Peachy Keen Sessions Cider, from North Wilkesboro, NC. This cider is a 2025 NC Wine Competition silver medal winner. 🍷 Shop with Stardust Ciders here. ✅ Get the recipe and see the recap. Click here to Read all about it and learn how to make Sambar here.
Chocolate and Caramel Treats with NC Apples. Wigth award-winning chocolatier, Chef Justin Fry of JF Chocolates in Charlotte NC. These sweet seasonal treats were paired with Lu Mil Vineyards’ “Harmony Hall”. This is a cold fermented wine made from the Magnolia grape. 🍷 Get more info on ordering here.
Cooking for Company with Chef Andres Prussing, of the Marriott Charlotte City Center in Charlotte NC. This demo featured Wilders Farm’s Berkshire Pork pork tenderloin, served with a Tidewater Grain Company mushroom risotto. The final dish was paired with Cypress Bend Winery’s dry white, Riverton Estate muscadine wine. The winery is in Wagram, NC. And, this bottle took a Silver Medal in the 2025 NC Wine Competition. 🍷 Order wine from Cypress Bend Here.
Day 3 – Sunday, October 19, 2025
Cooking from the Carolina Coast with James Beard Finalist Chef Jamie
Davis of The Hackney in Washington NC. Paired with Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards in Hendersonville’s 2024 Albarino. This award-winning pour was the 2025 Winner for Best Vinifera NC Wine competition. 🍷 Shop here to taste for yourself.
The Flavors of Local Fungi demo involved Cooking with Local Mushrooms. Onstage, Chef Bobby McFarland, of Glasshouse Kitchen in Durham, NC and Wye Hill in Raleigh. Amy Fox of Fox Farm & Forage in Apex NC joined Bobby onstage . Bobby’s dish was paired with Shelton Vineyards’ 2022 Cabernet Franc. This pour won a 2025 NC Wine comp Silver Medal award. 🍷 Shop Shelton Vineyards here.
Cooking with Carolina Gold. This demo featured James Beard Finalist Chef Jamie Davis of The Hackney in Washington NC. Jamie’s focus – Cooking with Carolina Gold Rice from Tidewater Grain Company in Oriental NC. The wine pairing for this demo was actually a North Carolina cider. James Creek Cider House is located in Cameron NC. The pairing here was Tally Ho, James Creek’s flagship cider and a 2025 NC Wine competition Gold Medal Winner.
🍷 Order ciders from James Creek here.
Here’s more ways to drink locally. Want directions for making a pair of delicious craft cocktails featuring James Creek ciders? ✅ Check out my easy and delicious recipes here.
Day 4 – Monday, October 20, 2025
The Sweeter Side with NCRLA 2023 Pastry Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef Emily Parker of Sweet Violets in Greenville NC. Emily made an amazing peanut butter pie and we paired it with World’s Edge Meadery, Traditional Mead. Located in Hendersonville NC at Point Lookout Vineyards, World’s Edge produces seven small batch meads. Both the name of the winery, and the name of the mead, are indicative of the winery’s fabulous views. 🍷 Shop for World’s Edge Meads and Point Lookout Wines, here.
Emily was back for the next demo with Michelle Grainger of the NC Sweetpotato Commision. Michelle filled us in on lots of sensational NC sweetpotato facts. I’ll share them all in the post with Emily’s recipe for NC sweetpotato doughnuts.
We paired the doughnuts with Hinnant Family Vineyards, Dangerous Waters Red. Dangerous Waters is the 2025 Cup Winner for Best Muscadine Wine in this year’s NC Wine competition! Hinnant Family Vineyards is in Pine Level, NC. 🍷 You can buy any of the Hinnant wines here.
In case you are wondering who the little guy in the center photo above is, it’s Spencer the Sweetpotato. Spencer is the mascot of the NC Sweetpotato Commission and you can follow his adventures on instagram by following the hashtag #wheresspencersweetpotato.
Day 5 – Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Homemade Pasta with a NC Twist with Chef Taylor Halley of The Wine Feed
in Durham NC. The pairing for this crab stuffed pasta demos was Barndoor Ciderworks – Crooked Cassie , a 2025 Silver medal winner at the NC wine competition. Kind of funny, I think, that this cider is made with crab apples – a delicious coincidence here. Shop the 🍷 Barndoor Ciderworks website here.
Easy Fall Desserts was our second demo of the day with 2021 NCRLA Pastry Chef of the Year and GotTobeNC
Culinary Ambassador, Food Network Guys Grocery Games alumnus, Chef Tie
Whitaker of Buttermilk Boutique in Clayton NC. Tie’s easy fall dessert this day was a Mile High Apple Pie that paired perfectly with Windsor Run Cellars’ Midnight Run. This wine took a Double Gold Medal at the NC Wine
competition for 2025. 🍷 Shop with Windsor Run Cellars here.
The final demo for this day was a fun GotToBeNC “Chopped”-style Competition with Chef Tie Whitaker of Buttermilk Boutique in Clayton NC and Chef Sera Cuni, Food Network Chopped and
Guys Grocery Games alumnus and champion of Supermarket Stakeout. Sera is the owner Café Root Cellar in Chapel Hill and Pittsboro NC and Feed Well Fridges in Chatham County
Each of the competitors got a bottle of Grove Vineyards & Winery – Sunshine Tangerine Ambrosia Mead in their all local mystery baskets and we paired both dishes with the same pour – delicious! Shop 🍷 Grove Vineyards & Winery here.
Day 6 – Wednesday, October 22, 2025
The Spices of Caribbean Cuisine with Food Network Cutthroat
Kitchen alumnus Chef Lemar Farrington, chef/owner of the Triangle’s Amalieä Dining & Events. In this demo we tried three different kinds of curry as Lemar partnered with Spicewalla Spices out of Asheville, NC. The wine pairing the demo: Haze Gray Vineyard & Winery’s Traminette, a silver medal winner in the 2025 NC wine competition. 🍷 Shop with Haze Gray Vineyards in Dobson NC here.
Chef Daniel Murray of Cypress Hall in New Bern NC’s demo centered on The Flavors of North Carolina featuring Striped Bass raised through the NCSU Aquaculture program. I can’t wait to write more about it. But for this post, its this demo’s wine pairing that’s of note – Souther Williams’ 2022 Vidal Blanc. Souther Williams Vineyard is a part of North Carolina’s Crest of the Blue Ridge AVA. 🍷 Learn more and shop Souther Williams here.
Our final demo this day, Fall Cocktails and Mocktails, Mixologist Shannon
Healy of James Beard Outstanding Bar Program finalist Alley 26 In Durham NC featured local NC Spirits including Conniption Gin and Krupnikas Spiced Honey Liqueur both from Durham Distillery in Durham NC and Cooks Mill Whiskey from Raleigh NC. North Carolina’s Molley Chomper Cider from Lansing NC was also a featured ingredient in one of Shannon’s cocktails.
🍷 Shop with Molley Chomper here.
Day 7 – Thursday, October 23, 2025
Chefs Jake Wolf and Greg Poole, Jr. of the Empire Restuarant Group in Raleigh NC kicked off this day’s trio of cooking demos. The theme for the day was fried cheese and the wine pairing was from JOLO Vineyard & Winery in Pilot Mountain NC. The pour was Jolo’s 2023 Pilot Fog. Made from Cynthiana or Norton grapes this pour was a Best of Category winner for hybrid/vinifera grapes in the 2025 NC Wine competition. 🍷Shop with JOLO here.
Next, Chef Mauricio Huarcaya, of Gustu Peruano Food Truck in Wilmington NC shared his flavors of Peru. Mauricio is the 2025 NCRLA Chef of the Year. He also holds the titles of 2024 and 2025 NCRLA Chef Showdown Peoples’ Choice winner as well. Mauricio teamed up with Farmasea Farms in Hampstead NC using their pasture-raised pork belly. The wine pour was from Euday Wine in Old Fort NC, a 2024 Sparkling Wine Blend.
This wine has an interesting story. It’s bottle fermented; originally meant to be a Pet Nat. But instead, got an unexpected second fermentation as the winery was flooded during Hurricane Helen. Despite the flooding, the wine was safe from harms way. It was happily transformed into an un-disgorged traditional method sparkling wine that works. 🍷 Learn more about Euday Wine and shop with them here.
This year’s Cooking with Cast Iron demo brought together Chef Luke Owen and Jason Allen of Carolina Cooker Cast Iron. Luke owns Native Fine Diner and Julep Contemporary Kitchen, both in Greenville NC. NC Seafood was on the menu and the wine hailed from Shadow Springs Vineyards in Hamptonville NC. The pour: a 2023 Cab Franc, one of the 2025 NC Wine competition’s Silver Medal Winners. Taste for yourself and 🍷 shop with Shadow Springs here.
Day 8 – Friday, October 23, 2025
Always fun to have award-winning Chef Ricky Moore in the house. Among many other accolades, Ricky holds the titles of 2025 James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef Semifinalist; 2022 James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southeast and Chef and Owner Saltbox Seafood in Durham NC. Seafood was definetly on the menu this day – fresh trout and smoked trout both from Sunburst Farms in Western NC. The wine pairing also hails from Western NC. It’s Point Lookout Vineyards’ Sunrise Riesling. Double Gold Medal Winner from the 2025 NC wine competition, this wine brought semi-sweet sparkling notes to the table. 🍷 Learn More and Shop with Point Lookout Vineyards here.
It was a day of NC Seafood and fresh caught tuna was at the center of the plate for the next two demos. First Captain John Mallette of Southern Breeze Seafood in Jacksonville NC wowed the crowd with a whole 50 lb. Yellow Fin Tuna. Chef Bobby McFarland of Glasshouse Kitchen in Durham helped to plate the raw tuna which was served with a locally fermented sake made from Tidewater Grain Company Carolina Gold Rice. The sake is made by Ment Beverage, a part of Honeygirl Meadery. Currently the sake is ontap at Ment located at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus. 🍷 Get more info here. and shop Honeygirl Meadery here.
The afternoon continued with Chef Bobby McFarland and Captain John Mallette as Bobby cooked more tuna sharing recipes for Poached Tuna in EVOO and a tasty tuna melt. The wine this time around? Childress Vineyards 2024 Viognier, one of the Gold Medal winners from the 2025 NC Wine Competition. 🍷 Taste it for yourself and Shop with Childress here.
Day 9 – Saturday, October 24, 2025
Rice, Beans and NC Beef was the focus of the first demo this day with Chef Andres Prussing, Marriott Charlotte City Center in Charlotte NC. Andres made his classic Hoppin’ John with Tidewater Grain Company Carolina Gold Rice Middlins and topped it with Braised Wilders Waygu Beef Cheeks. The wine pairing this round was Addison Farm Vineyards 2022 Jovis Blend Cab Franc & Sangiovese. Addison Vineyards are another Western North Carolina Vineyard located in Leicester NC. To me, this drank like a smooth, older Bordeaux and was a terrific pairing with the rich beef and rice. 🍷 Learn more about Addison Farms and shop for their wines here.
Recipe Alert
✅ I haven’t actually written the post with the recipe for Chef Andres beef cheeks from Wilders – but you can find his recipe for Tidewater Grain Company’s Hoppin John in this New Years’ post with pics from the Mountain State Fair cooking stage several years ago.
It was our 3 pm demo this day, but it was “5 O’Clock Somewhere”. Mixologist David Bowen joined us for a lesson on shaking and stirring local spirits. David is the 2022 NCRLA Mixologist of the Year. He and his wife also own Easy Talk and The Ginger Fox in Winston Salem NC. In one of the cocktails, David featured A Measure of Time cider. This is an oxidized aged cider, from Botanist & Barrel in Raleigh. B&B also has tasting rooms in Asheville as well. 🍷 Shop with Botanist & Barrel here and here.
For our last demo of this day, we welcomed Chef Adé Carrena of Dounou Cuisine in Raleigh NC. Her lovely mom, visiting from their homeland of Benin joined us on stage!
You know Adé as a Food Network 2025 Chopped Champion. And a bit closer to home, as the 2023 NCRLA Chef of the Year. Adé cooked with Coddle Creek Farms Mama Young’s Nut Butters from Mooresville NC; and used chicken leg quarters from Farmasea Farm in Hampstead NC.
Adé’s recipe was a traditional Beninese recipe handed down by her mom. It only made sence to have Mama with us onstage, to show us all how it was done. In our glasses: Point Lookout Vineyards, 2021 Cliffield. This pour garnered Double Gold Medal honors at the 2025 NC Wine Competition. It’s yet another delicious red NC blend made of Cab Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. 🍷 Taste for yourself and order now from Point Lookout Vineyards here.
Day 10 – Sunday, October 25, 2025
And just like that, 10 days of onstage cooking demos flew by!
Honestly can’t wait to share the recipes and write about each day and each demo in more detail. But first…
Here’s what we sipped and swirled the last Sunday of the Fair
The day started with a beautiful loin of tuna from Capt John Mallette‘s demo the Friday prior. Chef Keith Rhodes, chef and owner Catch
and Tacklebox Kitchen, both in Wilmington NC. Keith is a James Beard finalist for Best Chef, Southeast; and Bravo TV’s Top Chef season 9, alumnus. He was with us onstage for this demo, and the one that followed.
The pairing for Keith’s Salad Nicoise was a Rayson Winery & Vineyards 2024 Pearl D’ Blanc. Made from Chardonnay grapes, this is a beautiful sparkler and a 2025 NC Wine competition Silver Medal Award winner. Rayson Winery & Vineyards, formally Raylen Vineyards, is in Mocksville, NC 🍷 and you can shop with them here.
Next from Chef Keith, a local play on the Pad Kraprow with Wilders Wagyu Ground Beef. The wine pairing here comes from Shadow Springs Vineyard. Their 2023 Seyval Blanc, is a 2025 NC Wine competition Gold Medal winner. It was the perfect foil for this slightly spicy beef dish.🍷 Shop with Shadow Springs Vineyard, here.
Chef Kevin Ruiz of CUYA Cucina Latina in Raleigh NC wrapped up our 10-day stretch of cooking demos. Kevin cooked with North Carolina Pork featuring Wilder’s Pasture Raised Bershire pork loin. Served as Pernil de Fiesta Relleno, he shared his recipe for a boneless pork chop stuffed with Plantains. The pork was finished with a guava-taramind glaze which paired perfectly with Rock of Ages Winery’s Red Sangria.
Rock of Ages is located in Hurdle Mills, NC. 🍷 Shop with them online here.
Want to learn more about North Carolina Wines, Meads and Ciders?
Want More Info? You can read and learn more on the North Carolina Wine & Grape Council website by clicking here. #TellThemHeidiSentYou
