Southern Winery

In a previous post, I wrote about attending a Japanese festival at Morgan Creek Winery in Harpersville. If you are a Birminghamian, you may have passed through Harpersville on the way to Rickwood Caverns, Still Waters Resort or to an Auburn game. I have been to a friend’s stable and to a wedding in Harpersville. I even saw a rainbow once.

So, is anyone still thinking to themselves, “A vineyard in Alabama? The Grapes of Wrath did not include Alabama to my knowledge. Nothing surprises me ever since I escaped from Buggy Top Cave in Tennessee and ended up in the only winery in Tennessee in the ‘90’s, but I digress. Perhaps I will share that story on another blog.

Anyway, what is southern about winemaking? I was accompanied by a friend from Minnesota by way of Chicago. As we were tasting wine, she asked, “What are muscadines?” Almost every wine was made from muscadines. I shared that they are grapes grown in the southeastern region of the country. The southern experience wasn’t soley based upon muscadine based wines or the use of familiar central Alabama images such as Vulcan and Red Mountain. The finale included a peach wine made from peaches harvested right here in Alabama.

Harpersville Winery Host to Japanese Festival

As we drove to Morgan Creek Winery for Natsu Matsuri, I was thinking of my childhood in Northern California. If you visited us, you had to go to the wine country. When friends visit me in Alabama, the southern experience doesn't usually include wine tasting or sake. However, the drive to Harpersville got us out of the hustle and bustle of the city. As we approached the winery, I immediately began to feel relaxed.

I also began to think about my parents. They were young Alabamians on a mission per the U.S. Army to Japan in the ‘60’s. They immersed themselves into Japanese culture. I was thinking of all the Japanese families that have immersed themselves into U.S. American—Alabama culture.

The festival, which was sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Alabama, featured traditional and contemporary Japanese entertainment. Foods were a blend of traditional U.S. carnival foods such as popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones and Japanese food. One could choose between sake and/or wine tasting. The festival organizers also arranged for Bento boxes ala Sekisui restaurant in Vestavia.