SCOTLAND NECK — There aren’t too many things in North Carolina that have been around any longer than Ventosa Plantation, near Scotland Neck. The nearly 5,000 acre farm dates back about 300 years.

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When something’s been in your family that long, you try to take care of it and preserve it. That’s why Alex McLennan III is looking at new ways to successfully manage all the natural resources there and developing a winery just seemed like the natural thing to do.

McLennan was raised on this farm. He’s familiar with everything that grows there. Of course he knows about muscadine grapes, they grow naturally in Halifax County, but there was something about them he said he always found fascinating, and being a person who enjoys a good glass of wine now and again, McLennan decided to try his hand at developing a good muscadine wine. “Closer to the classic style of wine, instead of the very sweet wine,” he said.

Ventosa is primarily a cotton producing operation, but it’s not unusual to see other cash crops in one of the many fields that lie near the river. It’s a 100 percent no till operation — that means most of the labor and equipment has been cut out. McLennan said there’s a lot of wetlands on the farm and they’re always trying to find innovative ways to utilize what they have. That includes acres and acres of bamboo. “My dad is always trying to reinvent himself,” said McLennan. “So he’s always trying something new.”

Following in his father’s footsteps, McLennan started out small in 2004 when he put in his first vines. “It was 2007 before we had our first good harvest,” he said.

He got most of his knowledge on being a vintener from first-hand experience, but he was trained at Surry Community College. “I got knowledge by doing,” he said, then added that Agricultural Extension and State University had provided information whenever he needed it.

While making wine may seem like an easy task, a lot of thought and chemistry goes into each vintage and there have been a lot of changes in the process over the years.

If you’ve seen old episodes of “The Lucy Show,” you’ll remember the time Lucy and Ethel got a job stomping grapes. McLennan said pressing the grapes is mechanized now, as are all the other processes. He and family members just finished bottling nearly 1,000 bottles of wine and the field is full with ripening fruit.

On a tour of the vineyard, McLennan walked the rows of beautifully managed vines.

“There’s a prevailing wind from the west on the farm,” he said. It was true. It seemed to blow lightly but constantly no matter where you stood. “You’ll notice the vines are foliage heavy on the east and the fruit is full on the west.”

He gingerly handled the vines, showing the clusters of sweet fruit.

He explained how the vines were bred to optimize the better qualities of muscadine grapes and their differences from wild varieties. He explained while wild grapes come in male and female vines —  each one distinct, his grapes have been bred to produce the perfect flower and clusters of grapes instead of individual grapes.

He continued walking from row to row, explaining you can tell the difference between a Noble (a red) and a Magnolia ( a white) vine by the new growth.

“Almost always, the new growth on a white grape will be yellowish to light green, while a red grape will have pinkish red leaves,” he said.

He walked to the Noble vine and lifted the new growth. The tiny leaves were as pink as a blush.

Back at the winery, McLennan poured a glass of Magnolia and discussed its finer qualities. It’s heavy bouquet and sweeter taste make it a good dessert wine, while the Carlos was a little lighter. He said both wines were good for sipping and great served chilled for the summer.

McLennan sells his wines from the winery and at a few farmers markets in the area.

Call Ventosa Plantation at 252-826-3416 to schedule a tour.