Taken from student author Kelly Shropshire's introduction:

"Blackberry wine is good for
the tummyache and it's a
good cure for diarrhea, too.
My mother used to keep it all
the time. It only took a little—
I'd say a quarter of a cup."
—Mary Pitts

For many people of the Appalachian mountains, winemaking is as much a part of their culture as the mountains themselves. Made from the fruits and berries native to the land, homemade wine has been used for everything from curing stomachaches to cooking and, of course, just plain drinking.

Many early settlers came to the South and brought with them the ancient methods of winemaking. Despite admonitions against the evils of strong drink by Bible Belt preachers, winemaking caught on. Over the years, many unique winemaking methods, as well as types, have evolved. There are those like Lawton Brooks, who use the natural yeast on the fruit itself to make their muscadine wine. And others, like Granny Toothman, who refuse to make their wine in anything but a stone jar. Blackberry, dandelion, corncob—the types of Appalachian wines are as diverse as the people who make them.

"Wine is the most wholesome
beverage in the world. That
goes back to the Bible.
The Lord gave Paul grapes
and told him to make wine."
—Bill Park

We first became interested in winemaking during preparation of The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery. We began learning of mountain people who still made their own wines at home from the fruit they had grown themselves. Here was something we’d never done before—a documentation of winemaking in the southern Appalachian mountains. Toting tape recorders and cameras, we set out on our interviews—and we usually found ourselves directly involved in the winemaking process. We gathered grapes for Bill Park, crushed blackberries for Harry Pitts, and gutted a pumpkin for Effie Lord. We found that the various types of wine were endless—as John Bulgin puts it, “You can make wine out of anything but a rock.”

Now, we offer to you our finished product. This is a book for the amateur winemaker interested in learning the skill, as well as for the experienced winemaker interested in unearthing the roots of winemaking in this region. And most important, in the tradition of Foxfire, this is a book intended to preserve a small piece of our heritage and to pass along the traditions of the people of the southern Appalachian mountains.

2008 Heritage Classes offered at Foxfire

Classes listed in brown are offered by resident artist Sharon Grist, and are
led by Sharon except when otherwise noted below. Classes meet 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Classes listed in blue are offered by long-time Foxfire heritage demonstrators
Paulette Carpenter and Marie Carter. Classes meet 9:30am to 4:30pm.

Pre-registration and prepayment are required no later than 10 days prior to class date.
All instructors request that you bring your own lunch for all day classes.

For Village Weaver classes, call Sharon at 706-490-0332 for more information or to register.

Call Foxfire at 706-746-5828 or use the Contact Us link for
more information or to register for all other classes.

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