Your first taste of northern Florida wineries may be Chautauqua Winery, which is located off I-10 at the intersection of Route 331, in DeFuniak, on the Panhandle. The vineyard and the winery are both managed with state-of-the-art technology. The wine list is extensive, and several of the wines have won awards. There are some expected ones, like Chardonnay, and some very regional and unique ones, like the Wildflower Honey Muscadine, a dessert wine. The winery also makes a barrel-aged port. The tasting room is open year-round, and complimentary tours are given.
The grapes used to make Chautauqua wines are from a family of grapes native to the southeast United States, vitis Rotundifolia, or more commonly, muscadines. The first wine made in the "New World" by Europeans was made in Florida by the French Huguenois in 1562 using wild native grapes, the predecessors of improved wine grapes.
Today, advances in viniculture and enology make the distinctive wines form Muscadine grapes comparable in quality to wines made from any wine grape. The wines of Chautauqua Vineyards are a new generation of wines from this old and historically significant family of grapes.