The muscadine “Mother Vine” – America’s first grape

Roanoke Island in Dare County, North Carolina is home to the oldest grapevine in the United States – the muscadine.

Known as America’s first grape, it was first observed in 1584 by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe during their American expedition that was sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh. The explorers said that North Carolina was “so full of grapes, as the very beating and surge of the Sea overflowed them” – which was likely the agricultural work of early Croatoans.

The now 400-year-old “Mother Vine” has a trunk two feet thick and its vines once spread across more than half an acre.

– Margaret Willard, The 100 Companies