Nestled in a South Georgia county where life is “small enough to know everyone,” things are slow and quiet in Wray. But big things can come from small places, and this humble “middle of nowhere” farming community is home to a world record holder.
Come Labor Day weekend, hundreds will be flocking to the biggest muscadine vineyard on the planet for a festival of grape stomping, fruit picking and family fun.
Credit: Paulk Vineyards
Celebrating its sixth year, the Georgia Muscadine Festival will kick off Aug. 31 at Paulk Vineyards — an 800-acre family farm that has blossomed into a massive business where Georgia’s state grape is the star. It’s that deep-rooted familial influence that helped bring the unique festival to life.
“In 2002, Chris (my husband) was invited by Papa Jacob to come back home to start something new with muscadines,” Jorjanne Paulk told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email. The vineyard’s founder, Jacob Paulk, planted a few acres back in the ‘70s, and his two sons helped grow the family business over the following decades. By the early 2000s, it was Jorjanne Paulk and her husband’s turn to make their mark.
“He had recently graduated from Georgia Tech, and we were newlyweds living in Dunwoody at the time,” she continued. “Papa Jacob recognized the health benefits of muscadines, and so together they formed Muscadine Products Corporation to process other products from the muscadines. Over the years, we have sold juices, capsules, extracts, powders, seed oil and more all made from muscadines.
“After years of selling bulk juice and fresh muscadines to other wineries, we started making our own wines in 2017. We opened our tasting room in 2019, and in 2020 I began working full time to manage the tasting room and plan events to bring people out to the middle of nowhere to enjoy what we were making.”
Today, the vineyard produces and bottles 24 wines sold across the state — with an expanded market in South Carolina currently in the works. For the largest vineyard of its kind in the world, business is booming.
Credit: Paulk Vineyards
Credit: Paulk Vineyards
“We’ll have people drive from Atlanta, Jacksonville, even Miami, to come get muscadines throughout the season, but especially (Labor Day) weekend since they’re coming back home to see family in our area,” Paulk said. “That’s why we chose Labor Day weekend to host the Georgia Muscadine Festival. We hosted the first festival in 2019, making this our sixth annual festival. We’ve had 500-700 people attend each year. There is no admission fee so people are welcome to come out and enjoy the live music and purchase from the artisan market vendors and food trucks at no additional cost. It’s a great opportunity for locals to gather and relax with a glass of wine or a wine slushy, but it also encourages them to shop with local businesses who set up to sell the products and foods they’re making, which helps boost our local economy.”
The festival will have a near-to-bursting itinerary this year. Vendors will be setting up their stations Aug. 30, while 5K and fun runners snag their packets at early pickup. The tasting room will be open Friday, Saturday and Monday — as well as the pick-your-own muscadine fields. Those who just want the fruit are in luck, too, because they sell muscadines in up to 20-pound bushels fresh from the fields.
Registration for the 5K and fun run events will open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, with the fun run kicking off at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30 a.m. Come 10 a.m., the tasting room will swing open its doors. There will be live music performances by local country and blues artists Derrick Flowers, The Page Brothers Band and The Blues Factor Band until 5 p.m.
Credit: Paulk Vineyards
Credit: Paulk Vineyards
“We added a 5K and 1-mile fun run through the vineyards in 2021, and last year we had about 50 participants,” Paulk added. “Everyone who pre-registers receives a free T-shirt, and we give medals to winners according to age and gender. Anyone interested in participating can sign up on Active.com, and the cost is $35 for the 5K and $25 for the 1-Mile fun run.”
At 11 a.m., artisans and food trucks from Lobster Dogs to Simply Southern will be selling their wares. The traditional grape stomp will also begin, finishing up at 2 p.m. — just in time for the “I Love Lucy” costume contest, based on an episode of the show. The winner will receive a gift basket filled with wine and other treats from the vineyard.
“We’ll also have grape stomps set up to mark that experience off your bucket list for $25, which includes a festival T-shirt,” she said. “Friends and family enjoy competing against each other to see who can squeeze out the most juice.”
Come Labor Day weekend, Wray is going to be anything but quiet and slow — as hundreds bustle in from across the South for wine, food and fun.
