CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsLocal winery makes vodka with southern twist

Local winery makes vodka with southern twist

By Hatzel Vela, Live 5 News

Charleston, SC (WCSC) - Jim Irvin's dream was simply to make wine.

"We were newlyweds. She had not learned how to say no to me at that point and she allowed me to plant 2,700 grapevines in the vineyard," remembered Irvin.

It's hard to believe that for almost 45 years, Irvin was in the construction business. But things changed when he married his wife - Ann in 2000.

Eight years later, almost 12 acres of vines fill up the couple's farm that sits across from the Wadmalaw Sound, which is off of Bears Bluff Road down a dirt path.

Visitors get to hear Irvin talk grapes three days a week.

"This grape grows anywhere in the South," Irvin told visitors on one of his tours of his Wadmalaw Island winery. "And if you go up and down every row, it's 7.5 half miles."

There is always a little show-and-tell on the tour, where you get to hear about wine making, sometimes mixed with a little comedy.

Their different types of wine, made of Southern-grown Muscadine grapes, quickly became popular.

Demand was so high; Irvin hired Scott Newitt, a long time wine and liquor wholesaler, to help sell the wine.

But Newitt also came up with an idea to give a southern classic a bit of a twist.

"I told him this idea that I wanted to make vodka in South Carolina," Newitt said.

"It sort of clicked in my brain and I said that sound like a neat thing. Why don't we try that?" Irvin said.

So they did and came up with Firefly Muscadine wine-flavored vodka. But they say the problem is that it was competing against hundreds of other flavored vodkas.

"I said we need to come up with something else that's Southern and original," Newitt said.

There's nothing more southern than sweet tea, Newitt added.

So they called it Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, made out of southern grapes, distilled and then mixed with sweet tea.

"One of the popular drinks in town is 2/3 Firefly Sweet Tea, and 1/3 lemonade," Newitt said, while he showed how to make the drink.

No matter how it's served, they said it's already become a Charleston favorite. As for the secret to making it, Newitt would only say, "it's vodka, it's fresh tea, sugar and water."

Irvin and Newitt said demand is so high; it's forcing them to try and figure out how to keep up with it. In a year, they expect to sell the vodka in 20 to 25 states.