[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend", join us from Queeny's in Durham as we offer cheers to a new year.

We'll taste wine in Hendersonville, visit End of Days Distillery in Wilmington and tour breweries in Asheville as they recover from the hurricane.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend," everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt Noel and this week we are at Queeny's in Durham as we bring you cheers for a new year.

This bar is a place where food, drink and conversation are what the experience is all about.

But first, visiting a North Carolina winery is a great way to celebrate a new year.

And that's exactly what you can do in Henderson County.

Producer Clay Johnson and his videographer Eric Olson take us to a winery in apple country with a very memorable name.

[gentle country music] ♪ In the twilight glow ♪ ♪ I see her ♪ - [Clay] It's a Saturday afternoon on the patio at Hendersonville's Burntshirt Vineyards, a great place to listen to live music and sip good wine.

- I really enjoy seeing our customers try the wine and then talk about how great it is 'cause it's like they're sort of surprised, I guess that wine can be as good as it is, made in North Carolina.

- [Clay] And folks think the view here is pretty good too.

- There's a country scene, they're overlooking the vineyard and just very relaxing for 'em.

- [Clay] It all started in 2012 when Lemuel and Sandra Oates bought this property, which was an old apple orchard.

- [Sandra] It was just a beautiful piece of property.

It had a big, flat area to it.

- [Clay] The Oates' friend, Alan Ward, who owns nearby Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, suggested they grow wine grapes there.

- So I hopped on board too.

We planted about 30 acres and that's how we got in it.

- [Clay] They planted 20 acres around the winery and 10 acres at nearby Burntshirt Mountain where Lemuel was raised.

- [Lemuel] And we picked the top of the mountain 'cause it wasn't as steep, but it has a nice slope to it.

It's absolutely gorgeous up there.

- [Clay] The vineyards and winery are named the mountain, which is named for an old tradition of farmers burning their fields before planting and throwing their shirts in the fire.

At 3,400 feet, the mountaintop vineyard mimics a West Coast environment, perfect for many of Burntshirt's white wines.

- [Johnny] Some of the cleanest fruit I've seen on the East Coast is what we got from up there.

- [Clay] Different from the growing conditions at the vineyard down in Hendersonville, - We have just found that reds tend to thrive down here and the acid profiles and our white wines up there make that vineyard very special.

So this next one we're gonna try is gonna be our Meritage.

This one recently won a gold medal in the San Francisco International Wine Competition.

- [Clay] Burntshirt produces wine from 16 French varietal grapes.

They can be sampled in its tasting rooms, including this one inside the old converted farmhouse.

Among the most popular are its Midnight Moon, which is a Vidal Blanc that pairs well with poultry or fish.

- [Johnny] It's also a really perfect wine to sip on a hot summer day with your friends.

- [Clay] The Harvest Moon is a rich Chardonnay that also pairs well with poultry or fish.

- [Johnny] Aromatic wise, I get a lot of green apple and vanilla.

And then on the palette I get a good amount of citrus and pineapple.

- [Clay] And the Malbec is a hardy red that pairs well with red meat.

- [Johnny] I get a lot of blueberry and raspberry.

Still pretty full in terms of body.

- [Clay] You can pair the wines with food at Burntshirt Vineyard's, restaurant, the Vintner's Table.

It's got outdoor and indoor seating, a wine tasting bar and a large fireplace.

- We offer comfort food and really great, delicious fresh, farm-to-table products.

Our chef is from New Orleans, so we have a Cajun pasta that's the real deal.

- [Clay] The Smash burger is one of the best sellers and there are lighter bites to go with your wine.

- [Brooke] I know everyone loves a good cheeseboard with their wine.

So we offer a really beautiful display of a cheeseboard.

- [Clay] In Hendersonville, the good food, wine and view make Burntshirt Vineyards a great place for people like Kacy and Brian Black to chill.

- I love the atmosphere.

Of course the wine is very delicious, but everything is just so beautiful here.

[gentle music] - Just a place to hang out and really enjoy the view and wine.

- [Brooke] We want them to be welcome and comfortable and know that this is a friendly place.

[gentle guitar music] - Burntshirt Vineyards is located at 2695 Sugarloaf Road in Hendersonville and they're open daily.

For more information, give them a call at 828-685-2402, or go to burntshirtvineyards.com.

When you're ready to trade the casual vibes of Queeny's.

For a more artful cocktail experience, head down here to Kingfisher.

This spot with ground-to-glass cocktails is owned by the same folks who opened Queeny's.

For another sophisticated experience, producer Jason Frye takes us to Wilmington, where he sampled handcrafted spirits at a distillery with a very interesting name.

- North Carolina has a long history with distilled spirits, from the colonial era whiskey rebellions to those mountain moonshiners [projector whirring] and their high-octane bootleg whiskey runners giving birth to NASCAR.

Here in Wilmington, End of Days Distillery is writing a new chapter on North Carolina's story of spirits.

Unlike the bootleggers of old, they've done away with the mason jars and the rotgut white lightning and they're taking a finer and classier approach to liquor.

From the distillery and tasting lounge, here in Wilmington's growing Cargo District, End of Days cooks up an outstanding line of spirits.

Co-owner and head distiller, Shane Faulkner works with two of his assistants to ensure that the recipes are just right, but everyone gets in on the affair.

Shane's wife works in the business, his son works in the business, and they've got an army of great people helping ensure that they make an excellent product, every time.

We are here with Beth Faulkner and we want to talk about what it is that makes this place so special.

Tell me a little bit about what you guys have.

- So here in 2024 we have 10 spirits.

- Wow.

- Almost all award-winning.

And then we have three ready to drink cocktails that are in cans.

- End of Days gin is the talk of the town.

Tell me why.

- A lot of gins are very polarizing.

They have one ingredient that just takes it all the way over here, all the way over there.

What we wanted to do is we took 14 different beautiful botanicals, lemongrass, citrus, this funny thing called a cupeb berry, which is basically a black peppercorn, gives you a nice little spicy finish on the end and it just is one of those gins that even people who don't like gins say, "I like this!"

[soft quirky music] - End of Days has a really impressive barrel resting and barrel aging program.

I understand that you're barrel resting rum and gin, but also bourbon, and that it's the first bourbon that's been legally made in New Hanover County since prohibition.

Tell me about that.

How special is that?

And talk about your barrel program.

- Out the beginning, we wanted to make sure that we really had a robust barrel resting and barrel aging program.

So our first line was the Castaway Series.

So we took our port of entry gin and our port of entry rum.

So those are those clear spirits, put 'em in new American oak barrels, let them sit and do their magic.

No additives, no preservatives, no spices, and really just that barrel resting process yields this amazing finish that takes that clear spirit and just definitely changes the profile completely.

- Inside is a great hangout, but outside you've got a great hangout as well.

You've got all these tables, but you've got a surprise, the concept kitchen here at End of Days.

Tell me about that.

- So our concept kitchen is a platform for culinary innovation.

It's meant to allow entrepreneurial and even established chefs to come in, showcase whatever they're wanting to show our guests.

It can be appetizers, it could be entrees, but something to elevate the experience for our customers.

So as you're enjoying that beautiful cocktail, we're learning about our spirits, we want you to also be able to kind of go on a culinary journey with these chefs.

- You've had Lawrence Barbecue down from Durham, you've had NC Oyster Company come down and shuck a dozen for folks.

Who else have you had down here that you guys have been excited about?

- There's been a lot, but one in particular would be Tee with Sap Lai.

She's a Laotian chef, and most people that came here, they didn't even know what Laotian food was.

So I love the fact that we had this chef here bringing this whole new culinary experience to our customers and they were blown away with the amazing food that she made.

- [Jason] End of Days.

Tell me about this name.

- This name came about with us sitting around a campfire with our friends and we noticed that quite frequently, people ended their sentence [flames crackling] and they said "At the end of the day..." And we thought about what a reflective statement that is.

You know, "at the end of the day" means something very different from maybe you and me or someone younger or older.

But we know that everybody, at the end of the day, wants to feel good about what they've done, they wanna enjoy time with people they love.

And you know, a lot of times that involves sipping something really good.

So at the end of the day, we want you to celebrate the day.

[relaxed jazz music] - End of Days Distillery is at 1815 Castle Street in Wilmington and they're open Wednesday through Sunday.

For more information give them a call at 910-399-1133 or check them out online at eoddistillery.com.

As the popularity of craft beer has boomed in our state, so has the number of breweries, and the beer that they brew helps them stand out against their competitors.

But producer Clay Johnson and his videographer Eric Olson discovered a brewery in the western part of our state that also stands out because of its location.

[gentle acoustic music] - [Clay] The historic 1947 Mars Theater sits on a hillside overlooking downtown Mars Hill.

It's now home to Mars Theater Brewing Company.

- We get a lot of customers come in that are in their eighties and say they saw their first movie here.

So when people come in here they're like, "Wow, this is something, this is so cool."

You know, anything nostalgic or old, people like to be part of.

And you can see that this is an old theater.

- [Clay] Mark and Mary Fretwell, who moved to Lake Lure from England, bought an old barbecue restaurant in Chimney Rock in 2015 and converted it into a brewery.

A few years later, they bought the abandoned Mars Theater and converted it into a brewery that made the beer for both locations.

Mark did most of the renovations.

- [Scott] So he bought all the decking to level a lot of areas out for people to be able to sit comfortably, you know, flat.

- [Clay] Mark built the bar too.

But as he was struggling with a terminal illness, the Fretwells decided to sell the two breweries to brothers Rick and Scott Spruill in October, 2022.

- I've taken a huge love affair with this building and this brewery and the customers that we're currently seeing.

- [Clay] The Fretwells served mostly English beers, but the Spruills have been transitioning to more American styles, - [Scott] American hops, American barley, American grains.

So we have converted a little bit of that.

- [Clay] Popular brews include the Oxnard West Coast IPA.

- [Scott] It's not quite a hazy IPA, but it has a subtle citrus flavor to it.

It's a true West Coast IPA.

- [Clay] The Spruills have also introduced sours like the Raspberry.

- [Scott] It's like a flavored seltzer water, but it's got a stronger, sour finish to it.

- And the Spruills have kept some of the Fretwells' favorites like the Devil's Head Red.

- That's a traditional red ale.

We do do some English hops in that, 'cause that's the integrity of what Mark created there.

- [Clay] The brewery serves pub fare like sandwiches, quesadillas, wings and more.

Spruill added chandeliers to brighten the place up a bit and created a wall of paintings of rock and roll icons.

- [Scott] Because I wanted to create not only a movie theater vibe, but also a music venue vibe.

♪ There's too much confusion ♪ - [Clay] There's live music on weekends and open mic nights.

There's also trivia night, and of course movie nights.

- Craft seems to be delayed.

- He'll be here, never fear.

- [Clay] Spruill also plans to use the stage to host plays and stand up comedy.

But the Spruills' efforts took a hit when flooding from Tropical Storm Helene destroyed their Chimney Rock Brewery.

- Absolutely mind blowing.

You know, it's something we never expected.

That was a big revenue piece that is gone now.

Chimney Rock's a big tourist town.

That brewery was packed seven days a week, especially during the season.

So now we don't have to make as much beer and the beer is what generates the revenue.

- [Clay] But there's a bit of a bright side too.

- A lot of people have discovered us since Helene because Mars Hill was basically untouched from the storm.

So we had 70% of our customers since Helene were first time customers.

- [Clay] The Spruills are hoping to make up some of the lost Chimney Rock revenue with those new customers and also with local loyals like Jacob and Makayla Carver.

- I love it.

It's very chill and laid back and there's not too much going on even when there are a lot of people here.

It's not crazy.

- That's the biggest thing about this place is just nice, calm place, not too wild or nothing like that.

Everybody just wants to come and do the same thing.

Just drink a beer and hang out, you know?

- [Clay] And that's just what the Spruills have in mind with their Mars Theater Brewery.

- [Scott] What I like in a business is a nice, relaxed environment that people can just get along, feel very, very comfortable.

No stress.

That's the idea.

That's what I want and that's what we present here, and that's the culture that we have here.

- Mars Theater Brewing Company is at 70 North Main Street in Mars Hill and they're open Wednesday through Sunday.

For more information, give them a call at 828-680-1284 or visit them online at chimneyrockbrewing.net.

Queeny's is a downtown Durham staple, and here, they are committed to creating a hangout space that reflects its hometown.

Let's see how they bring together a cozy space, tasty drinks and affordable nighttime fare that's also really delicious.

- I didn't really ever have any plans or intentions of bringing my art background into the hospitality world, but as soon as the opportunity became available, it just is the perfect combination for me.

I love using my hands to create things.

I love the feeling of clay.

It's really a give and take.

You really have to feel what the clay is doing and react to that.

[peaceful music] I love being able to design whole spaces.

I am very detail oriented, but also think about the bigger picture and think about how a space feels once it's complete.

[upbeat rock and roll music] [upbeat rock and roll music continues] Durham is just the right size city.

You don't necessarily know everyone, but you may recognize people.

There's also universities here, there's arts here.

It's a very family friendly city.

For the size city it is, there's a lot to do.

It feels very community oriented.

In the restaurant industry especially, we're very close.

There's just an excellent community of people who support each other.

[upbeat rock and roll music] - Queeny's is an amazing like, vibe atmosphere, just energy.

Everything about Queeny's is very, very special.

And the fact that they have this podcast space, I mean, come on.

The first time me and my co-host came here, we felt like family, we'd known these people forever.

The studio itself, coming in, you have to pass the bar to get there and you meet all of the... Queeny's family.

[laughs] So you meet the Queeny's family and you get to know them.

Having that space where we can come and feel welcome, like that kind of sets the mood for the content that we ultimately produce.

[upbeat rock and roll music continues] - It's my go-to place.

Whether it's cold, warm, raining, sunny.

I actually work from home and came to Queeny's to just finish my days and basically created a little community here.

So we always joke that it's the Tuesday crew and just like a sense of family, a sense of community.

The bartenders know who I am, who others are.

It feels very comfortable and safe.

And also there's a lot of fun events.

You know, from music to drag shows, there's so much to do.

And also like the food is really good [laughs] and it's in a central location.

- Development of Queeny's was really interesting because neither Michelle or I come at it as a chef proper.

So it was really what kind of restaurant and space and experience we thought would fit in and mesh well with the rest of Durham.

The Downtown Loop, as I like to call it, has a lot of very nice, but I would say medium to expensive restaurants and we wanted to create something that was an everyday accessible, affordable, and consistent experience for more of the folks who live in Durham.

- Things are a little bit different than you might expect based on the menu, our Chicken Crispers, for example.

They're pretty straightforward but so delicious.

We also have a kale salad and our kitchen is open until 2:00am every day.

And sometimes there's shift workers, restaurant workers, nurses who get off and there's nowhere to eat a whole decent meal.

We already made the salad for you.

It's here.

You can fill up and feel good about it.

As an artist who's also in hospitality, I love doing things, as many things as I can myself and also involving the people that I know.

So when we built Queeny's, I learned how to pour a concrete bar top and poured the bar top myself.

And I painted all the walls myself.

My brother is a woodworker and he built all of our tables for us and also some hanging lamp pendants in the bathrooms and over one of the booths.

One of the bartenders we originally hired is also an artist, so he did a giant chalk mural on our wall.

And my carpenter friend also built out the book room and filled up one window with bookshelves and built me a little window seat.

I hope that when people walk out of Queeny's, they feel more connected to Durham and the community and maybe to a specific person that they've met there and feel like there's really a place for them to be themselves and come alone or with a group of friends, anytime of day or night.

[slow-paced jazz music] - Queeny's is at 321 East Chapel Hill Street, Suite 100 in Durham, and they're open daily from 11:45am to 2:00am.

Kingfisher, their cocktail bar is right downstairs.

For more information, visit them online at queenysdurham.com.

Asheville is home to dozens of craft breweries, but like so many other local businesses, they're working hard to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

Let's take a look at how some of these breweries are making long journey back.

[gentle acoustic guitar music] - I'm drinking Recovery IPA, part of our Beers That Build program.

One of my favorite styles, session IPA, 4.7%.

Just a delicious drinker.

But this is going to the WNC Long Haul.

We're providing money for grants to go to, whether it's businesses or individuals who are in need to help rebound from Helene.

- I think Asheville molds together a couple of important components to the beer drinking experience.

I mean, the outdoors, there's nothing better than getting off the trail or getting off your bike or outta the kayak and having a beer.

And you know, the fact that you can turn around any corner in Asheville and run into a brewery is, is part of the allure and the draw to this city.

- I think, ironically, in the wake of the hurricane, that Asheville became a destination for craft beer because of the water.

And that's what drew brewers here, but also it's a destination for makers and crafters and that's a perfect place to make beer.

[gentle country music] - First thing I would tell everybody in the outside world is that like Asheville is really struggling and in Western North Carolina as a whole is still, you know, picking through massive damage.

It's going to take a long time to clean up.

And you know, the city spirit is stronger than I think it's ever been.

I mean, I've been here for 12 years.

I've never seen people more inspired and enthusiastic about the road ahead than I've seen now.

- We initially wanted to reach out to all of our staff members to make sure they were all safe.

Once we got word that everyone was safe, we started going into an action plan of what we could do for the community, move the needle in any way.

So we did open up a emergency relief fund at Dirty Jacks, one of our pubs on Buxton Avenue.

And the amount of donations was insane.

Everyone brought a million things to Dirty Jacks and so we were able to reach the community that way.

- For the community, the whole loss of tourism, we have moved from a local tourist place to a tourist local place.

The numbers are really important, and to lose 70% of that is really difficult.

For us, we lost 65% of of income because our place on the other side of the tracks took 14 foot of water.

So that's a challenge.

We lost the use of this facility briefly.

We're brewing beer in Waynesville with Boojum.

We're brewing beer in Charlotte.

We're doing a collab with Burial.

There's always somebody there to help you if you need it.

- To really process everything that's happened, I think the first thing that our teams did were "what can we do to help?"

I think that's what's beautiful about Western North Carolina from us going and being, you know, a distribution hub from water, from supplies to having our teams cook meals for all of our employees, for people downtown, just however we could help was the number one priority.

And something that's just amazing that we've seen come from such a terrible event.

- Our team was so amazing.

Some people decided to do wellness checks on their neighbors.

Some people delivered supplies, some people showed up here and some people left town, which was safest and best honestly for their mental health.

So we encouraged everybody to do what they needed to do.

- Once we got potable water, that made all the difference in the world as far as what we can do as a brewery.

So we were able to start brewing.

We've been brewing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, just trying to catch up, get beer out into the market and get people back to work.

You know, we're still going through it, we're still dealing with it every day.

We're still trying to figure things out.

We're still piecing it all together, but we're getting back on track as far as bringing people back, brewing beer, and kind of working our way forward from there.

- I mean, the power of connectivity between people is something that drew us to opening this brewery.

And it's a big reason that I'm in the hospitality industry, which is a beautiful part of the storm, is that it raises communities and showed us how powerful like caring for your neighbor is.

Everybody contributes something.

- Highland is fully open, the volleyball courts are still open, the disc golf course is open, live music is back.

So we're doing everything that we normally do and we'd love to have you share it with us.

- The state of Asheville, we still need your help.

We want you to come.

There's so many volunteering opportunities across the board in Western North Carolina.

But come in, come support, spend some money, come visit us downtown.

We are open, we're back up for business and we look forward to seeing you soon.

- I think that if anybody deserved your attention and you're looking for inspiration and curiosity, this is the place to visit.

[gentle music] - For updated travel information and to learn more about Asheville's craft brew scene, go to exploreasheville.com.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We've had a great time showing you around Queeny's and Kingfisher here in Durham.

Whether you want something casual upstairs or something a little more elevated downstairs, they've got you covered here.

And if you've missed anything in tonight's show, remember you can always watch us online at pbsnc.org or find us on our YouTube channels.

Have a great "North Carolina Weekend," everyone, and Happy New Year.

[upbeat music] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.