September 5, 2026
If you ever find yourself in Franklinville, NC and want to taste some of the best wine Randolph County has to offer, you’ve got to check out Native Son Vineyard. This place has an unpretentious, one-of-a-kind soul planted right in the Uwharrie foothills, and it’s unlike any winery we’ve visited.
Finding the Place
Native Son sits on a former dairy pasture and tobacco farm settled between Randleman and Liberty, facing a run of the Uwharrie Mountains — WOW, Caraway, Daves, and Purgatory all rise up in the view. It’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it; there’s no big sign or polished entrance, just a driveway that feels more like you’re pulling up to someone’s house than a winery. That’s because, in a way, you are.
The Wine Cabin
Tastings happen in what Native Son calls their wine cabin — a converted tobacco barn turned into a cozy, air-conditioned tasting room with seating for around ten. No polished bar, no stemware lined up in rows. Just a table, a fridge, and a whole lot of character. It’s the kind of setup that tells you immediately this isn’t going to be a formal experience, and that’s exactly the point.
Meeting Mike
Mike Capps runs Native Son with his wife Tammy, and he pours every single tasting himself — in shot glasses, no less. It’s about as unpretentious as wine tasting gets. We started with one wine and ended up trying nearly the whole lineup, because Mike just kept talking — about the wine, about how he and Tammy ended up building this place, about life on the farm. What was supposed to be a quick stop turned into a genuinely great conversation. He’s funny, he’s passionate about what he does, and it shows in every glass he pours.
What We Tasted
Every wine at Native Son is 100% muscadine, made with no added sugar — a detail that surprised us, since muscadine sometimes gets stereotyped as syrupy-sweet. What we got instead was crisp and genuinely complex, with the purity of the grape shining through in every glass.
A few of the names alone are worth mentioning: Twisted Spirit (a dark, rich red with a hint of blackberry), Golden Warrior (an aromatic bronze blend that seems to be everyone’s favorite), and Bronzed Noble, which Mike jokingly calls the “Southern Zinfandel.” There’s also Blue Warrior, Red Warrior, and Peach Warrior — bronze muscadine blended with blueberries, raspberries, and peaches, respectively — plus Noble Spirit, a deep, robust red made exclusively from the Noble muscadine grape.
Up the Hill
Before we left, Mike invited us up the hill to see where it all actually happens — the vineyard itself, where every muscadine grape on the property is grown. The view from up there, looking out over the vines toward the mountains in the distance, is genuinely incredible. It’s the kind of spot that makes you want to just sit for a while with a glass in hand and not think about anything else.
The Animals
Native Son is as much a working farm as it is a vineyard. Rescue horses, a donkey, mules, sheep, a goat, and a couple of beloved pot-bellied pigs all call the place home, and Mike and Tammy clearly love sharing them with visitors. If you’re bringing kids, or you’re just an animal person yourself, budget extra time to say hello to everyone.
Final Thoughts
If you’re anywhere near the Uwharrie foothills, do yourself a favor and stop by Native Son Vineyard. It’s not a polished, big-production tasting room — it’s better than that. It’s honest, no-added-sugar wine made with real care, poured by the people who grow it, on a farm they clearly love.
Planning your own visit? Check out our full Native Son Vineyard listing page for hours, directions, the full wine list, and more — and if you’ve been yourself, we’d love for you to leave a review there too.
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