Positively grape: Twisted Vines Vineyard supports local entrepreneurs and helps visitors make lasting memories

By Kate Griffin, posted Feb 6, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Owners Dana and Tracy Horne planted their vineyard in 2009. In 2019, they introduced their u-pick vineyard, and visitors loved the addition. They’ve also added a 4,608 sq ft. venue available to rent for events. Photo by Emily Grace Photography.

Twisted Vines Vineyard, a u-pick muscadine vineyard and event venue located in Clinton, offers weddings, outdoor events, tours and more to customers.

“We offer a lot more hands-on southern hospitality and heart,” said Dana Horne, manager of Twisted Vines Vineyard.

Twisted Vines Vineyard has been in business since 2009, when owners Dana and Tracy Horne planted their first vineyard. As the vineyard expanded, so did their vision for what is now a gorgeous locale. While it excels as an event venue, Twisted Vines Vineyard accomplishes much more than that for Clinton, N.C. and the surrounding areas.

The vineyard currently grows four kinds of muscadine grapes of both black and bronze varieties, namely the Triumph, Tara, Nesbitt and Lane varieties in the u-pick portion of their vineyard, and growing the Carlos variety for commercial sale. The u-pick vineyard is open all daylight hours for grape season, which is typically late August to October.

Muscadines are the most prominent grape native to North America, and grow on eastern border states, so they are a hot commodity in most of the country. The u-pick section uses repurposed tobacco trailers as picnic tables and is outfitted with scales, picture spots, fish food dispensers and picnic areas for customers to come out and have a relaxing time in the vineyard.

“Not a lot of locals [that] come, but a lot of people from other states and counties and big cities like Raleigh, Wilmington, Fayetteville and the like, they don’t know about country life,” said Dana Horne. “And so it’s very fun for them [to] have a new experience…and we enjoy meeting and talking with them.”

In addition to the u-pick services, Twisted Vines Vineyard offers event services. Between the pond, the vineyards and fastidiously landscaped grounds, there’s no wrong spot to host your event, but the main building is the big draw. The wooden portions of the venue’s palatial interior were built using entirely North Carolina lumber, and the attention to detail is evident in every nook and cranny.

“We don’t shortcut anything,” said Horne. “And that’s kinda how we’ve always done things anyway, we take care of stuff, and we want it to be long term.”

This kind of decorous elegance isn’t found in every hometown wedding venue. The main venue area was originally designed to be a winery. This served the venue well, as event spaces utilize similar facilities to a winery. Twisted Vines Vineyard has opened the doors – literally and figuratively – to business and contracting opportunities otherwise hard to come by.

“It’s nice to work with small-town people; everybody knows everybody, but we work together as a team,” said Horne. “Especially being a venue now, you don’t realize how many people we can support and their businesses and their dreams. You think about your caterers, your photographers, your wedding coordinators, your DJs, all of those, I don’t think they even realize it, but what a venue does is support all those dreams. So again, that makes us feel good [that] people have that opportunity.”

Wedding packages with grape-picking for guests are available, along with opportunities for couples to have their personalized brand on one of the grape posts in the vineyard. Weddings at Twisted Vines Vineyard are distinctive and stylized to each couple.

Located at 82 Twisted Vines Ln. in Clinton, N.C., Twisted Vines Vineyard offers various event packages as well as tours of the vineyard and grape picking from late August through October. Photo by Faith Sinclair.

“I think what makes us unique is that we’re a part of it, [my husband] Tracy and I are back there helping them with their wedding,” said Horne. “We’re walking them through the whole thing, we’re on site when the wedding is going on if there’s an issue.”

Clinton has an untapped reservoir of entrepreneurs and businesses, and Twisted Vines Vineyard is here to put it to good use.

“I’ve started working on some packages to offer for the brides and grooms, wanted to keep our economy going strong, and for them to use local people versus going outside, and to make it more of a smoother flow for them,” said Horne. “Just something where it’ll push them into Clinton and help the economy as well.”

Events bring in business opportunities, but Twisted Vines Vineyard is taking it one step further with Twisted Vines Vocational.

“We have a not-for-profit in the summers where we help kids work with us, I have marketing kids with me, and then Tracy too has landscaping people that will help him with that, but we’re trying to teach them business skills, life skills, the work, and getting into it, and it’s been going really good,” said Horne. “I love the relationships I build with my interns. I feel like people don’t get this kind of experience as much at school, and we’re trying to instill those values for them and give them real experience, and they can apply it and become better at what their dreams are or find their dreams.”

On the whole, Twisted Vines Vineyard is a welcome expansion to the Clinton area, to more than just event planners. Dana and Tracy Horne bring a welcome attention to detail and personalized effort to every occasion hosted at their venue. Twisted Vines Vineyard was built and developed with more in mind than just events.

“My old boss used to tell me all the time if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t matter, and it’s true,” said Horne. “Some of us are scared to step out in faith because we don’t know what’s next, what’s gonna happen, and I feel like God puts it on your heart and plants that vision you just got to follow.”

Twisted Vines Vineyard is instrumental in progressing development in Clinton, and the Hornes haven’t even come close to finishing what they’ve started.

Contact information for event booking, Twisted Vines Vocational, u-pick questions and more is available on the Twisted Vines Vineyard website: www.twistedvinesvineyard.com

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