Cheers to a 'great addition': Winery replacing former Hombre Golf Course at start of 2023
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Residents and tourists soon will have a new place to kick back and sip some wine on the Beach.
According to Mel Leonard, building and planning director for Panama City Beach, site work is underway for a Duplin Winery being built on a portion of land previously known as the Hombre Golf Course. The course closed more than three years ago following damages caused by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that struck the Panhandle and devastated Bay County in October 2018.
The winery is one of a few developments slated for the property, and Leonard said he expects for vertical construction on the project to begin within a couple of months.
"It would be nice if the golf course could remain, (be) economically viable and have enough members to keep it the way it was, but ... it's great that we have another winery coming (to the area)," he said. "I think it's a great addition to the community, (and) I think a lot of people will enjoy it."
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Leonard noted there also are discussions to construct more than 80 townhomes and about 115 single family homes in place of the course. However, plans for these projects are not quite as concrete as those for the winery.
Jonathan Fussell, co-owner of Duplin Winery, said the company is the highest selling muscadine winery in the world, having distributed more than 560,000 cases of wine in 2021. The PCB location will be its third establishment, with the others in Rose Hill, North Carolina and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
He noted that the local winery will sit along Panama City Beach Parkway on property now owned by Fussell Real Estate Holdings, a real estate developer of which Fussell also is a member. It will lease the land to Duplin Winery.
Fussell, who hopes to open the new winery toward the beginning of 2023, expects for it to create at least 40 jobs.
"The footprint is being built right now, and we hope to start erecting steel in mid-July," he said of the project. "There's a lot of factors that go into (building a new winery, and) I would not have agreed to build (it in PCB) if we did not think we would be a good fit."
Though the new Duplin Winery will be located within about four miles from the existing Panama City Beach Winery, owner Chuck Wolf said he believes there is more than enough local business for the two to thrive.
Wolf noted he also thinks they will compliment each other since Duplin Winery makes its wine from grapes, and his business creates its blends from a variety of fruits.
"As far as Duplin coming to town, I personally feel ... that it will be good for us," he said. "People travel to wineries all around the world. (In) California, they're lined up and down the street. ... I don't make wine like they do, and they don't make wine like I do. We're two totally different animals."
With wine tasting a popular attraction for not only residents but tourists, Wolf is confident the addition will create a more diverse wine culture on the Beach. Duplin also is a well established and nationally known brand, which he said probably will attract more visitors to the area.
He hopes many of those visitors will check out his winery while they're in town.
"I think their advertisements to bring people to Panama City Beach will help us," Wolf said. "Wineries are popping up every in the United States today. ... I feel like it will be a good addition to the area."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Duplin Winery set to soon open its third location in Panama City Beach
