Construction moving quicker than expected: Duplin Winery in PCB could open by end of year

Nathan Cobb, The News Herald
·2 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Duplin Winery being built on the Beach might open sooner than expected.

According to Jonathan Fussell, co-owner of the winery, construction on the facility is moving quicker than expected, which could allow for it to open before the end of this year, rather than his previous goal of early 2023.

The winery is being built along Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road) near its intersection with North Glades Trail. The development is within the footprint of the former Hombre Golf Course, which closed after Category 5 Hurricane Michael hit the Panhandle in October 2018.

"I'm extremely excited, and it's something we didn't expect," Fussell said of how fast things are coming together. "We have a great group of folks who are working on this, (and) they are ahead of schedule."

With construction going quicker than expected, the Duplin Winery being built in Panama City Beach could open before the end of this year, rather than its owners' previous goal of early 2023.
With construction going quicker than expected, the Duplin Winery being built in Panama City Beach could open before the end of this year, rather than its owners' previous goal of early 2023.

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The local Duplin Winery will be the brand's third establishment, with the others in Rose Hill, North Carolina and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The company is the highest selling muscadine winery in the world, having distributed more than 560,000 cases of wine in 2021, Fussell has noted.

Duplin's PCB location sits on property owned by Fussell Real Estate Holdings, a real estate developer of which Fussell is a managing partner.

Registered out of North Carolina, the company purchased in 2020 about 70 acres on the former course, and it is using about 3 acres for the winery. It began vertical construction in June.

"This has been a (multiple) year process for us," Fussell said. "We started looking at land (for the winery) in 2017. ... We're just really, really excited about being in the Panama City Beach community and getting involved."

He said his initial goal was for the winery's erectors and roofing to be in place within 100 days. That now has dropped to 75 days, and Fussell hopes for everything to be complete before Christmas.

This could push forward its soft opening date from early 2023 to sometime in December 2022. However, Fussell said there are some permits that need to be finalize between the time construction ends and the facility opens.

Still, he is very pleased with the pace of development for the local amenity he said will be a perfect fit for not only the residents of Panama City Beach, but the millions of tourists who visit the city every year.

"Duplin has been in business for 46 years, (and it) does have a good presence, a good following in the Georgia market, which is one of the bigger states that come down to (PCB)," Fussell said. "We also have a presence in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and Florida.

"... We (also) hope to offer things that will entice the local community to come quite often."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Duplin Winery in Panama City Beach could open by early 2023