Press Release
Garden & Gun and partner Explore Asheville announced the winners of the magazine's thirteenth annual Made in the South Awards (MITSA), celebrating Southern-made products in six categories: Home, Food, Drink, Crafts, Style, and Outdoors. A new Sustainability Award was also presented to a Southern innovator incorporating eco-friendly practices into their business. This year's Overall Winner, Elijah Leed Studio, located in Durham, North Carolina, came from the Home category and will be the recipient of a $10,000 cash prize and a prominent feature in the magazine's December 2022/January 2023 issue, on newsstands Tuesday, November 22nd.
David DiBenedetto, G&G's senior vice president and editor in chief, recognized this year's MITSA honorees last night at a celebratory dinner in Asheville, North Carolina. DiBenedetto and his team were joined by the overall winner, category winners, and G&G readers.
“Yet again the winners of the Made in the South Awards proved that talent, creativity, and passion are alive and well in the region,” DiBenedetto says. “And there's no better place to celebrate those admirable qualities than the great city of Asheville. The only thing better will be sharing these talented artisans with G&G readers.”
The city of Asheville, the creative epicenter of this year's competition, has produced eleven honorees since the competition started in 2009, including two nods in this year's Food category. Additionally, makers and artisans from the state of North Carolina have accumulated more than fifty Made in the South Awards historically and received six nods this year in multiple categories, including the new Sustainability Award.
“We are honored for Asheville to be home to the Made in the South Awards this year and applaud the passion and talent in all participants,” said Vic Isley, president & CEO for Explore Asheville. “As a destination nurtured by nature, Asheville's creative spirit is deeply rooted and ever-evolving. From crafted art to craft beer and a thriving culinary scene, we never stop creating who we are, much like the makers we celebrated this past weekend.”
To hear more about this year's honorees before the magazine hits newsstands, tune in to the 3rd hour of NBC News' TODAY on Wednesday, November 16. Al Roker, TODAY weatherman and 2022 MITSA Food category judge, and G&G's David DiBenedetto will highlight award winners on-air.
MADE IN THE SOUTH AWARD RECIPIENTS BY CATEGORY
From the Home category, this year's Overall Winner is Elijah Leed Studio's Warren Cabinet, made in Durham, North Carolina. Before beginning his career in woodworking, Elijah Leed studied glassblowing and sculptural ceramics at Centre College in Kentucky, and he approaches each furniture project with an artist's eye. The furniture maker designed a contemporary curio cabinet out of collected rough-cut walnut from nearby Gibsonville. It also features integrated joinery, a delicate woven bronze screen, and hand-cast bronze pulls–carefully handcrafted at his downtown Durham workshop.
Home category runners-up are:
- Heart & Spade Forge, Carbon-Steel Baker Set (Roanoke, VA)
- Ben & Lael, Silver Bowl with Antler Stand (Nashville, TN)
- Reid Classics, Mahogany Four-Poster Bed (Dothan, AL)
The winner of the Food category is Biscuit Head's Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, made in Asheville, NC. Carolyn and Jason Roy, owners of popular breakfast-and-lunch spot Biscuit Head with locations in Asheville and Greenville, South Carolina, started selling inquiring customers their biscuit mix in mason jars with instructions attached. As the business expanded and the popularity of the mix soared, they decided to repackage it so more people can enjoy their cathead-style biscuits at home. Their no-fail mix already contains butter, so home cooks need only stir in some buttermilk and simply drop the dough onto a pan.
Food category runners-up are:
- Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn, Spicewalla collaboration popcorn (Asheville, NC)
- Life Raft Treats, “Not Fried Chicken” Ice Cream Buckets (Charleston, SC)
- Butcher & Bee, Smoked Onion Jam (Charleston, SC)
The winner of the Drink category is Chateau Elan Winery's white port, made in Braselton, GA. Chateau Elan Winery and Resort's CEO and executive winemaker, Simone Bergese, grew up in Italy's Piedmont region. Bergese experimented with making a white port, replacing the Old World grapes with muscadine and blending with chardonnay grapes and then aging the barrels a little longer than traditional methods. The delay proved worthwhile, coaxing forth a beguiling natural sweetness that compliments the fortified wine's earthy praline notes.
Drink category runners-up are:
- Stone Hollow Farmstead, Strawberry Rose Drinking Vinegar (Harpersville, AL)
- Back Pocket Provisions, Bloody Brilliant Bloody Mary Mix (Richmond, VA)
- TX Whiskey, Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks (Fort Worth, TX)
The winner of the Crafts category is the Acadian Weaver from Baton Rouge, LA. Austin Clark keeps alive the centuries-old art of Acadian weaving—techniques used in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s by ancestors of today's Louisiana Cajuns. His winning blanket design is based on a historic X-and-O pattern that weavers sometimes made as a special wedding gift.
Crafts category runners-up are:
- Audiowood, Black Barky Turntable (New Orleans, LA)
- People Via Plants, Ceramic Mugs (Richmond, VA)
- Bright Black, Candles (Durham, NC)
The winner of the Style category is Miranda Bennett Studio out of Austin, TX. Designer Miranda Bennett is a native of Austin with a degree from Parsons School of Design in New York City. Her vision for eco-friendly, ethical apparel led to the launch of her namesake sustainable clothing brand. Bennett uses zero-waste plant-based dyes made from locally sourced materials and sews and constructs her organic cotton, silk, and linen clothing designs within Austin's city limits.
Style category runners-up are:
- Glad & Young, Fanny Pack (Atlanta, GA)
- Flint & Port Hat Company, Handmade Hats (Bainbridge, GA)
- Minnie Lane, Scarlett Bracelet (Nashville, TN)
The winner of the Outdoors category is Lacey Rod Company's vintage-inspired reels, made in Gainesville, GA. Gary Lacey started building fine bamboo fly rods thirty years ago in order to afford his love of the traditional material. To create his bespoke reels, Lacey sculpts the reel's side plates out of hard black rubber, the disc drag out of leather, and most of the rest of the components out of nickel silver.
Outdoors category runners-up are:
- Tekton Game Calls, Custom Duck Calls (James Island, SC)
- Ross Tyser Custom Knives, Pocket Knife (Spartanburg, SC)
- Southern Paddle Company, Canoe Paddle (Charlotte, NC)
The winner of the new Sustainability Award is CICIL, which makes eco-friendly rugs in Durham, NC. The textile company, founded by Laura Tripp and Caroline Cockerham, has sustainability woven into its very fabric. Wool is gathered from small family farms and co-ops in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. That wool travels to South Carolina for cleaning, or scouring, and then moves to a third-generation manufacturer in North Carolina for carding, spinning, braiding, and sewing. The final products are made-to-order, nontoxic, undyed rugs in shades of grays and browns, sewn in curvy shapes that create as little waste as possible during production.
To learn more about the winners and finalists—and how to purchase their products—pick up a copy of the December 2022/January 2023 issue of Garden & Gun on newsstands Tuesday, November 22, or visit www.gardenandgun.com/
Follow the Made in the South Awards using #madeinthesouthawards on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
