| Missouri Wine |
Article Index for Missouri |
Website Links For Missouri |
Information AboutMissouri Wine |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MISSOURI WINE | |
| missouri culture | |
| wine regions of the united states | |
|
GRAPES GROWN Missouri's climate, with its long, hot summers and good sun exposure, and thin rocky Ozarks soil, is excellent for growing grapes, while its moderate average temperature allows natural cellaring of wine. The winters, however, are too cold to reliably grow some popular grape varieties of the species Vitis Vinifera found in Europe and California. The most prominent Missouri variety is Cynthiana/ Norton , believed to be a hybrid of Vitis Aestivalis , native to eastern North America, and is considered to be the only native American grape that can make good dry table wine. Other varieties grown include Concord , Catawba , Vignoles , Seyval , and Chambourcin . HISTORY Native Americans cultivated local varieties of grape, and these species were developed by later European immigrants. Hermann, Missouri , settled by Germans in 1837, had ideal conditions to grow these grapes, and by 1848 produced 10,000 gallons per year, expanding to 100,000 gallons per year by 1856. Later, Italian immigrants expanded production in the Rolla, Missouri area. The state produced two million gallons per year by the 1880s, being the largest wine-producing state in the country. In the mid-19th century the Phylloxera louse destroyed much of the French grape crop; Missouri’s state entomologist, Charles Riley, encouraged the sending of resistant Missouri rootstocks to France to combat the epidemic. The Missouri wine industry was wiped out in 1919 by the imposition of Prohibition , the only remaining winery was St. Stanislaus Seminary, in Florissant , which made sacramental wines; recovery started in 1965 by the reopening of Stone Hill Winery , followed by Mount Pleasant Winery . A state tax on wine imposed in 1984, now 12 cents per gallon, supports the Missouri Wine and Grape Program, providing scientific and marketing support for Missouri wines. CURRENT SITUATION The wine industy is still small in Missouri, but is growing very quickly, and the market for Missouri wine is estimated to be far higher than current production. Wine production in the state by 2001 was about a half million gallons per year, and made up about 6% of state's wine consumption. The state government hopes to encourage the local wine industry by promoting Missouri regionalism: integrating grape agriculture with winemaking, the restraurant business, and tourism, as a way of combatting the uniformity of globalism. Missouri wines, especially of the Norton variety, have won many major international awards. Missouri is home to both the first and second recognized American Viticultural Area s in the US, Augusta in 1980 and Hermann in 1983 . SEE ALSO Missouri Rhineland EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|