Celebrating Winemaking in Missouri

Celebrating

WINEMAKING IN MISSOURI

n this bicentennial year

Iof Missouri’s statehood in 1821, County Living is celebrating an important part of the state’s history: our vineyards and wineries. Winemaking is more than an important Missouri industry, it is part of our culture, a product of our heritage, climate, and the distinctive topography of Missouri. The beauty of vineyards and historic nature of winemaking also attract visitor interest, and so they are a key driver of tourism, especially in this fall season.

A STORIED HISTORY

Winemaking in Missouri began with French settlers in the area around Ste. Geneviève, and greatly advanced around 1821 with large numbers of immigrants to the new state from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. By the late 1800s, Missouri produced as much wine as any other state in the nation. One well-known distinction of Missouri’s vineyards was their role in the revival of the French wine industry. In the 1870s, a root-destroying pest wiped out most of the vineyards in France. A Missouri entomologist, C.V. Riley, in collaboration with George Husmann and Hermann Jaeger, discovered a pest-resistant Missouri rootstock that was sent to France and successfully grafted with French vines, which began to grow sturdier, restoring French winemaking. Husmann was a grape grower and winemaker in Hermann, MO and Jaeger was a grape grower and grape breeder in Neosho, MO. One of Hermann’s creations was Jaeger 70 which is still used in grape breeding today. Husmann is considered the father of the Missouri grape and wine industry as well as one of the fathers of the California grape and wine industry. He was also the first professor of pomology and forestry at the University of Missouri in 1879.

A LEADING WINE STATE

Missouri currently ranks tenth in the U.S. in wine production, selling 1.6 million gallons annually, and is home to about 130 wineries. Missouri has a longer history of growing grapes and winning awards than Napa Valley. Norton, America's oldest native grape still in commercial use and Missouri's official state grape, produces the state's signature medium-to full-bodied dry red wines. In fact, Augusta, MO was the first American Viticulture Area (AVA) in the U.S. An AVA is a geographical area defined by the geography, soils and climate that influence the grapes and the wine. But the wine industry in Missouri isn’t sitting on its laurels or on its world-class rootstocks. According to Dr. Dean Volenberg, Viticulture and Winery Operations Extension Specialist at the University of Missouri Grape and Wine Institute, “We offer extension outreach to the Missouri wine and grape industry in viticulture (grape growing) and enology (wine making). Collaborating with the Missouri Wine and Grape Board Technical Committee, we assess grape varieties and advanced grape breeder selections that may have potential in Missouri, as well as survey and assess potential pest threats. Currently we are evaluating the potential of 40 cultivars, or advanced breeder selections, for future introductions into Missouri vineyards.” There are seven wine regions in Missouri. We are highlighting wineries in the three regions in the east-central part of the state, close to us in in the St. Louis metro area. The Augusta, Hermann and Ozark Highlands regions are all official AVA’s, and all distinct wine-producing regions. Be sure to visit these featured wineries and enjoy their great wines and hospitality! Cheers!

STONE HILL WINERY LOST CREEK VINEYARD

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50 CELEBR A TING WINEMAKING IN MISSOU R I

MISS O U R I R I V E R 94

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MCKELVEY

VINEYARDS

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CHANDLER HILL VINEYARDS

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NOBOLEIS VINEYARDS

BALDUCCI VINEYARDS MONTELLE WINERY

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AUGUSTA WINERY MT. PLEASANT ESTATES

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