Missouri (wine)
| Wine region | |
 |
|
| Official name | State of Missouri |
|---|---|
| Type | U.S. state |
| Year established | 1821 |
| Years of wine industry | 1837-present |
| Country | United States |
| Sub-regions | Augusta AVA, Hermann AVA, Ozark Highlands AVA, Ozark Mountain AVA |
| Climate region | Continental/humid subtropical |
| Total area | 69,709 square miles (180,545 km2) |
| No. of vineyards | 400 |
| Grapes produced | Baco noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Catawba, Cayuga, Chambourcin, Chardonel, Chardonnay, Chelois, Concord, Couderc noir, De Chaunac, Delaware, Diamond, Edelweiss, Malbec, Marechal Foch, Merlot, Muscat Canelli, New York Muscat, Norton, Rayon d'Or, Riesling, Rougeon, Ruby Cabernet, Seyval blanc, St. Vincent, Touriga Francesa, Traminette, Valiant, Vidal blanc, Vignoles, Villard blanc, Villard noir, Vivant, Zinfandel |
| No. of wineries | 116 |
| Wine produced | 971,031 gallons |
Missouri Wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century, founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigrants also entered wine production. In the mid-1880s, more wine was produced by volume in Missouri than in any other state. Before Prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. Missouri had the first area recognized as a federally designated American Viticultural Area with the Augusta AVA acknowledged on June 20, 1980. There are now four AVAs in Missouri. In 2009 there were 92 wineries operating in the state of Missouri.
Some Native American tribes cultivated local varieties of grapes. These species were developed further by later German Americans and Italian Americans.
German immigrants to the Missouri River valley established vineyards and wineries on both sides of the river. Hermann, Missouri, settled by Germans in 1837, had ideal conditions to grow grapes for wine. By 1848 winemakers there produced 10,000 US gallons (37,900 l) per year, expanding to 100,000 US gallons (378,500 l) per year by 1856. Overall, the state produced 2,000,000 US gallons (7,570,800 l) per year by the 1880s, the most of any state in the nation.Stone Hill Winery in Hermann became the second largest in the nation (and the third largest in the world), shipping a million barrels of wine by the turn of the 20th century. Its wines won awards at world fairs in Vienna in 1873 and Philadelphia in 1876.
In the mid-19th century, the phylloxera louse destroyed much of the Vitis vinifera grape crop in Europe, especially France. Missouri’s state entomologist, Charles Riley, found that American were resistant to the pest. He directed sending millions of rootstocks to vineyards around the world., to which their grape varieties could be grafted. This saved the French wine industry as well as others. The city of Montpellier erected statues honoring these events, as well as Riley's scientific colleague J.É. Planchon.
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