50 Facts about Wine in America

After the Civil War (1861 – 1865), many existing vineyards were dismantled and replaced with tobacco fields.
Many visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains stop at the historic Sugarland Cellars in Gatlinburg, TENNESSEE to have a wine tasting before enjoying the scenic beauty of the mountains.
The majority of the grapes planted within MICHIGAN are utilized to make jellies & jams. The famous company, Welch’s, buys the majority of this state’s grapes for its products. Nonetheless, most grapes intended for wine production are grown near Lake Michigan to take benefit from the lakeside weather impact, which helps moderate frigid temperatures throughout the winter months.
By 2015, ARKANSAS, contained thirty wineries.
Denali Winery opened in Anchorage, ALASKA around 1997. They acquire grapes from any other region and blend them to make delicious grape wines.
The Jackson Hole Winery, which acquires grapes from Napa & Sonoma, is located within Jackson Hole, WYOMING and is one of then highest elevation wineries in North America.
The highest quality wines produced in LOUISIANA are Blanc du Bois and Muscadine.
The best-quality European grapes, Riesling & Chardonnay, appear to be flourishing rather well in MASSACHUSETTS – with over 500 acres of vineyards planted.
DELAWARE is a state with a strong preference for beer, having just 35 acres devoted to vineyards.
In the Finger Lakes area of NEW YORK the first leased winery was established around 1860. It was a company called Pleasant Valley Wine. Presently the Finger Lakes have more than 34,000 acres of vines cultivated, with the best quality Rieslings emerging out from the Finger Lakes AVA. Similarly, stunning Tocai Friulano wines are manufactured within Hudson Valley, notably by Millbrook Winery. Moreover, incredible Bordeaux blends, particularly Merlot-heavy blends, are emerging from Long Island.
NORTH DAKOTA makes wines from unusual fruits, such as rhubarb.
In PENNSYLVANIA, there are around 145 wineries today.
The Texas Hill Country AVA in TEXAS is the southernmost AVA in the United States.
The early settlers in SOUTH DAKOTA made wines from fruits and berries. Currently, various types of grape-based wines are being produced by descendants of such settlers.
Southern Oak Wines in ALABAMA has eight varieties of Muscadine grapes planted on their estate.
The Alexander grape, established in 1755 in a two-acre vineyard within Prince Georges District, roughly 12 miles outside Annapolis, MARYLAND is the earliest historical plantings of hybrid grapes.
Visitors to Myrtle Beach, South SOUTH CAROLINA may drink regional Muscadine wines. However, the odds are that they are downing craft beer cans, as the city’s craft beer culture has blossomed.
The Pahrump Valley Vineyard, which is roughly an hour’s trip west of Las Vegas was established in 1990, and was NEVADA’s first winery.
There are over 125 bonded vineyards in IOWA in 2015, up from only 25.
OREGON is the fifth largest wine-producing American state, and is known for its Pinot Noir.
Florida University in FLORIDA has strived to develop disease-resistant grape types that can withstand the subtropical temperatures.
Spanish monks were responsible for introducing wine grapes and winemaking to CALIFORNIA.
The Norton Grape, also known as “Cynthiana,” is by far the most extensively cultivated grape within MISSOURI, and it is regarded as a natural American variety.
Frogtown Cellars in GEORGIA makes a wine called “Audacity,” which is a Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon blend.
Dr. Peter Oldak is known as the “Father of New Hampshire Winemaking” for his work to elevate the NEW HAMPSHIRE wine industry.
Cornell University in New NEW YORK produced Traminette, a combination created by crossing Gewurztraminer with “Joannes-Seyve 23.416.” It is usually made semi-dry, although it may also be sparkling or sweeter.
The Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA is the largest American Viticultural Area (AVA), which covers a huge expanse of territory in the WISCONSIN south region. Within this giant AVA lies the Lake Wisconsin AVA, which has favorable soils for growing grapes – thanks to ancient glacial formations.
WASHINGTON is the second largest wine producing state in the United States.
The Ozark Mountain AVA covers approximately 3.5 million acres. OKLAHOMA shares this AVA with sections of Missouri and Arkansas.
KANSAS had a significant wine industry in the 19th century prior to the Civil War.
Most of WASHIINGTON’s vineyards are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling, and Syrah.
The inaugural vineyards in UTAH were initially planted by the one and only Joseph Smith’s Mormons in the 1860s.
CALIFORNIA produces 81% of the wine produced in the United States.
HAWAII makes wine from pineapples.
Besides all the potatoes production in Idaho, the state has over 1,600 acres of planted vines. Viognier, Riesling, and Chardonnay are considered their best wines.
Within NORTH CAROLINA, the Duplin Winery planted a vineyard using the Scuppernong cuttings, considered America’s oldest cultivated grapevine.
Thomas Jefferson’s most extensive wine-growing effort came from planting 287 vines using cuttings from 24 different European grape varietals throughout 1807 on his estate in VIRGINIA.
200+ acres of vines have been planted throughout the region, with a cluster of wineries within Newport County, RHODE ISLAND’s coastline region.
Although temperatures may drop to freezing -30°F in MINNESOTA, cultivars developed at the Minnesota University, such as Marquette and Frontenac, have been designed to tolerate such extreme conditions.
In the 17th century many Swedish immigrants tried to establish Vinifera vines, but they began cultivating apple orchards to manufacture cider after many failed attempts.
UC Davis in Northern CALIFORNIA is considered the top university for teaching winemaking and vineyard management in the United States.
It was illegal to make wine in CONNECTICUT until 1978. However, they can now grow a variety of grapes, notably Vignoles, a white grape variety used to produce late-harvest or semi-sweet wines.
The Shawny Hills AVA is located in Southern ILLINOIS and has somewhat milder climate than other areas of Illinois. As of 2015 there are 147 wineries located within the AVA.
NEBRASKA was the last state in America to establish its first winery in 2002.
The majority of VERMONT’s vineyards are located in the north-western of the state.
During the 1820s, Financier Nicholas Longworth established the first commercially successful winery in OHIO, producing a sparkling wine from the Catawba grape.
WEST VIRGINIA has 29 wineries in operation.
MAINE became the first state in 1846 to declare itself a fully dry state, igniting rumors of a nation-wide prohibition.
James Maynard Keenan, a member of the Grammy-winning band Tool, owns the Caduceus Cellars in ARIZONA, which manufactures numerous wines. He created one of the greatest films on winemaking, which is titled ‘Blood Into Wine.
In COLORADO, with more than 100 wineries, grapes are grown at the highest altitudes in the America, ranging from 4,000 to 7,000 ft.