Missouri wine

Missouri wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in 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 contributed to the state's wine production. In the mid-1880s, wine was produced by volume in Missouri more than in any other state and just before Prohibition, Missouri was the nation's second-largest wine-producing state. Missouri had the nation's first American Viticultural Area (AVA) established on June 20, 1980 named Augusta. There are now ~four~ five American Viticultural Areas associated with Missouri: Augusta AVA, Hermann AVA, Ozark Highlands AVA, Ozark Mountain AVA, and the Loess Hills District AVA which extends into northwestern Missouri. In 2017 there were 125 wineries operating in the state of Missouri, up from 92 in 2009.

German immigrants in 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, after a Frenchman transferred American wine grapes carrying phylloxera to France. Missouri's state entomologist, Charles Riley, found that American rootstocks were resistant to the pest. He directed selling 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.

Missouri played a pivotal role in the recovery of the global wine industry during the late 19th century phylloxera epidemic. State entomologist Charles Valentine Riley, working with French scientist Jules-Émile Planchon, demonstrated that American rootstocks such as those grown in Missouri were resistant to the pest. Millions of cuttings from Missouri vineyards were shipped to Europe, where European vines were successfully grafted onto the resistant rootstocks. This effort saved the French wine industry and became a model for viticulture worldwide.

Statues in Montpellier, France, commemorate Riley and Planchon’s work, and Missouri continues to be cited in viticultural research as a case study in international collaboration and agricultural science.

Before Prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. The new amendment forced the shutdown or abandonment of all wineries except that at St. Stanislaus Seminary, in Florissant, which was permitted to make sacramental wines. The wine industry was destroyed for decades.

Revival of the state's wine industry started in 1965 with the reopening of Stone Hill Winery (originally established in 1847) in Hermann by Jim and Betty Held, followed soon by the opening of Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta on the north side of the river. By 1974, Jim Dierberg was restoring the Hermannhof Winery, which had originally been opened in 1855.

The federal government has recognized the importance of winemaking to regional and national economies. A distinct area on the north side of the Missouri River in southwestern St. Charles County was recognized when the Augusta AVA—the first American Viticultural Area in the United States—was established on June 20, 1980.