American wine

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Eyrie Vineyards Pinot gris

wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.[5][6]

History

Main article: History of American wine

The first Europeans to explore North America, a Viking expedition from Greenland, called it

French Huguenot settlers from Scuppernong grapes at a settlement near Jacksonville, Florida.[5] In the early American colonies of Virginia and the Carolinas, wine-making was an official goal laid out in the founding charters
. However, settlers discovered that the wine made from the various native grapes had flavors which were unfamiliar and which they did not like.

This led to repeated efforts to grow the familiar European Vitis vinifera varieties, beginning with the

Las Californias and Santa Fe de Nuevo México had missions that were planting vineyards, the traditions of which remain in the modern day California and New Mexico wine industries. New Mexico wine developed first in 1629 making it the oldest wine producing region in the United States,[7][8] and Mission grapes were being grown for California wine by 1680.[9] In 1683, William Penn planted a vineyard of French vinifera in Pennsylvania; it may have interbred with a native Vitis labrusca vine to create the hybrid grape Alexander. One of the first commercial wineries in the United States was founded in 1787 by Pierre Legaux in Pennsylvania. A settler in Indiana in 1806 produced wine made from the Alexander grape. Today, French-American hybrid grapes are the staples of wine production on the East Coast of the United States.[6]

On November 21, 1799, the

Vevey, Switzerland.[6] The vineyard was located overlooking the Kentucky River in Jessamine County in what is known as Blue Grass country of central Kentucky. Dufour named it First Vineyard on November 5, 1798.[11] The vineyard's current address in 5800 Sugar Creek Pike, Nicholasville, Kentucky. The first wine from First Vineyard was consumed by subscribers to the vineyard at John Postelthwaite's house on March 21, 1803.[12] Two 5-gallon oak casks of wine were taken to President Thomas Jefferson in Washington, D. C., in February 1805.[13] The vineyard continued until 1809, when a killing freeze in May destroyed the crop and many vines. The Dufour family abandoned Kentucky, and migrated west to Vevay, Indiana, a center of a Swiss-immigrant community.[14]

In

Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra near San Diego. Later missionaries carried vines northward; Sonoma's first vineyard was planted around 1805.[4] California has two native grape varieties, but they make very poor quality wine. The California Wild Grape (Vitis californicus) does not produce wine-quality fruit, although it sometimes is used as rootstock for wine grape varieties.[15] The missionaries used the Mission grape. (In South America, this grape is known as criolla or "colonialized European".) Although a Vitis vinifera variety, it is a grape of "very modest" quality. Jean-Louis Vignes was one of the early settlers to use a higher quality vinifera in his vineyard near Los Angeles.[4]

The first winery in the United States to become commercially successful was founded in

Catawba grapes. By 1855, Ohio had 1500 acres in vineyards, according to travel writer Frederick Law Olmsted, who said it was more than in Missouri and Illinois, which each had 1100 acres in wine.[16]
German immigrants from the late 1840s had been instrumental in building the wine industry in those states.

In the 1860s, vineyards in the

Pierce's disease in the East ravaged the American wine industry.[4]

wine-making also became common, allowed through exemptions for sacramental wines and production for home use.[17]

Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, operators tried to revive the American wine-making industry, which was nearly ended. Many talented wine-makers had died, vineyards had been neglected or replanted with table grapes, and Prohibition had changed Americans' taste in wines. During the Great Depression, consumers demanded cheap "jug wine" (so-called dago red) and sweet, fortified (high alcohol) wine. Before Prohibition, dry table wines outsold sweet wines by three to one, but afterward, the ratio of demand changed dramatically. As a result, by 1935, 81% of California's production was sweet wines. For decades, wine production was low and limited.

Leading the way to new methods of wine production was research conducted at the

Champenois
of France. Wine-makers also cultivated vineyards in Oregon and Washington, on Long Island in New York, and numerous other new locales.

Americans became more educated about wines, and increased their demand for high-quality wine. All 50 states now have some acreage in vineyard cultivation. By 2004, 668 million

gallons (25.3 million hectoliters) of wine were consumed in the United States.[18] Today,[when?] the U.S. produces over 800 million gallons of wine a year, of which California produces more than 84%, followed by Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. In the second decade of the 21st century, the US wine industry faces the growing challenges of competition from international exports and managing domestic regulations on interstate sales and shipment of wine.[citation needed
]

Wine regions

There are nearly 3,000 commercial vineyards in the United States, and at least one winery in each of the 50 states.[19]

Production by state

Production of still wine per state in 2016 was as follows:[20]

2016 production of still wine
State Production (gal) Production (%)
Alabama 34,966 0.004%
Arizona 190,008 0.024%
Arkansas 246,363 0.031%
California 680,272,512 84.354%
Colorado 556,994 0.069%
Connecticut 134,517 0.017%
Florida 1,634,103 0.203%
Georgia 276,144 0.034%
Idaho 497,007 0.062%
Illinois 391,805 0.049%
Indiana 1,411,540 0.175%
Iowa 335,522 0.042%
Kansas 104,129 0.013%
Kentucky 2,176,059 0.270%
Louisiana 38,232 0.005%
Maine 48,222 0.006%
Maryland 436,185 0.054%
Massachusetts 792,884 0.098%
Michigan 2,576,238 0.319%
Minnesota 331,946 0.041%
Missouri 993,831 0.123%
Montana 33,445 0.004%
Nebraska 120,366 0.015%
New Hampshire 159,316 0.020%
New Jersey 1,832,325 0.227%
New Mexico 749,818 0.093%
New York 27,969,308 3.468%
North Carolina 1,903,060 0.236%
Ohio 5,938,738 0.736%
Oklahoma 70,204 0.009%
Oregon 11,822,972 1.466%
Pennsylvania 12,405,181 1.538%
South Carolina 77,842 0.010%
South Dakota 139,738 0.017%
Tennessee 1,279,752 0.159%
Texas 1,907,299 0.237%
Vermont 2,172,526 0.269%
Virginia 2,157,395 0.268%
Washington 40,747,190 5.053%
West Virginia 40,733 0.005%
Wisconsin 1,129,405 0.140%
Others 312,051 0.039%
Sum 806,447,891 100%

Appellation system

Further information: American Viticultural Area and List of American Viticultural Areas

The early American appellation system was based on the political boundaries of states and counties. In September 1978, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (now Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) developed regulations to establish American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) based on distinct climate and geographical features. In June 1980, the Augusta AVA in Missouri was established as the first American Viticultural Area under the new appellation system.[21] For the sake of wine labeling purposes, the use of state and county appellations were grandfathered in and are still used often in lieu of AVAs. There are 269 distinct AVAs designated under U.S. law as of August 2023.[22]

Appellation labeling laws

In order to have an AVA appear on a wine label, at least 85% of the grapes used to produce the wine must have been grown in the AVA.

For a state or county appellation to appear on the wine label, 75% of the grapes used must be from that state or county. Some states have stricter requirements. For example, California requires 100% of the grapes used to be from California for a wine labeled as such, and Washington requires 95% of the grapes in a Washington wine be grown in Washington. If grapes are from two or three contiguous counties or states, a label can have a multi-county or multi-state designation so long as the percentages used from each county or state are specified on the label.

American wine or United States is a rarely used appellation that classifies a wine made from anywhere in the United States, including

vin de table, and can not include a vintage year. By law, this is the only appellation allowed for bulk wines exported to other counties.[23]

Semi-generic wines

An example of American wines using semi-generic labels of burgundy, chablis, etc.

U.S. laws formerly allowed American made wines to be labeled as "American

Tokay.[23] The practice largely ceased in 2006 with the Wine Trade Agreement, though brands that were already using the terms can continue the practice, considered grandfathered in.[24]

Other U.S. labeling laws

For bottles labeled with a varietal, at least 75% of the grapes used to make the wine must be of that varietal. In Oregon, the requirement is 90% for certain varietals, such as pinot noir. At least 95% of the wine must be from a particular vintage for that year to appear on the label. Prior to the early 1970s, all grapes had to be from the vintage year. Additionally, all labels must list the alcohol content based on percentage by volume, state that the wine contains sulfites, and carry the Surgeon General's warning about alcohol consumption.[25]

Distribution

See also: Wine shipping laws in the United States

Following the

three-tier distribution system between the producer, wholesaler, and consumer. Depending on the state, there are some exceptions, with wineries allowed to sell directly to consumers on site at the winery or to ship wine across state lines. Some states allow interstate sales through e-commerce. In the 2005 case Granholm v. Heald, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down state laws that banned interstate shipments but allowed in-state sales. This Supreme Court decision meant that states could decide to allow both out-of-state wine sales and in-state sales, or ban both altogether.[26]

Convenience stores and retail stores are large distributors of wine, with over 175,000 outlets that sell wine across the United States. In addition, there are around 332,000 other locations (bars, restaurants, etc.) that sell wine, contributing to the $30+ billion in annual sales over the past three years.[27] In 2010, the average monthly per-store sales of wine jumped to nearly $12,000 from $9,084 in 2009. The average gross margin dollars from wine increased to $3,324 from $2,616 in the year prior, with gross margin percentages up to an average 28.2 percent in 2010, versus 27 percent in 2009.[28]

Largest producers

As of 2016, the largest producers of wine in the U.S. are:[29]

  1. E & J Gallo Winery - 75 million cases sold per year
  2. The Wine Group - 57 million cases sold per year
  3. Constellation Brands - 51 million cases sold per year
  4. Trinchero Family Estates - 19 million cases sold per year
  5. Treasury Wine Estates - 15 million cases sold per year
  6. Bronco Wine Company - 10 million cases sold per year
  7. Delicato Family Wines - 9.2 million cases sold per year
  8. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates - 9 million cases sold per year
  9. Jackson Family Wines - 6 million cases sold per year
  10. Concha y Toro - 2.75 million cases sold per year

See also

References

  1. ^ United States Department of Agriculture "Global Wine Report August 2006 Archived April 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine", pp. 7-9.
  2. ISBN 978-1-60949-643-2
    . Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  3. ISBN 978-0-937206-39-3
    . Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  4. ^
    ISBN 1-84000-332-4
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-7566-1324-8
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-19-860990-6
    .
  7. ^ "About • Lescombes Family Vineyards". Lescombes Family Vineyards. October 28, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "Wine History". Casa Rondena. November 23, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  9. ISBN 978-1-879906-63-1
    . Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  10. ^ Littell's Laws of Kentucky Vol. 2, pp. 268-270.
  11. ^ The Swiss Settlement of Switzerland County, Indiana, p. 293, Day Journal of J.J. Dufour.
  12. ^ Kentucky Gazette, March 29, 1803
  13. ^ Library of Congress Doc#25644 Letters of Jefferson and Doc#25657 Letters of Jefferson.
  14. ISBN 2-940289-00-X
    .
  15. ISBN 0-19-860990-6
    .
  16. ^ Frederick Law Olmsted, A Journey through Texas (1859), pp. 6-7, at Open Library.org, Library of Congress.
  17. ^ Section 29 of the Volstead Act (27 U.S.C. § 46).
  18. ISBN 0-19-860990-6
    .
  19. ^ D. Shaw & A. Bahney, The New York Times (October 31, 2003) JOURNEYS; Welcome to Napa Nation.
  20. ^ "Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau: Statistical Report – Wine (Reporting Period: January 2016 - December 2016), 17 May 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  21. ISBN 1-84000-332-4
    .
  22. ^ "TTB | Wine | Established AVAs". Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  23. ^
    ISBN 0-7566-1324-8
    .
  24. ^ "TTB - Industry Circular Number: 2006-1". ttb.gov. Retrieved Sep 26, 2020.
  25. ISBN 0-7566-1324-8
    .
  26. ISBN 0-19-860990-6
    .
  27. ^ "A Toast to Wine". SpareFoot. August 8, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  28. ^ "Category Close Up: Pouring on the Profits - NACS Online – Magazine – Past Issues – 2011 – November 2011". www.nacsonline.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  29. ^ "America's 30 largest wine producers (with ties to Lodi)". Lodi Winegrape Commission. Retrieved Sep 26, 2020.

Further reading

  • Clarke, Oz. Oz Clarke's New Encyclopedia of Wine. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999.
  • Johnson, Hugh. Vintage: The Story of Wine. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1989.
  • Taber, George M. Judgement of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.

External links

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