Kentucky Wine Country 1798 was the year the first grapes were planted in Kentucky, starting earlier than most of its midwestern neighbors. But, like them, the wine industry that had developed over the next century was wiped out by Prohibition. Today the state has a growing wine industry and acreage in two AVAs, the Indiana … Read more
Follow the Money Many people ask what WineAmerica does. Just follow the money: We save wineries money, and get wineries money. Here’s one example of a 10,000 gallon winery, which since 2018 has been saving $11,000 per year—that’s $88,000 in the past 8 years—thanks to WineAmerica’s advocacy over the years. The chart below explains how.
Kansas Wine Country Like many states, Kansas was a significant wine producer in the 19th Century along with neighboring Missouri, populated by German immigrants who brought the wine tradition with them. However, it was also the home of Carrie Nation and the early temperance movement, and, in 1881, the first state to pass statewide prohibition. … Read more
Back to Business Congress is back in DC, and the House finally passed the Farm Bill, which will now go to the Senate for an uncertain future. The House version, which should have been passed years ago, includes some good provisions for the American wine industry: a doubling of export promotion funding for agricultural products, … Read more
Iowa Wine Country Like many states, Iowa produced grapes and wine far earlier than assumed (1857), even created a Grape Growers Association in 1893, and was the 6th largest producer until Prohibition wiped out the entire American wine industry. The modern wine industry has been propelled by creation of the Iowa Wine Growers Association in 2000 to … Read more