Iowa has a long winegrowing history, with the first grapes planted in 1857, a Grape Growers Association formed in 1893, and a rank of sixth in wine production in 1919 just prior to Prohibition. The first modern-era winery—award-winning fruit winery Ackerman—opened in 1956 featuring Rhubarb wine plus other fruit and Native American grape wines. But the … Read more

Wine & Shellfish! This week we got to participate in a tasteful form of lobbying: a Wine & Shellfish Reception for legislators and staff. Along with our colleagues at the Wine Institute who provided California wines, we provided wines from other states including: Black Ankle Vineyards, MD Early Mountain Vineyard, VA Jones Family Farms, CT … Read more

Indiana has a surprisingly exciting and robust wine industry, thanks to some pioneers, visionaries, collaborators, and ever-increasing quality. As in many states, Indiana’s winegrowing history dates back to the 18th Century, was the nation’s tenth largest by the mid-19th Century, then was wiped out by Prohibition. Decades later, as the industry slowly rebounded and showed … Read more

Congress is in recess for the moment, so DC is relatively quiet, though legislative staff continues to work on various issues, as does WineAmerica’s staff. Even though there is still no official notice from the Tax and Trade Bureau, we know they will be examining the issues of nutritional and ingredient labeling for alcoholic beverages … Read more

Wine is produced and consumed in all 50 states, and every single one is wonderfully unique… Illinois has a long history of winegrowing, with the first grapes planted in 1691 and the “Land of Lincoln” ranking as the nation’s fourth largest wine producer in 1900 before Prohibition wiped everything out. The modern industry began in … Read more