State Profiles: Mississippi Wine Country

Mississippi winegrowers must be intrepid, putting down roots in a state that is perhaps the least hospitable both politically and viticulturally. Even though wine was already being made when the state officially joined the United States in 1817, it banned the manufacture and sales of Mississippi wine 13 years before Prohibition started—and didn’t repeal the Volstead Act until 1966, the last state to do so. There are still many dry counties in the state.

The natural climate also poses its challenges, starting with the hot and humid southeastern location, exacerbated by unpredictable weather patterns caused by the Gulf of Mexico such as frequent hurricanes. The Mississippi Delta AVA is almost entirely within the state.

Great Grapes: Muscadine

In a hot, humid climate like that of Mississippi, Muscadine is the star. Resistant to Pierce’s disease and loaded with heart-friendly resveratrol to fight fungus on the grapes, the wines have musky and grapey characteristics and a sweet flavor profile, ideal for sipping on a shaded porch on a hot afternoon.