Pop question! Which state had the USA’s first AVA awarded? I’m sure based upon the state this article is about, you may have guessed Missouri. If so, you are correct. When people think of US wine history, most average wine drinkers will probably think of California…
Often times when someone mentions the defining moment that put the US on the world wine map, experts immediately mention the Judgement of Paris in 1976 where Napa took center stage. What many people didn’t realize (myself included) is that it may have actually been two…
South Dakota is another one of those northern midwestern states that intrigues me. There is a reason that you won’t find much historical details on South Dakota wine as its hot summers and extremely cold winters makes it a hard place to consider for wine. It…
In the late 1600s William Penn not only started what would become the state of Pennsylvania, but by bringing vines from Bordeaux with him he also began its wine industry as well. Just like similar stories across the future United States, these first plantings didn’t work…
Iowa is another one of those Northern states that seems to be winning the battle against its own climate to have a successful wine industry. Within only a few minutes of researching it online, I was quite surprised to see the number of Iowa wineries currently…
Minnesota is another one of those northern states that you wouldn’t expect to have much of a wine scene, yet I am happy to see that this is not the case. I’m guessing that due to climate change parts of the state are not as cold…
Illinois is my home state so I was really looking forward to selecting a new winery and sampling wines I had never tried before. The 21st state to join the US, it is recorded that wine has been made in Illinois for over 200 years. Concord…
Let’s start off with an admission: I had never been to Napa Valley before two weeks ago. Being a big fan of wine and living in California, there is simply no excuse for this. Though it’s not exactly a short trip for me (roughly a 6…
Massachusetts was one of the original thirteen colonies, has a history of tea parties, witches, and even beer. It may be known for many things in the US, but wine is definitely not one of them. Attempting to research its history of wine and winemaking, I…
One of the main reasons I wanted to do this grand plan of trying wines from all 50 States was to interact a bit with wineries from around the country. With how easy e-commerce is these days, there isn’t a big reason to purposely communicate with…
