There’s wine from the Midwest, doncha know?

Quick! Name the first American Viticultural Area (AVA) established in the United States. Napa? Nope. It was Augusta, as in Augusta, MISSOURI. WTF? Yep. Recognized on June 20, 1980 by the then Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), now the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Augusta AVA has the distinction of being the first. The oldest operating winery in the U.S.? Sonoma? Wrong again. That honor belongs to Brotherhood Winery in New York.

My point? Not only do they make wine outside of California, but in certain areas they’ve been making it longer. The Augusta AVA is a recognition of this fact. In fact, the Midwest has been producing fine wines for many years.

Why am I writing about Midwest wine when I live in California? Well, quite simply, it where I grew up. You can take the boy out of the Midwest, but you can’t take the Midwest out of the boy. It was a great place to grow up and I still hold a special place in my heart for the middle part of the country. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had intended to write about Michigan wines since that is where I was born. Well, let me tell you, it is nearly impossible to find a wine from the petoskey state in California wine country. Thankfully, my friend Jeff Lefevre at Good Grape came to my rescue. He was not only able to rustle up a wine from Michigan for me, but as a bonus he sent a wine from Missouri and Indiana. Well, shit, I couldn’t just ignore these, so I decided to broaden my material to include the rest of the Midwest. So, here goes, the Midwest wine world in a nutshell.

Missouri Wine
European immigrants, especially from German states in the early to mid-1800s, founded the wine industry in Missouri. Later came the Italians as they did in most other wine producing areas in the U.S. By the mid-1880s, more wine was produced by volume in Missouri than in any other state. Before Prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state.

Missouri holds a particular distinction among wine lovers. When the phylloxera louse ravaged through Europe in the 1870s, Missouri helped rebuild the European vineyards by sending phylloxera resistant American rootstock to be grafted with French vine cuttings. The resultant vines proved extremely hardy and soon the French wine industry was back on its feet. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Unfortunately, prohibition pretty much wiped out the Missouri wine industry, and they didn’t really begin to recover until the 1960s and 1970s. It has been an uphill struggle since.

Missouri’s climate, with its long, hot summers, good sun exposure, and thin rocky Ozarks soil, is good, if not ideal for growing grapes. Vitis vinifera grapes varieties are a recent import with Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and Mourvedre leading the way. The majority, however, are native American varieties or French-American Hybrids. The most prominent Missouri-grown variety is Cynthiana/Norton, believed to be a variety of Vitis aestivalis. It has really become the flagship of the Missouri wine trade, and produces a full-bodied dry red wine that can be similar in style to Cabernet Sauvignon, with the spicy overtones of a Zinfandel. Other varieties grown include native American grapes, Concord and Catawba, as well as French-American hybrids Chancellor, Cayuga, Chambourcin, Chardonel, St. Vincent, Seyval, Vidal, and Vignoles.

With our contemporary wine industry built on Cabernet and Chardonnay, it is a little hard to imagine a wine industry based on Concord or Catawba. But this is how most American wine was made at the turn of the century. New York, Ohio, Missouri and Michigan were large wine producers, and nearly all the grapes used were varieties like these. These pungent, usually sweet and often fortified wines were popular for the time. Think Manischewitz. (Even California produced predominantly sweet and fortified wines on into the 1960s)

I have had the good fortune to try a number of Nortons from Missouri. Some have been surprisingly good and can stand up to most wines from California. Today, however, I will be reviewing a Chardonel from Stone Hill Winery which was established in 1847. Probably best known for their Norton, Stone Hill is the second largest winery in Missouri. Once it was the second-largest winery in the entire United States, producing 1,250,000 gallons in 1900. Due to Prohibition, it was closed in 1920. From then, until 1965 they grew and sold mushrooms. Why not? A wine cellar would make a good mushroom cave. In 1965 Stone Hill was the first winery in the state to reopen. The winery is still owned by the Held family, and has been passed down from generation to generation.

I’ve never tried this particular varietal, so it was a new experience. Chardonel is a late ripening white wine hybrid grape which can produce a high quality wine with varietal character. It is a result of a cross between Seyval and Chardonnay. It can produce wines of good quality and is highly productive and cold hardy, making it a good match for Missouri. The Stone Hill 2005 Chardonel is indeed a very nice wine. Very Chardonnay like, it exhibits aromas of peach, pineapple, lemongrass, and sweet oak. There is a slight gamey character, but very slight. and not unpleasant. A portion of the blend has been aged sur-lie in small French, American and Hungarian oak barrels, and this shows through in the complexity and rich mouthfeel. Roughly 2000 cases produced at a suggested retail of $10.99. Frankly, it blows most California Chardonnays in the same price point out of the water. An excellent effort.

Suggestions on wineries to try: St. James Winery, Augusta Winery, Stone Hill Winery, Wenwood Farm Winery,and Baltimore Bend Winery

Illinois Wine
The Illinois wine industry has grown quickly in recent years, growing from just 12 wineries in 1997 to roughly 80 today. Illinois also enjoys a rich winemaking tradition. The oldest recorded Concord vineyard in Illinois was planted in 1851 and is located in Nauvoo State Park; the vineyard is still producing fruit. In 1857, Emile Baxter and Sons opened a winery in Nauvoo, along the banks of the Mississippi River. Baxter’s Vineyards remains Illinois’ oldest operating winery, run by a fifth generation of Baxters. By 1900, Illinois was the fourth-largest wine producing state in the nation. But, again, prohibition rained on the parade and sunk all the wineries. Some vineyards continued to grow table grapes, but most others just uprooted their vines to make way for corn and soybeans. Illinois wouldn’t see a wine renaissance until the late 1970s.

One of the foremost grape-growing regions of Illinois is the Shawnee Hills AVA, in Jackson County and Union County near Carbondale, Illinois in far southern Illinois. Unlike most of the state, here there is a distinct lack of glaciation and is bordered rivers. The heightened elevation (400 ft above neighboring land) in concert with sandstone and limestone subsoil offers good drainage, and summer breezes reduce fungal infestation. The climate of the Shawnee Hills AVA, resembles several areas in Missouri. The predominant grapes grown in Illinois are similar to those grown in Missouri, and include Chambourcin, Chardonel, Norton, Seyval, Vidal, and Vignoles.

Here’s an interesting factoid: In 2005, then Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich designated September as “Illinois Wine Month.” At least he did something right (hopefully without a bribe).

Suggestions on wineries to try: Fox Valley Winery, Galena Cellars, Hickory Ridge Vineyard & Winery, Lynfred Winery, Baxter’s Vineyards

Indiana Wine
Winemaking in Indiana goes back a long way. In the late 18th Century, John James Dufour, a Swiss immigrant fleeing Napoleon’s armies, established a commercial winery in the newly surveyed Indiana Territory north of the Ohio River around what would later become Vevay, Indiana. Efforts with Vitus Vinifera failed here as it did in other states because of phylloxera. Dufour planted cuttings from hybrid grapes at the new site which proved to be the basis for the first successful wine production in the United States. Yearly grape production averaged 10,000 tons or more.

The Swiss of Vevay sold wine to merchants in Louisville, Cincinnati, Vincennes, and St. Louis. For the first time, American grown wines were available to the public. The patriotic enthusiasm of the war of 1812 spurred the sale of “Vevay” wine. But, starting in 1818 the speculative bubble in land prices that had developed on the frontier burst and agricultural prices began to plummet. Soon it was possible to buy a gallon of whiskey for the same price as a bottle of wine. By the 1830′s the vineyards were all but gone.

Indiana wineries limped along, and by late 1800′s and early 1900′s wineries dotted the Indiana countryside. Indiana was the tenth largest grape producing state in the country until Prohibition which again killed progress. From the end of Prohibition to the early 1970′s, the wine industry in Indiana nearly disappeared. It was revitalized with the Small Winery Act of 1971, which allowed wineries to sell directly to the public rather than through wholesalers.

Today the Indiana wine industry is once again thriving, with roughly 45 wineries in operation across the state. It is also part of the second largest AVA in the country, the Ohio River Valley AVA which extends to portions of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

The climate in Indiana overall is a climatic transition area as the waters of the Ohio River runs along the periphery of the humid subtropical climate and humid continental climate. Regardless, it is humid and molds/mildews are a constant problem. The soils of Indiana are diverse, being on the boundary between glaciated and non-glaciated. Grapes produced in Indiana include the hybrids Chambourcin, Chardonel, Cayuga, La Crosse, Marechal Foch, Marquette, Norton, Seyval, Traminette, Vidal, and Vignoles. Vitis Vinifera vines include Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Lemberger, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. American natives Concord, Catawba, Niagara, and Steuben are also widely planted.

I’m trying the Oliver Vineyard & Winery 2007 Muscat Canelli. With the Indiana Small Winery Act passed in 1971, Oliver Winery opened to the public in 1972. Oliver is the largest and oldest winery in Indiana, and is one of the largest wineries in the Eastern United States. They produce an array of wines from hybrids and vinifera in a range of dry to sweet styles. This Muscat, made from vinifera grapes, shows that beautiful Muscat nose. It is made in the style of an Asti frizzante. This is done by arresting fermentation by chilling and keeping the wine very cold through bottling. This keeps the natural carbon dioxide and gives the wine a great balance against the natural sweetness. It is lightly spritzy and off-dry, with flavors of orange blossom, lemon zest, apricot, and bitter melon. A slight bitterness on the finish, makes me suspect that they let this wine sit on the skins for longer than normal to bring out more of the phenolics. Suggested retail is $9.99. A definite crowd pleaser.

Suggestions on wineries to try: Huber’s Winery, Butler Winery, Oliver Winery

Michigan Wine
Finally, we get to the region that was the inspiration for this post. Like the other regions, Michigan also has a long winemaking tradition. Sensing a theme? In the period just before the Civil War, disease destroyed America’s largest wine-producing region along the Ohio River near Cincinnati. The remnants of that industry migrated to the already recognized grape-growing region along Lake Erie. This area quickly became, in its turn, the leading wine region in the country. By 1880, vineyards extended past Toledo, Ohio into Southeast Michigan. In 1919, there were eight wineries in the area, none of which survived Prohibition.

Southwest Michigan’s wine industry fared much better. Also a recognized wine region in 1880, Southwest Michigan received help from an unlikely source. Temperance advocate Dr. Thomas Welch created the first “unfermented wine,” as it was originally called, for use in his church’s communion service. It quickly caught on with the public. The newly formed Welch’s Grape Juice Company encouraged planting of the Concord grapes from which their product was made. The largest of these plantings were in Western New York and Southwest Michigan. By 1900 Concord grapes had become the foundation grapes of the wine industry as well, producing sweet wines that met the demand of the time. The opening of a Welch’s plant in Lawton, near Paw Paw, in 1919, helped the area’s grape growers survive Prohibition. So, that jelly you had on your toast this morning helped Michigan wineries weather the temperance storm. Ironic, no?

Unfortunately for them, by the 1960s things were changing. Whatever the cause, soldiers returning from Europe with more sophisticated tastes, increased prosperity and travel, or the influence of culinarians such as Julia Child, Americans were drinking drier wines. By 1968, Americans’ tastes had changed enough that, for the first time, consumers purchased more of the drier table wines than the sweeter dessert and fortified wines. Michigan wineries in particular were ill suited to accommodate this shift in taste. The grapes that worked so well up until then failed to make quality dry wines. Their biggest strength was now their biggest weakness. Of Michigan’s highly successful wineries from the 1950s only one has survived, the St. Julian Wine Company.

The modern Michigan wine industry is built upon hybrid varieties (the same as the other regions above) and traditional vitis vinifera European varieties. Southwest Michigan continues to produce large amounts of juice grapes – enough to make Michigan the fourth largest grape-growing state. But this area also produces about half of Michigan’s wine grapes.

In the 1970s, a new wine region emerged in northwest lower Michigan near Traverse City. The Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula proved ideal for growing cold-weather vinifera grapes such as Riesling Today, both peninsulas are predominantly vinifera grape regions. This part of Michigan rests on the 45th Parallel. According to Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune, “In the world of wine, the 45th parallel is the global equivalent of the Magnificent Mile in terms of quality and cachet. It threads its way through the Bordeaux and Cotes du Rhone regions of France, Italy’s Piedmont, the Willamette Valley of Oregon.” That puts the Peninsulas in great company. Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are all produced here. The number of wineries in the area continues to grow.

So, Michigan has really two main regions: those in the Southwest of the state and those in the Northwest. Each produces their own styles from the grapes which grow best in their respective areas.

I’m trying the Black Star Farms 2008 Arcturos Late Harvest Riesling from Old Mission Peninsula. In 1997 Black Star Farms’ partners purchased Sport Valley Farm, a 120 acre equestrian facility, renowned for its palatial red estate house, stables, barns, and outlying paddocks. Upon purchase the partners realized that the farm presented a unique opportunity to create “something special”, and in March 1998 the property was named Black Star Farms after the stylized star in the marble foyer of the estate house. The wine is made in a German style where they stop the fermentation for freshness and add back the sweet reserve for balancing the fruit palate. It exhibits classic aromas of ripe peach and honeysuckle with subtle hints of nutmeg and bergamot. The concentrated fruit flavors of peach and apricot are balanced with refreshing acidity, and a certain stoniness on the lengthy finish that Riesling exhibits on the best spots. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Riesling fanatic. It would quite probably be my desert island wine. I’ve tasted some fantastic Rieslings over the years, and for the price, this one ranks right up there. My only regret is that I’m drinking this way too early. It should improve well with a few years of cellaring. Roughly 2,400 cases produced at a suggest retail price of $16.50. More please!

Suggestions on wineries to try: Black Star Farms, Chateau de Leelanau, Fenn Valley, Gill’s Pier, L. Mawby Vineyards, Leelanau Cellars, Left Foot Charley, Peninsula Cellars

Ohio Wine
Again, the history of wine making in Ohio can be traced back to the early 1800′s. Nicholas Longworth, a lawyer from the Cincinnati area, saw the potential of the Ohio River Valley to become a major producer of wine. In 1820 he planted the first Catawba grapes, which were hearty enough to withstand Ohio winters. Soon there were many acres of vines growing in the greater Cincinnati area and by 1845 the annual production was over 300,000 gallons. By 1860, Ohio led the nation in the production of wine. Diseases, such as rot and mildew, took their toll on the vines and the Civil war left the grape growers with little manpower. This pretty much signaled the end of winemaking in this area, as most of the producers fled northern Ohio and Michigan.

A new Ohio growing area emerged in the Lake Erie Islands. The islands had a unique climate; the waters surrounding them provided a long growing season and insulated the vines from spreading disease. By the turn of the century, thousands of gallons of wine were being produced by dozens of wineries on and near the islands. Vineyards were soon planted along the entire southern shore of Lake Erie.

Wait for it… you know what’s coming, don’t you? Yep, Prohibition brought an end to all the fun in Ohio. As in other regions, some family businesses turned to making wine for sacramental purposes, others produced juice, but the majority of land was turned into industrial land and housing developments.

With the repeal of prohibition, a few wineries reemerged, but they had an uphill battle. The majority of vineyards were a mess, government restrictions hindered their wine making traditions, and the few lasting vines had been converted to produce juice grapes. Again, it wasn’t until the 1960′s that Ohio re-emerged from it’s dark time. French-American hybrids were planted in southern Ohio, encouraged largely by The Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. Their success in the south encouraged plantings in the Lake Erie Grape Belt again. Since 1965, more than 40 new wineries have been established across the state and vineyard land continues to be planted. Currently, over 110 commercial wineries operate in Ohio, and there are five designated American Viticultural Areas partially or completely located within the state.

It is hard to generalize the climates and soil types in Ohio. The northern vineyards are influenced by Lake Erie, while the southern vineyards are influenced by the Ohio River. As with other areas in the Midwest, the predominant grapes grown here are the usual hybrids, with a few natives and vinifera vines thrown in for good measure.

Suggestions on wineries to try: Breitenbach Wine Cellars, Debonne Vineyards, Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Firelands Winery, Grand River Cellars, Henke Winery, Meranda-Nixon Winery, Old Firehouse Winery, Terra Cotta Vineyards, Viking Vineyards & Winery

Wisconsin & Minnesota
Yes, they make wine in Wisconsin and Minnesota. They are however, much smaller producers than their neighbors.

Wisconsin has a special bond with California. The first wine grapes were planted in Wisconsin by Agoston Haraszthy in the mid-nineteenth century, before he emigrated to California and helped to found wine industry there. Haraszthy, like others, found the climate of Wisconsin too difficult for wine grape production and got the hell out of dodge. Only about a dozen wineries have commercial operations in the state, with most making wines from other fruits in addition to grapes.

Minnesota is a very cold climate for viticulture and many grape varieties require protection from the winter weather by being buried under soil for the season. Many of the more cold-hardy French-American hybrids are grown here. The Edelweiss and St. Croix grapes originated in Land of 1000 Lakes.

Holy crap dude! Wrap it up!
Ok, there you have it. The longest blog post in the history of Caveman Wines. Everything you ever wanted to know about Midwestern wine, but were afraid to ask. So, what was the point of all this? The point is that California (and for that matter Oregon and Washington) are not the only place in the United States that make good wine. If you happen to live in the Midwest, you should support your local wineries and encourage them to improve further. If you are a winery in California, watch your back. You never know when Norton from Missouri or Riesling from Michigan will hit the big time and eat your lunch.

Tags: illinois wine, indiana wine, michigan wine, midwest wine, minnesota wine, missouri wine, ohio wine, wisconsin wine