Viticulture in the United States

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Pinot Gris from Oregon

The United States has become a leader in the international wine market in a relatively short period of time. A real wine boom started in the 1970s. The USA has been one of the world's most important wine-growing countries for several decades. According to statistics from the International Organization for Vine and Wine (OIV) , in 2015 the USA took 4th place worldwide in terms of the amount produced in hectoliters after France , Italy and Spain . The production amounts to around 20-30 million hectoliters of wine per year. Over 419,000 hectares are cultivated with vines. This means 5th place worldwide.

The wines produced from internationally known red and white grape varieties are among the best in the world. Viticulture in the USA took place and is mainly taking place in California . The wines from Napa Valley , Sonoma Valley , Santa Cruz and Mendocino, for example , take top positions in international comparative samples.

Up-and-coming wine-growing regions are also Oregon and Washington : For Pinot Noir , a grape variety that makes less stringent demands on the climate than z. B. the Cabernet Sauvignon , Oregon has already developed into the secret challenger of its large southern neighbor California. The climate there is still mild despite its northern location. 25 out of 50 states now have one or more American Viticultural Areas (AVA). These are defined, precisely defined designations of origin for wine.

History of viticulture in the USA

Wine cellar built by the German immigrant Jacob Schram in the 19th century, today Schramsberg Vineyards , Napa Valley AVA

The beginnings go back to the 16th century. Huguenots planted the first vineyards in 1562 near Jacksonville , Florida . However, the actual viticulture began 200 years later:

In 1769, Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar from Mexico , introduced settlers from Mexico to the area now known as San Diego . The gold rush of the middle of the 19th century changed the northern part of California for good. Immigrants from France , Italy , Germany , England and other countries were attracted, settled the country and also brought viticulture expertise with them to California.

With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, among other things, the Californian wines were quickly spread in the east of America and later in many European countries. The proclamation of Prohibition brought the entire American wine industry a severe setback in 1919. By the end of Prohibition in 1933, most of the vineyards were cleared and planted with table grapes.

Few commercial wine producers survived Prohibition by making wine for religious purposes. Due to the global economic crisis and the Second World War , it took until the end of the 1940s for the establishment of the wine industry to get underway again.

On May 24, 1976, the British wine merchant Steven Spurrier organized a blind tasting of top wines from France and the USA by experienced French wine critics in Paris . In this tasting, known as the Paris Wine Jury, the US wines performed better than the French in terms of both red and white wines.

In recent years, European wineries and wine producers have increasingly bought into the Californian wine market. Winemakers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and many other countries are involved in the California wine industry.

Wine-growing countries of the USA

There is now wine production in all states in the USA, even in southern Alaska and Hawaii .

The five states with the largest amounts of hl produced are: California, Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. In 2015 the production was distributed as follows:

Wine production 2015
Country Production (gal) Production (hl) Production (%)
Alabama 42,656 1,615 0.006%
Arizona 198,746 7,523 0.026%
California 638.173.762 24.157.505 83.108%
Colorado 449,679 17,022 0.059%
Connecticut 168,896 6,393 0.022%
Florida 1,838,211 69,584 0.239%
Georgia 222.351 8,417 0.029%
Idaho 576,645 21,828 0.075%
Illinois 361.234 13,674 0.047%
Indiana 1.160.119 43,915 0.151%
Iowa 253.137 9,582 0.033%
Kansas 85.038 3,219 0.011%
Kentucky 1,643,376 62.209 0.214%
Louisiana 30,763 1,165 0.004%
Maine 81.203 3,074 0.011%
Maryland 476.421 18,034 0.062%
Massachusetts 697.196 26,392 0.091%
Michigan 2,064,168 78.137 0.269%
Minnesota 370.093 14,010 0.048%
Missouri 1,134,126 42,931 0.148%
Montana 38,741 1,467 0.005%
Nebraska 90.261 3,417 0.012%
New Hampshire 136,270 5,158 0.018%
New Jersey 1,492,655 56.503 0.194%
New Mexico 737.645 27,923 0.096%
new York 30,707,698 1,162,413 3.999%
North Carolina 1,538,218 58,228 0.200%
Ohio 5,716,702 216.401 0.744%
Oklahoma 69,309 2,624 0.009%
Oregon 13,379,563 506.472 1.742%
Pennsylvania 15,513,532 587.251 2.020%
South carolina 28,931 1,095 0.004%
South Dakota 85,720 3,245 0.011%
Tennessee 1,646,831 62,339 0.214%
Texas 1,424,362 53,918 0.185%
Vermont 3,255,902 123.249 0.424%
Virginia 1,962,099 74,274 0.256%
Washington 38.730.324 1,466,102 5.044%
West Virginia 24.214 917 0.003%
Wisconsin 1,019,377 38,588 0.133%
other 258.901 9,800 0.034%
total 767.885.075 29,067,612 100%

Grape varieties

Red grape varieties

White grape varieties

Predicates and legal regulations

  • In the USA, as in most wine-growing regions, there is no system of quality levels depending on the must weight .
  • Qualitatively higher or lower quality designations of origin do not exist.
  • There are no legal quantity limits for grape production.
  • The grape variety policy is liberal.

literature

Web links

Commons : Wine Culture in the United States  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Statistics of the OIV 2016
  2. ^ Denali Winery / index.html
  3. ↑ STATISTICAL REPORT - WINE 2015. (PDF) In: ttb.gov. Retrieved April 2, 2017 .