Our Tradition Continues

The Mid-19th Century
 By 1848, Hermann's wineries were producing over 10,000 gallons annually, rising to 100,000 gallons over the next decade. 

By the 1880's, wine connoisseurs in America and Europe were enjoying two million gallons of Missouri wine each year. By the 1870's vineyards were flourishing in the nearby communities of Rolla and Dillon, and at the turn of the century, Italian immigrants at nearby Rosati had planted vineyards for wine grapes and, later, juice grapes for Welch's.

Missouri "Rescues" The French Wine Industry
In the mid 1800s, a dangerous vineyard pest, the phylloxera louse, was inadvertently imported by French vintners experimenting with American grape vines. The pest, to which French vines had no resistance, soon destroyed enormous tracts of French vines. Fortunately, a Missouri state entomologist recommended sending phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks to Europe to be grafted with French cuttings. The resultant vines proved extremely hardy, and soon the French vintners were back in business.

 Prohibition 
The thriving Missouri wine industry, consisting of about 100 wineries in the early 1900s, was dealt a near-fatal blow in 1919 with the passage of the 18th Amendment beginning the era of Prohibition. When the law was repealed, thirteen years later, little remained of the industry. Negative after-effects of Prohibition, in the form of high liquor taxes and license fees, lingered for decades. The restoration of several original wineries and vineyards in the 1960s finally signaled the rebirth of commercial wine production in our state.                     

                    
 CONTINUE