Missouri’sGrape and Wine Industry:

Historic and Thriving

by Suzi TeghtmeyerAgriculture, Botany and Forestry

LibrarianMichigan State University

MSUE AgNIC Librarian (Viticulture)

Introduction

• Unbeknownst to many, Missouri has a rich history in the grape and wine production.

• Has the native grapes Vitis riparia, V. labrusca and V. cordifolia

• Well-known varieties planted today (native and introduced): Norton’s Virginia Seedling, Cynthiana, Catawba, Concord, Chardonel, Vignoles, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Chancellor, Seyval, Cayuga White, Traminette and St. Vincent

Physical characteristics

• Missouri terrain varies widely across the state

• Hermann, west of St. Louis, and south along the Mississippi similar to the German Rhine region

• Southwest Missouri drier, rockier• Climate – cold winters, often late

spring frosts, humid summers• Pests and diseases – rots,

mildews, Junebugs• Phylloxera moving in from the

south

Historic Figures

• Many 18th century grape growers and wine makers got their start in Missouri. Six reach national and international recognition:– Friedrich Münch (1799-1881)– George Husmann (1827-1903)– Isador Bush (1822-1888)– George Engelmann (1809-1884)– Herman Jaeger (1844-1895?)– Charles Valentine Riley (1843-1895)

Friedrich Münch (1799-1881)

•German immigrant to Augusta, MO•Wrote School for American Grape Culture (1859)

–This book is noteworthy for being one of the first books to describe grape culture and winemaking as a step-by-step approach

•Active in state legislature and Missouri Horticulture Society•State Historical Society of Missouri

George Husmann (1827-1902)• German, emigrated to Missouri in 1835• Harvested the first grapes in Hermann in

1845, made wine in 1846• Left for California in 1850, returned in

1852 due to inheritance of property• Introduced Concord to Missouri in 1855• In 1859 founded the Missouri Fruit

Growers’ Assoc./Missouri Hort. Society (1861)

• 1866 published The Cultivation of the Native Grape and the Manufacture of American Wine

• President of Bluffton Wine Company, 1869-1872

George Husmann, cont.

• 1869-1871 edited the journal Grape Culturalist (with Charles Frings)

• First Professor of Pomology and Superintendent of Forestry at the University of Missouri, 1878-1881

• 1880 founded the Mississippi Valley Hort. Society; became American Horticultural Society in 1885

• Left Missouri for California in 1881• Published Grape Culture and Wine

Making in California in 1888

Isador Bush (1822-1888)

•Immigrated from Prague, Bohemia at age 27 to Bushberg, MO in Jefferson County.•Fought heavily in the Civil War for the abolishment of slavery•Established the nursery Isador Bush & Co. in 1870

Isador Bush (1822-1888)

Bushberg Catalogue (1869, 1st ed.)

• Described all aspects of grape culture, pest management, and varietal descriptions

• The only Missouri viticultural publication published internationally; translated into French and Italian

Bush, cont.

Full text (pdf) of the 1875 (2nd) Bushberg Catalogue can be downloaded from the Internet Archive-note the subtitle change:

• Illustrated descriptive catalogue of American grape-vines, with brief directions for their culture (1875)

• http://www.archive.org/details/illustrateddescr00bushrich

• Illustrated descriptive catalogue of American grape vines. A grape growers' manual (3rd. ed. 1883)

• http://www.archive.org/details/illustrateddesc00bushrich

George Engelmann (1809-1884)

•A German physician and botanist, eventually settled in St. Louis in 1847•Collaborated with Asa Gray on plant collecting in the Midwest•Worked w/ Henry Shaw to est. MO Botanical Garden; 1859 chief scientific advisor•In 1860 published “Notes on the Grape-vines of Missouri”•1872 worked w/ Riley to solve Phylloxera problem State Historical Society of Missouri

Herman Jaeger (1844-1895?)

• Swiss immigrant• Grape breeder, settled at Neosho,

Newton County, MO• Experimented with breeding and

hybridizing with native spp V. aestivalis (summer grape) and V. cordifoila (frost or possum grape)

• In 1888 he was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his role in sending Phylloxera- resilient rootstock to France.

Charles Valentine Riley (1843-95)

• English by birth, French by education

• Was Missouri’s first State Entomologist, 1868

• Was a follower of Darwin’s scientific approach and observation

• Published …Annual report of the Noxious, Beneficial and Other Insects in the State of Missouri

Riley, cont.

• 1871, began working with J.E. Planchon, Prof. at the School of Ag, Montpelier

• Worked with Isador Bush vineyards to identify the root stage of Phylloxera

• Promoted grafting to Planchon as solution to infestation (very controversial in France)

• Due to success, received many medals of honor in France; NAL had permanent display of his belongings on display

20th Century

• Mid 1880s Missouri was 2nd to Ohio in wine production.

• Decline began due to growing in other areas of US and demand

• More and more counties went dry• Prohibition passed in 1919• Most areas in Missouri pulled up

vines or began growing table grapes

• One area , however, increased production…

Knobview – Rosati Vineyards

• Italian immigrant settlement in Knobview, MO, in 1897

• On the northern edge of the Ozarks, near St. James, Phelps Co. and Frisco Railroad Line

• Planted subsistence farms, including vineyards of Concord and Catawba

• 1920s – supplying grapes to major Midwestern cities

• 1922 contracted with Welch’s to supply Springdale, Ark. Plant (until 1991)

• 1924 MO reached highest grape acreage in 20th century

• 1931 Knobview renamed Rosati

Knobview – Rosati Vineyards (cont.)

• 1931 – Repeal

• 1933 – Rosati Winery established but declined quickly, burned down in 1969, rebuilt in the 1971)

• 1944 – a German POW camp was established to help harvest grapes

• 1987 Ozark Highland AVA established to identify this area

AVAs of Missouri

• Missouri has 4 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)

• Missouri AVAs (color)• AVA Augusta, was the first

appellation to be recognized in 1980, 15 miles

• AVA Hermann, 1983• AVA Ozark Mountain (multi-state)

Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, 3.5 million acres

• Ozark Highland, 1987

Research in the 20th Century• 1899 Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station

established in Mountain Grove, SW, in the Ozarks• 1974 merged with SW Missouri State University• 1984 the Missouri Wine and Grape Program est.;

wine tax imposed• In the 1980s started the annual Midwest Regional

Grape and Wine Conference series (proceedings available; link to the tables of contents)

• Missouri Grape Importation and Certification Program begun in 1993

• 1999 Paul Evans Library of Fruit Science established; built collection of grape and wine materials to support research

• Mid-America Viticulture and Enology Center (MVEC) est. in 1999

21st Century

• Center for Grapevine Biotechnology in ~2003• Dr. Laszlo Kovacs and Dr. Wenping Qiu • Vitis Gene Discovery Program

“A Mission to Explore the Genetic Resources of Native North American Grape Species”

• Grapevine of concentration is Vitis aestivalis 'Norton‘

• Grapevine Resistance-gene Exploration and Expression Database (GREED)

• EST Database - The 146 ESTs from V. aestivalis var. Norton released on January 23, 2003 are accessible

• International Grape Genome Program

21st Century, cont.

• 2003-4 the Missouri Grape and Wine Advisory Board became the Grape and Wine Board

• 2004 VESTA, the Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance, was formed to offer an associate degree through MSU-WP campus

• MVEC left MSU in 2006, became the Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology at MU-Columbia

• In 2008 began publishing the online newsletter: The Midwest Winegrower: Quarterly Newsletter

21st Century, cont.

• Political tensions are high in Missouri, but the G & W production and tourism industries are growing regardless

• Retail value of Missouri wine, 2005: $43.1 million; 50 wineries

• 700,000 gallons produced • 85% wine produced from Missouri

grown grapes, 15% imported from many states; 11th in grape prod.

• Grape, wine and related industries supports about 5,700 jobs

Literature Cited & Recommended• Poletti, Peter Joseph. An interdisciplinary study of the

Missouri grape and wine industry, 1650 to 1989. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Saint Louis University, 1989.

• Christensen, Lawrence O. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, c1999.

• The Economic Impact of Wine and Grapes on the Missouri Economy. An MKF Research LLC Report. September 2007.

• Fusonie, Alan. Missouri and France: The Charles Valentine Riley Connection. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Soc. 1996. 69.2: 109-121.

• Morton, Lucie T. Winemaking Renaissance in Hermann, Missouri. Historic Preservation. 1984. 36(6): 38-41.

• Muehl, Siegmar. Isidor Bush and The Bushberg Vineyards Of Jefferson County. Missouri Historical Review. 1999. 94(1): 42-58.

• Muehl, Siegmar. The Wild Missouri Grape and Nineteenth-Century Viticulture. Missouri Historical Review. 1997. 91(4): 373-384.

• Muehl, Siegmar. Winegrowing In The Hermann Area: Early Years' Chronicle. Missouri Historical Review. 1993. 87(3): 233-252.

• Scheef, Robert F. Prohibition Vineyards: The Italian Contribution To Viticulture In Missouri. Missouri Historical Review. 1994. 88(3): 279-300.

• Stevens, Linda Walker. The Making of a Superior Immigrant: George Husmann 1837-1854. Missouri Historical Review. 1995. 89(2): 119-138.

• AgNIC Viticulture Site: http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=429445