History of the US Wine Industry

Question 1

How long have grapes been present in North America?

Answer 1

Grapes have been present since the first known Europeans (the Vikings) arrived in North America

Question 2

What did the Vikings name North America?

Answer 2

Vinland

Due to the large quantity of grapes the Vikings found growing in North America

Question 3

How were the grapes in North America different from European grapes the Vikings were used to?

Answer 3

The grapes the Vikings found in North America were from a different species than the grapes that were cultivated in Europe and used to wine.

Question 4

Did the Vikings make wine in North America after discovering Vinland?

Answer 4

There is no record of winemaking, no wine culture, and no evidence of winemaking technology prior to the arrival of Columbus.

Question 5

Who were the first people to plant European Vitis vinifera wine grapes in the United States?

Answer 5

The Spaniards, the initial colonizers of the Americas

Question 6

What part of North America was probably the first part of the American continent to make wine?

Answer 6

Mexico

Question 7

When was wine probably first made on the American continent?

Answer 7

In the 1520s

Question 8

Why was wine made in Mexico before the United States?

Answer 8

Spanish attention was mostly focused southward in the 1500s, and it would be two centuries later before the Spaniards would bring grapes to California.

Question 9

When was the first wine made in what is now the United States?

Answer 9

In the 1560s

Question 10

Who made the first wine in what is now the United States?

Answer 10

The first wine in the United States was made either by French Huguenot refugees in northern Florida or Spanish colonists in South Carolina

Question 11

Who first made a note of the abundance of vines in parts of the United States?

Answer 11

Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524

Question 12

Where did Giovanni da Verrazzano note the abundance of white grapes in the United States?

Answer 12

In what is now Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

Question 13

Who made the first reports of red grapes in the United States?

Answer 13

English explorers in the employ of Sir Walter Raleigh

Question 14

Where were the first reports of plentiful red grapes made in the United States?

Answer 14

In what is now Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1584

Question 15

What colony noted the abundance of red grapes in the United States in 1584?

Answer 15

The Roanoke Island colony

Question 16

What grape variety may have made the first American wine?

Answer 16

Scuppernog

Scuppernog is still used to make wines in the Southeast United States to this day

Question 17

Where does Scuppernog get its name from?

Answer 17

A nearby river in North Carolina

Question 18

What color grape is Scuppernog?

Answer 18

White

Question 19

Why was wine of great importance to English colonies in America?

Answer 19

• Wine was a major part of daily diet
• Provided needed calories
• Was more sanitary than water
• Most wine came from countries hostile to England, so huge potential for profit

Question 20

Why did the American colonies continue to try and produce wine for English consumption?

Answer 20

Most wine came from counties hostile to England, so if an American colony could produce wine it would be a huge source of profit.

Question 21

Where were some important attempts to develop wine regions in colonial America?

Answer 21

• Jamestown colony in Virginia (founded in 1607)
• Puritan settlements in Massachusetts (founded in 1620)

Question 22

Why did most American colonial winemaking attempts fail?

Answer 22

Scuppernog and other indigenous American grape varieties did not make wines of the quality or flavor profile that was deemed acceptable.

Question 23

American grape varieties such as Scuppernog were deemed to have what unpopular flavor?

Answer 23

A “musky” flavor

This flavor made the wines undesirable both at home in the colonies as well as export markets in Europe

Question 24

Why did European Vitus vinifera vines not lead to a thriving American wine industry in colonial America?

Answer 24

Despite American colonial attempts to make imitation European wines with Vitus vinifera grapes, the imported vines often died shortly after being planted in American soils.

Question 25

What challenges in the American continent killed European Vitus vinifera vines in colonial America?

Answer 25

• Harsh American winters
• The root louse phylloxera
• Mildew

Question 26

Why didn’t native American grapes have issues with phylloxera, mildew, or the harsh American winters?

Answer 26

American vines had long ago developed defenses against these pests and challenges.