County of marker: St. Charles County
Location of marker: Public St., Katy Trailhead, August
Erected: 2015
Erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources
When we think of American Wine, California comes to mind, and perhaps Oregon, Washington or New York. But Missouri? Ja, absolutely. German immigrants settling on the lower Missouri River, and later, Italians coming to the St. James area, brought their winemaking skills to the state. By the 1880s, Missouri made two million gallons a year, the most of any state. Missouri wines were also excellent -- they won, for example, eight gold medals at the 1873 Vienna World's fair
American Rhineland
Thousands of Germans moved to the Midwest and Missouri during the 1800s, thanks to encouraging letters and reports from early immigrants. Gottfried Duden, who lived near present-day Dutzow from 1824 to 1827, inspired many settlers after he returned to Germany and published Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America. The Missouri River valley, with good farmland and river transportation, reminded Dudan of Germany's Rhine River. The Missouri valley -- featuring hilly bluffs, thin soil and long, hot, sunny summers -- also proved to be ideal for growing grapes.
Merci, Missouri
By the late 1800s, Missouri and the rest of the nation had a robust wine industry. In Europe, meanwhile, grape phylloxera nearly destroyed vineyardes. Phylloxera is an aphid like insect that as part of its life cycle lives in soil and consumes grape roots. By accident, American rootstock with phylloxera was probably carried to England and France around 1865.
In France, wine production fell 75 percent. Since phylloxera was native to North America, vines here were not effected. The salvation: end American rootstock, with its tough root bark, to Europe, then graft French vines to it, giving the grapes immunity from phylloxera. About 10 million resistant rootstocks from Missouri were shipped to France between 1885 and 1890.
Vineyards Prohibited
Missouri's wine business continued to thrive, with 100 wineries in the state. But that prosperity ended in 1920 with the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Prohibition, as it was called, was the result of a century-long temperance movement.
Wineries were forced to uproot their vineyards and plant other crops. When Prohibition was lifted in 1933, no more commercial wineries existed in Missouri.
The Weinstrasse Returns
The rebirth of Missouri's wine industry had to wait 30 years after Prohibition. In the mid-1960s, Stone Hill (Hermann) and Mount Pleasant (Augusta) wineries reopened. In 1980, 15 miles around Augusta were certified as the first American Viticultural Area. To support research and marketing for state wines, a 12-cent wine tax funds the Missouri Wine and Grape Board. By 2001, the state had 870 acres in wine grape production, including Catawba, Concord and Norton/Cynthiana, the official state grape. As of 2013, about 128 wineries operated in Missouri. Some are located near the Katy Trail along the "Weinstrasse" ("wine road" in German), a cluster of wineries between Defiance and Marthasville.