THE AMERICAN WINE INDUSTRY

Our version of the American Wine Industry (AWI) is unlike any other on the Internet in that we do not limit the form of feedstock used to produce wine to only grapes, rather we include all the other fruit and berry sources as well as honey (Mead wine) along with indigenous and foreign grape feedstocks.

In order to understand the AWI we have listed many of the wineries in the 50 state of the union. We have segmented these winery operations into generalized regions which can be viewed by clicking here->>The American Wine Industry

Our Founder, John M. Olney is our ardent history researcher and writer about the American Wine Industry. He will be offering new article frequently on this site as well as his own blogging site. The material he develops ultimately is massaged and will appear in his non fiction book (Click here to read about it "Wine U.S.A. - A Modern Historical Perspective"

HISTORY OF WINE DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

We have constructed and established this web site to ensure that today's wine bibber can find a source that continually researches and establishes the development and refinement of wine production in the United States of America in a historical presentation to preserve the way today's American Wine Industry achieved its current status.

We have looked at the history of wine development in the USA and concluded that it can be defined as having three distinctly identifiable periods as defined below:

Initialization and Migration 1560 - 1825

This period is defined as the time from first arrival of “foreigners” to the ”new world” and continuing up to the year of about 1825 with the start of America’s great period when it was declared that it “was our manifest destiny to make the United States, one country reaching from coast to coast.” This became part of what was known as “The Monroe Doctrine.” Many tried to "force" European varietals" to grow in the "New World" (then limited to the eastern states) but with no beneficial results. Some were producing wines from indigenious grape varietals. Meanwhile, others were producing wines from non grape fruits and berries and from honey.

Click here to start your journey in the "New World" wine production attempts, failures and successes ->>The Beginning of Wine in America

Expansionism and Refinement 1825 - 1933

The biginning of this period is when the grape winemakers moved from American varietals and their “foxy tastes” to the palette in the eastern states, to the pioneers moving towards the West Coast and into production using European varietals with their “refined European style after-taste.”

The period lasts through the enactment of Prohibition in 1920 with the adoption of the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which forbid the commercial production of alcoholic beverages and human conception of them, up to the Repeal Act of prohibition in 1933 (21st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution). Because of the Prohibition era, this period also includes the dismantling of varietal wines and the move towards fortified and sweeten wines of much higher alcohol content.

Resurrection and Perfection: 1933 - Present (2009)

This period commences with the repeal of the failed social legislation prohibiting the production and consumption of commercial alcoholic beverages after 13 years of attempt to govern the mores and morals of the people and includes all the advancements made up to present.

It constitutes the period when winemaking retreated from sweet, fortified wines and moved back to premium varietals and excellent generic wines produced in mass quantities.