American Wine History
The history of wine in America has been an up and down affair. Attempts by the settlers to make wine from the native varieties came up short. And when they introduced the European grapes, they all seemed to die. The culprit was a tiny insect called phylloxera. Native varieties tolerated the pest, but the immigrant vines fell victim. Grafted and hybrid varieties began to appear and by 1830 the wine industry in America was finally born. But what nature couldn't undo the government almost succeeded in destroying. 1920 introduced Prohibition. In order to stay afloat, most vineyards plowed under their wine grapes and planted table grapes instead. So the fledgling American wine industry, which was indeed world class, came out of prohibition battered and bruised. To be completely honest, our wine industry is still in its infancy. In less than 100 years, America is once again producing world class wines.
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