US: Kentucky grapes, wineries building momentum
US: Kentucky grapes, wineries building momentum
Apr 8, 2012 6
(AP) - Homegrown grapes and small wineries are returning to Kentucky and bringing back a tradition that made the Bluegrass State the country's third largest grape- and wine-producing state before Prohibition.
In 1998, there were only 40 acres of wine grapes in commercial vineyards in Kentucky, but The Kentucky Enquirer reports (http://bit.ly/Iax8N8) that today more than 113 grape producers are growing 583 acres of grapes. There are also 60 small farm wineries in the commonwealth.
Vineyards cover part of the hillside above Mark Schmidt's 19th-century stone home in Covington, where vines grew between 1877 and 1922. Late this year, he hopes to be making wines from the nearly two acres of red dornfelder grapes, which produce inky red wines popular in Germany.
Comments