US: New Wine from a Lost Vine in Missouri

(Wines&Vines) - In May, Terry Neuner, owner and winemaker at Westphalia Vineyards, introduced a new wine called Renaissance. This wine was a special release not only because of the limited quantity (40 cases) but because it is made of estate-grown Missouri Riesling, which represents the “rebirth” of a grape cultivar thought possibly to be extinct. Missouri Riesling is not the vinifera variety Riesling but a native hybrid grape of riparia and labrusca heritage, which disappeared from production after Prohibition began.

Missouri is an unlikely place to grow grapes. The winters are cold with bitter winds coming across the plains; the summers are very hot and humid. In between, spring and fall frosts are often a problem. In spite of the climate, the state has been growing grapes and making wine successfully since before the Civil War. In fact, in the late 19th century Stone Hill Winery in Hermann was the second-largest winery in the entire country.

Natives and hybrids

For much of its wine history the industry in Missouri has been based on native and native hybrid grape varieties. While vinifera and both French and American hybrid grapes are now grown in parts of Missouri, the flagship red wine for the state today is Norton, a cross of aestivalis and labrusca grapes that was introduced in Virginia by Dr. D.L. Norton as “Virginia Seedling.” Another popular white wine grape in the years before Prohibition was a variety known as “Missouri Riesling,” a riparia-labrusca cross introduced by Nicholas Grein in Hermann. However, with the advent of Prohibition, the only grape variety to remain in production to any extent was Concord, which was used as a juice grape.

Neuner set out to find a source for Missouri Riesling, even though the vines were thought to be extinct, and in 2005 he located one vine at Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. “The only reason we found it is because of Thomas Jefferson. He named Cornell University the first land-grant college, and he gave it one mission: preserve every American grape species.”