US: Good grape harvest means economic benefits for Missouri

(ConnectMidMissouri) - After last year's devastating drought, mid-Missouri's grape growers are on the rebound - this year's grape harvest in the region is expected to be a good one.

A harvest goes beyond the good grapes, however. When the grapes grow, so does mid-Missouri's economy. This year, the grapes are doing just fine, says enologist Dr. Misha Kwasniewski. "The drought was devastating, especially for those who didn't have enough irrigation or didn't plan for drought-like conditions," Kwasniewski said. "It's hard to plan for a 100 year drought event, people hope it won't happen to them."

Kwasniewski says a lot goes into growing a good crop, but a lot of it depends on the weather. In terms of prime conditions for growing grapes, he says this year has been a good one for growing grapes.

"This year, except for the intense rain of the spring, we've had nice rain intervals to keep the vines happy," Kwasniewski said. "The vines are happy, everything growing, and I think it looks great going into harvest at this point."

About 90% of mid-Missouri's grapes go towards producing wine - big wineries like Les Bourgeois grow their own, but they also buy grapes locally  from around 150 nearby vineyards. Then they process the grapes and turn them into red and white wine that mostly ends up on mid-Missouri's supermarket shelves. Winemaker Jacob Holman says, the grapes are intertwined with other parts of Missouri's economy.