Missouri Rhineland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hermannhoff White Lady of Starkenburg wine is a German style wine made in the Missouri Rhineland.

The Missouri Rhineland is a geographical area of Missouri from west of St. Louis and slightly east of Jefferson City located mostly in the Missouri River Valley.

Settlements date to 1801. Dutzow, the first German permanent settlement in Missouri, was founded by Baron von Bock in 1832.

The soils of the Missouri River Valley and surrounding areas are mainly rocky residual soils, which are poor for most agricultural purposes but excellent for viticulture (growing of grapes/vineyards). These soils were left after the carbonate (mainly limestone) bedrock weathered away and left its impurities as clayey soil and chert fragments. Farther to the north, glacial deposits and wind-deposited loess, a silty soil also associated with the glaciers, are intermingled with the residual soils. This type of soil is more conducive to other forms of agriculture but the steep slopes of these areas limited its use to vineyards.

Naturalist Gottfried Duden, a German attorney, settled on the north side of the Missouri river along Lake Creek in 1824. He was investigating the possibilities of settlement in the area by his countrymen. In 1827 he returned to Germany, which he felt was overpopulated. There he published a glowing Eine Reise zu den westlichen Staaten von Nordamerika ("A Journey to the Western states of North America") in 1829.

German settlers led by Friedrich Muench and Paul Follenius of the Giessen Emigration Society arrived in the area in 1834. Friedrich Muench became known for his expertise in the cultivation of grapes and wine making. Muench was a prominent writer and lecturer and wrote a number of books. He frequently wrote under the name of "Far West." His book "American Grape Culture" was published in 1859. On the former farm of Friedrich Muench stands a stone barn with his name in the keystone. Their letters written by Muench and Follen to friends and relatives in Germany brought more of their countrymen to the Missouri valley.

In 1836 the German Settlement Society began to look for a place to build a German community insulated from the increasing diversity of nationalities found in many American settlements. They chose to settle in Hermann, and the first settlers arrived in 1837. The soil on the hillsides surrounding the settlement was not appropriate for many forms of agriculture. Hermann’s trustees decided to sell tracts of land with the agreement that they be planted as vineyards.

[edit] The Weinstrasse

The area along Route 94 between Defiance and Marthasville has so many wineries that the highway has been nicknamed the Missouri Weinstrasse (wine road). It runs parallel to much of the KATY Trail. This area has the highest concentration of wineries in the state. Many of these sit high up on bluffs or hills.

Prior to Prohibition, Missouri was the United States' second largest producer of wine. Missouri ranked as the number one producer for a short while during the Civil War. In 1920, Missouri had over 100 wineries. Because of Prohibition, all wineries were shut down with one exception: Saint Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, which made sacramental wine.

Prohibition lasted until 1933 and ruined the Missouri wine business. Vineyards were either pulled up and used for other purposes or left untended. Winery facilities were either converted to serve other purposes or left to decay.

Some wineries began producing again after Prohibition ended, but serious production did not begin until the 1960s and 1970s, when small winemakers began expanding in different areas of the United States. Augusta, Missouri became the first American Viticultural Area in the United States in 1980 and Hermann, Missouri followed in 1983. As of 2005, 64 wineries were operating in Missouri.