A century ago, Missouri was one of the most important wine states in the country. Then Prohibition arrived, the vines came out, and the industry all but died for decades. Today the story comes full circle on the bluffs above Rocheport, where both the grapes and the river view have come back.
A wine state, once
In the decades before Prohibition, Missouri ranked among the nation’s leading wine producers, its output centered in German-settled river towns like Hermann and the Rhineland stretch of the Missouri valley. Missouri vines even played a role in rescuing the vineyards of France: in the late 1800s, when the phylloxera louse devastated European wine country, hardy American rootstock — much of it from Missouri — was shipped across the Atlantic to save them.
The vines torn out
National Prohibition, beginning in 1920, ended nearly all of it. Wineries closed, vineyards were pulled up or left to go wild, and the expertise scattered. Even after repeal in 1933, Missouri’s wine industry stayed dormant for a generation, a shadow of what it had been.
Full circle above Rocheport
The revival that began in the late 20th century reached our own bend in the river when Les Bourgeois Vineyards planted grapes and opened on the bluffs just outside Rocheport, pairing Missouri wine with one of the finest views on the Missouri River. The Times notes that Les Bourgeois is a present-day, family-connected business; readers should treat its current hours, offerings, and operations as subject to change and confirm directly with the winery.
Sources
- Missouri Wine and Grape Board, Les Bourgeois Vineyards: https://missouriwine.org/wineries/les-bourgeois-vineyards
- Wikipedia, Missouri wine (overview): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_wine