America’s First AVA
Vineyard in Missouri
by Tim Powers
When considering the diverse and historic wine regions of the United States, a few stand out as most well-regarded and well-known. American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) such as Napa, Sonoma, Central Valley, Willamette Valley, and even the Finger Lakes continually dominate headlines, public perception, and wine shelves. The United States has over 267 AVAs, with over half (147) located in California, and more being added every year (the newest being the Gabilan Mountains AVA as of August 15th, 2022). However, trying to track down which AVA came first may be a bit tricky, and quite a bit surprising!
Although the above wine regions make up a majority of the wine produced in the United States, the honor of ‘First American AVA’ goes to Augusta AVA in Eastern Missouri. On June 20, 1980, the US government declared Augusta, MO the first federally designated AVA in the United States, but how did a state which currently produces only 993,831 gallons of wine (about .12% of the United States’ total wine production) receive this honor? The answer lies in the turbulent history of the Missouri wine industry.
In the early 1800s, following the Louisiana Purchase, German Settlers found a new home in this northern bank of the Missouri River. Located on the northern edge of the Ozark Mountains, the German pioneers were reminded of the Rhine River Valley in Germany, and began to plant similar grape varieties found in their home region. By the 1850s, the fledgling wine industry had dramatically increased, with more than 60 active wineries across all of Missouri, which were producing more than 10,000 gallons of wine per year.
Around the same time, a small aphid was inadvertently brought to Europe from the United States and single-handedly wiped out around 40% of the vines and vineyards across France. Known as Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, or colloquially as ‘phylloxera’, this miniscule yet voracious pest swept across France, attacking the native vitis vinifera species of grapevine by targeting the vines’ roots. The first State Entomologist of Missouri, Charles Valentine Riley, was able to confirm that the blight was caused by the phylloxera aphid, and further suggested various native American vitis labrusca grapevine species that were resistant to the blight.
Missouri viticulturist Hermann Jaeger was also vital in the efforts to stop the phylloxera blight as he worked with another MO State Entomologist, George Hussman, to create hybrids of these American, phylloxera-resistant, varieties. Together with additional Missouri grapevine growers, they were able to grow and ship millions of phylloxera-resistant rootstocks to France, staving off the ravenous aphid, and allowing France to safely regrow their native grape varieties once again.
This herculean effort resulted in an incredible surge in total number of vineyards across Missouri, which in turn led to Missouri becoming the second largest wine producing state in the country by the early 1900s. Unfortunately, when, in 1919, the United States Congress ratified the 18th amendment, otherwise known as the Prohibition Act, production ground to a halt. The 18th Amendment banned the manufacture of any beverage over .5% alcohol by volume, which forced many vineyards and wineries across Missouri to close or be converted into other agricultural industries.
This devastated the wineries and vineyards in Missouri, and, even after Prohibition’s repeal in 1933, the wine industry was slow to recover. It wasn’t until the 1970s when a few enterprising winemakers, such as Clayton Byers of Montelle Vineyards, started to renovate and refurbish the already existing (although rather run down) wine infrastructure.
This dramatic and volatile narrative came to fruition when, in 1976, the Judgment of Paris sent a shockwave around the wine world. The United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) sought to codify and regulate the wines produced within the United States in order to preserve the high quality that had just been internationally recognized. Soon after, the TTB began to accept applications for AVAs, requiring that these areas be well-defined, well-established, and unique in geology, soil, climate, history, and physical features. Wine makers in Augusta quickly submitted their application, and were the first potential AVA interviewed. Furthermore, they were granted the honor of being America’s first AVA due to its “long history as one of America’s oldest and foremost grape and wine districts”.
In addition to the rich and historic past of the region, the climate and soil of the Augusta AVA are extremely unique as well. The 15 mile stretch of land is surrounded by high ridges of the Ozark Mountains to the north and west, and the Missouri river on its south. These serve to form natural borders as well as create a warmer climate as compared to its surrounding areas. Additionally, the soil, known as Hayne-Silt Loam, is a combination of glacial soils deposited over 10,00 years ago, and river alluvial soils deposited as the Missouri River changed course over time. This high silt soil drastically differs from the surrounding, more rock and mineral based, regions.
The combination of the unique geological makeup, the turbulent wine history of the region, and the dogged determination of grape growers and winemakers in Augusta all can be credited with the formation of America’s first AVA. This clear demonstration of what defines a specific wine making region has served as a template over the decades, and can be credited with preserving winemaking traditions in France and across the world. The Augusta AVA, and winemakers across Missouri, have weathered hardships and adversities, and perfectly embody the unyielding American spirit of wine.