American wine has been produced for over 300 years. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 89 percent of all US wine. The United States is the fourth largest wine producing country in the world after France, Italy, and Spain.
The North American continent is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, Vitis vulpina, and Vitis amurensis, but it was the introduction of the European Vitis vinifera by European settlers that led to the growth of the wine making industry. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the sixth most planted country in the world after France, Italy, Spain, China and Turkey.
Read more about American Wine: History, Wine Regions, Appellation System, Other U.S. Labeling Laws, Three-tier Distribution, Largest Producers
Famous quotes containing the words american and/or wine:
“The American struggle for the vote was much more difficult than the English for the simple reason that it was much more easy.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices. I thought that there was no need of ice to freeze them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)