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GRAPEGROWING Wine in the Show Me State Tourism, retail and sweet wines key to building Missouri's wine industry By Andrew Adams I t may surprise some, but Chuck Dressel, owner of one of the largest wineries in Missouri, has a problem with the state's official wine grape, Norton. Frankly, he just doesn't like it very much. Dressel is the owner of Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta, Mo. Founded in 1859, the winery is one of the oldest in the state and the nation. Dressel's family purchased the property in 1967 and revived the winery, which had been shuttered since Prohibition. He became the sole owner of the estate in 2004. Norton is a vigorous vine, which produces clusters of small berries that can yield wines with strong flavors of bacon and wild game. Dressel, who has an affable personality and is quick to joke, likened the wines to the music of Lady Gaga: People love it or hate it. But no matter Dressel's opinion about Norton, as the owner of one of the state's top wineries he knows Mount Pleasant has to make one because his customers want it. "The more offensive I find it, the more likely it's going to sell," he says. As the Missouri wine industry continues to grow, wineries in the state offer a broad range of products from dry vinifera wines to sweet hybrids and fruit wines. The state's industry has been built on local Highlights • n the past decade, the number I of wineries in Missouri has more than doubled. • orton represents 18% of the N state's total wine production. • onsumers are split between C wanting dry vinifera and light, sweet wines. 90 W in e s & V i ne s january 20 14 Although Norton was originally cultivated in Virginia, it is the official grape of Missouri. demand, and that continues to be nurtured as wineries seek better distribution through on-premise and retail accounts. Industry supported by agritourism Jim Anderson, the executive director of the Missouri Wine & Grape Board, said about 10 years ago the state had less than 50 wineries and around 1,000 acres of bearing vines. Today the number of vineyard acres has nearly doubled, and Missouri is now home to 122 wineries, according to Wines Vines Analytics. A 2010 study estimated that the state's industry has an overall economic impact of $1.6 billion, with Missouri wineries generating $42 million in revenue. Norton represents 18% of the state's total production followed by Vignoles at 13% and Chambourcin at 10%, according to 2011 figures compiled by the wine board. The state is in the top 10 of U.S. states for wine grape production and wine production. Agritourism is the driving force behind Missouri wine, with Anderson saying wineries draw 800,000 visitors per year. He said in the 1960s and 1970s the state's industry focused on educating consumers about hybrid grapes and the pleasure of visiting local wine country. He said many winemakers would likely prefer to focus on just producing a limited offering of dry wines, but at this point the state's wine consumers expect a range of wines of varying levels of sweetness. "We're trying to build a wine culture here in the Midwest, and people are going to start out with something sweeter," he said. Future growth will continue to be fueled largely by wine country tourism, and Anderson said wineries now are looking to build closer connections to in-state food and specialty goods purveyors to benefit from interest in supporting local products. The other goal is to put more state wines on grocery store shelves and restaurant wine lists to ensure consumers who have visited Missouri's wine country can find the wines they enjoyed when they return home to Kansas City or St. Louis. "We've got to have it available in the major areas," Anderson said. Sweet is successful Dressel split Mount Pleasant's production into two channels: At the historic Augusta winery, he's focused on promoting and selling dry wines out of vinifera and hybrid grapes. Mount Pleasant also operates a tasting room at the country music tourist resort of Branson, Mo., where it