The History of Winemaking in Arkansas
Surprisingly, Arkansas wine has a long history dating back to the late 1800s. Winemaking expertise arrived in Northwestern Arkansas with the first European immigrants of German, Swiss, and Italian descent. Settling in the Arkansas River Valley at the foot of the Ozark mountains, these families were attracted to the sandy and fertile soil and moderate climate, both ideal conditions for growing grapes.
Two European families were instrumental in the birth of Arkansas viticulture. John Post arrived in Altus, Arkansas, from Germany in 1872 and began making wine for personal consumption. Over time it became a family business, initially called the Post Familie Winery. It is still operated by the Post family today. Learn more at PostWinery.com. The family tradition of winemaking continued through the years, and Jacob Post’s grandson Eugene established the Mount Bethel Winery nearby in 1984.
In 1880, Johann Wiederkehr came to Altus from Switzerland and established Wiederkehr Wine Cellars, a successful vineyard and winery. The Post and Wiederkehr wineries thrived, and production grew through the turn of the century. Prohibition hit these two producers and others in the area hard, but the industry was saved because growers grafted table grapes onto the rootstocks of the grapevines and grew table grapes instead of ripping out the vineyards. This allowed them to be prepared to start anew when prohibition ended.
After prohibition in 1931, the Altus wine region grew and gained national recognition. In June of 1984, the first American Viticulture Area (AVA) was named in Arkansas. It is located within the larger Arkansas Mountain AVA and the even larger Ozark AVA, which includes parts of Missouri and Oklahoma. The Arkansas Mountain AVA is over 2.8 million acres in size. The establishment of it was largely driven by Wiederkehr Wine, the largest producer in the region at over 50,000 gallons of wine a year. The owners pushed for the AVA as they and others wanted Arkansas wines to have a way to distinguish themselves from nearby Missouri producers.
Grapes of Arkansas
Today, as in the beginning, wineries across the state produce a wide range of wine styles, including dry, sweet, sparkling, and even Port wines from various grapes. Native American grapes have flourished here since the beginning of the wine industry, including Muscadine, Niagara, and Cynthiana. The Cynthiana grape, also known as Norton, is the most widely grown of these and produces the signature wine of many wineries. Its bright raspberry flavors, deep color, and husky tannins have made it nicknamed “Cabernet of the Ozarks.” French hybrid grapes like Seyval Blanc and Chambourcin and international varietals Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot are also known for producing excellent Arkansas wine.
Arkansas Wine Business Today
Today, there are nine wineries in Arkansas, based on working websites I could find. The Post, Mount Bethel, and Wiederkehr wineries make up what was formerly known as the Arkansas Wine Trail in the adjacent wine-making towns of Altus and Wiederkehr Village. Farther north, in Eureka Springs and Springdale, you will find three other wineries, and just outside of Little Rock in Roland are two more. In addition to tasting rooms where you can enjoy sampling their wine, several of the wineries in Arkansas have restaurants and offer event spaces and wedding ceremonies. The Winery of Hot Springs makes for an educational wine visit as it houses the Arkansas Wine Museum.
To learn more about all the wineries visit The Arkansas Wine Trail article on the Arkansas Tourism website.
A version of this article was originally written for Recette Magazine, and was published online on March 4, 2021. See the original article here: https://blog.suvie.com/amazing-arkansas-wine. See all of the Fifty States of Wine articles here: https://alwayssharingwine.com/category/asw-blog/fifty-states-of-wine. See all of Susan’s previously published articles here: https://alwayssharingwine.com/tag/previously-published.