Missouri’s Wine and Grape Board is a national leader

The impact of Missouri’s more than 70 wineries is much greater than the more than 800,000 gallons of wine each produces: More than 6,000 jobs are created by the $700 million Missouri wine industry; winery revenues are over $30 million, with an estimated retail value of over $50 million; tourism related to wineries generates over $200 million annually; and nearly $70 million in state and federal taxes is generated annually. The bottom line is that Missouri wineries now have an amazing 11 percent share of the domestic wine market. Such success is due in large part to support from the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, the state-funded group that supports our industry by underwriting viticultural research and directing the marketing efforts that get the word out about our state’s wines to thirsty Missourians. The Missouri Wine and Grape Board has earned national acclaim for its effective use of tax money for research and marketing and has become a model for other states on how researchers, wineries and the legislative/state agencies can work together to support a growing industry. Many state governments and wineries have adversarial relationships; the greatest reason that our program works so well is that everyone involved wants to make it work. Credit for the program must go to David Kay, who came to St. Louis as president of 905 Liquor Stores in the 1970s; it was he who, in 1983, told then-Gov. Kit Bond that Missouri wineries needed some support from government and the academic community. Bond’s response: "Then do something!" Kay, with help from a few winery owners and oenophile Howard Nason of Monsanto, convinced legislators that an advisory board and funding was needed to help the wineries to the next level; a tax of 4 cents per gallon on all wine, regardless of where it was produced, was levied. The tax provided the funding for Missouri Wine and Grape Advisory Board. With funding secured, viticulturist Bruce Zoecklein was brought in to lead the research side of the program and Jim Ashby of Rosati Winery was brought in as the first director of the program. Since a large portion of the fledging program was to be research focused, it was not long before a relationship was established with Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University), where the State Fruit Experiment Station grows many varieties of fruits, including more than 100 grape varieties. This was important because, although Missouri was second only to New York in wine production prior to Prohibition, our industry was decimated in 1920 when all alcohol became illegal. Many vineyards were destroyed, and by the time the Held family reopened Stone Hill Winery in 1965 and the Dressel family reopened Mount Pleasant winery in 1966, grapevines were few. The Fruit Experiment Station’s research helped vintners identify grape varieties suitable for the Missouri climate, and varieties such as Norton/Cynthiana and Seyval Blanc were planted for the growing table wine industry. Today, the wine tax (currently 12 cents per gallon) brings over $1 million to the Grape and Wine Program, which is split evenly between marketing and research. Our current program director is Jim Anderson, and the research center has been moved to the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Agriculture, where it was renamed the Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology. The institute is chaired by Keith Striegler, our state viticulturist, who is the former director of California’s Fresno State Viticulture and Enology Research Center. Joining Striegler is the newly arrived Rebecca Ford from New Zealand, who is our state enologist. In 2006, the Wine and Grape Advisory Board, which had only served in an advisory capacity, was changed to the Wine and Grape Board, with nine members appointed by the governor. The board now has the authority to direct and spend the revenues obtained from the wine tax. Elevating the board to this more authoritative level demonstrates the state’s commitment to the wine industry and helps ensure the future growth of our wine industry. Certified sommelier Glenn Bardgett is the wine director at Annie Gunn’s.