The Augusta AVA was established on June 20, 1980 as the first federally approved

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

, eight months before the

Napa Valley AVA Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The petition was submitted by Clayton W. Byers and Lucian W. Dressel, representing the local wine industry, to the Director of the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

on October 16, 1978. Located entirely within the state of Missouri, the boundaries of this wine region encompass around the city of Augusta near the intersection of

St. Charles County St. Charles County is in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organized Octo ...

, Warren County and Franklin County.

History

The area around the present day city of Augusta was founded in 1836 by

Leonard Harold Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

, a follower of Daniel Boone, as a riverboat landing along the Missouri. The town was originally named Mount Pleasant with the riverboat landing known as Augusta Bend. In 1855, the town was incorporated as the city of Augusta. In 1859, Georg and Friedrich Muench founded one of the earliest wineries in the area,

Mount Pleasant Winery Mount Pleasant Estates is a winery in Augusta, Missouri, United States, on the north side of the Missouri River in what is called the Missouri Rhineland. History Mount Pleasant Winery was founded in 1859 by immigrant Georg Muench (1801–1879), ...

. Flooding in the Missouri River valley caused the river to change course in 1872, drying up the area's riverboat landing and leaving a distinct soil type in the area between the town and the river. The area's early vineyards were planted in the 1880s and the area began receiving recognition for the distinctive flavors and profile of the wine being produced there. In the later parts of the 19th and early 20th century, the production volume from the area helped the

Missouri wine Missouri wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigran ...

industry compete with Ohio for market share east of the Rocky Mountains. The advent of Prohibition had a dramatic effect on the area causing the closure of local wineries and the uprooting of vineyards. A revival period occurred in the 1960s that led to the founding of many of the area's current wineries. Durfur (2007), pp.35,37. At the turn of the 21st century, wines from the Augusta AVA were exported to Germany. In 2003,

Augusta Winery Augusta may refer to: Places Australia * Augusta, Western Australia Brasil * Rua Augusta (São Paulo) Canada * Augusta, Ontario * North Augusta, Ontario * Augusta Street (Hamilton, Ontario) France * Augusta Suessionum ("Augusta of the Suess ...

's 2001

Chardonel Chardonel is a late ripening white wine hybrid grape which can produce a high quality wine with varietal character. It is a result of a cross made by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station of the popular French American hybrid Seyval ...

won "Best US wine" from the German wine magazine ''Selection'' at their yearly competition in Mainz.

Geography and soil

Located west of St. Louis along the Missouri River, the area is known for its river bottoms and

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...

s that follow the winding river. The soil in this area is a type of

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

known as Hayne Silt-Loam which is heaviest in clay composition in the areas closest to the river but has more silt concentration in the higher elevations where most of the vineyards are now located.

Grapes

The Augusta AVA is planted with some '' Vitis vinifera'' including

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

, and

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

as well the '' Vitis aestivalis'' grape Norton which is the official grape of the State of Missouri. French-American hybrid grapes like

Chambourcin Chambourcin is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. It is a French-American interspecific hybrid grape variety used for making wine. Its parentage is uncertain. The hybrid was produced ...

, Chardonel,

Couderc noir Couderc noir is a red wine hybrid grape that was formerly grown primarily in the South West France wine region and around the Gard ''département'' in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The vine produces high yields and ripens late, creating a w ...

Rayon d'Or Rayon d'Or (1876–1896) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire in the United States. Bred by Frédéric Lagrange at his Haras de Dangu stud farm in Dangu, Eure, he was sired by Flageolet whose wins included the Prix Morny ...

, Seyval blanc,

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

and Vidal blanc are also popular plantings.

References

External links

Augusta Wine Country

TTB AVA Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Augusta Ava American Viticultural Areas Geography of Franklin County, Missouri Missouri wine Missouri Rhineland Geography of St. Charles County, Missouri Geography of Warren County, Missouri 1980 establishments in Missouri