August 14, 2014 8:23 am
Let’s start with the simple fact – today (and for more than past 10 years), the wine is produced in all 50 United States. Yes, that includes Alaska, North Dakota and all other states you would never associate with winemaking. There are more than 8,000 wineries in the United States. I found interesting web site, called the Wine Web, which lists 8,229 wineries across the US (as of today, August 14 2014). Here is the winery map across US which was created using this web site:
Recently, I tried wines from Vermont and Colorado, and I finally visited for the first time (!), despite the fact that I live here for more than 20 years, the wineries in Connecticut (of course this will be a subject of a separate post). That prompted me to look up my old post about wines of the United States, which had a table with all the states and check marks for the wines tasted and wineries visited, and to update that table.
I know that all of you like wines (if you don’t, you are most likely not reading this). And people generally like challenges, especially those which are fun, can be done at the personal pace and don’t fight back – contrast that with the challenge of losing 10 pounds by the end of the month and I’m sure you will see my point. So the challenge, which will be only your personal, as there are no judges and no competition, is: wines of how many states did you try, and wineries in how many states did you visit? To simplify tracking, here is the word document with the table I created for this challenge – download and fill it up (note – you will need to calculate your totals manually, as this is word document and not an excel spreadsheet). I also added a new page where you can see my current progress.
So, do you accept the challenge? Currently, I tried the wines from 17 states, and visited wineries in 8 – where do you stand? Cheers!
Posted by talkavino
Categories: wine fun, Wine Tasting, Winery
Tags: wineries of 50 states, wines in USA, wines of 50 states challenge, wines of US
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Cool challenge! I live just down the road from an Ohio winery. The wines are very different from most that I’ve had but I appreciate them for what they are!
By Andrea on August 14, 2014 at 11:19 am
Thanks, Andrea. I think it is fun to explore the wines of different states.
By talkavino on August 14, 2014 at 10:41 pm
I have tried wine from 13 different states but sadly I have not visited many wineries outside Texas and California.
By Michelle Williams on August 14, 2014 at 1:23 pm
That is a pretty good count. Considering US shipping laws and difficulty of getting wines across the state lines even for the stores, it is not surprising that trying wines of many different states is quite a challenge…
By talkavino on August 14, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Also check out WineCompass.com. Besides wineries we have breweries and distilleries and theCompass Mobile App (http://winecompass.blogspot.com/p/the-mobile-compass.html) where you can locate these establishments from you device. I’m counting the other way, I have 10 states that I haven’t tasting from (Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Utah, Arkansas, Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama, and New Hampshire).
By Todd Godbout on August 14, 2014 at 9:10 pm
Thank you for the comment, Todd. Yes, I’m sure your application will be very useful in locating the wineries. So you tried wines from 40 different states – very impressive. Did you visit the wineries in the same 40 states too?
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 7:00 am
I’ve visited wineries in about 20 states. Obviously Alaska and Montana will be the most difficult.
By Todd Godbout on August 15, 2014 at 9:05 am
Yeah, I can see that… 🙂 I think 20 is very respectful number and hard to beat (may be harder than your 40 tasted wines…)
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 9:07 am
Love the idea Anatoli! We just started to list rated/award-winning wines available for direct purchase (depending on your state laws) from wineries across the country. We’re adding a bunch more on Monday, but check out the wines available from these states (scroll down to the “buy direct” section):
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/texas-wineries/
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/maryland-wineries/
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/north-carolina-wineries/
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/michigan-wineries/
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/georgia-wineries/
http://www.americanwineryguide.com/regions/illinois-wineries/
By Jim Finley (@AmWineryGuide) on August 14, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Thanks, Jim, very useful info. However, checking just one of the wines available for “buy direct”, this is exactly what was alluding to as one of the difficulties – they can only ship to two states… So even I would like try that Georgia wine, I have to live in Georgia or Florida to be able to get it.
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 7:08 am
Wine shipping…the bane of the American wine buying experience! BTW, I’m a couple behind you 14 and 6.
By Jim Finley (@AmWineryGuide) on August 16, 2014 at 3:47 am
What about countries!?!? Great contest! I have some states to visit…
By binNotes© | a wine blog. on August 15, 2014 at 7:27 am
I thought about it as well. I think countries are harder to make a meaningful challenge out of? I wonder if we can even create a reliable list of wine producing countries? But I can take a stub at this challenge 🙂
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 8:11 am
After tasting Oklahoma wines over the years, I’m not exactly tempted by this challenge. At least for the nearby states, although I’ve had a few good ones in Texas hill country.
By chef mimi on August 15, 2014 at 8:45 am
I understand that the quality of the wines might not be there, but still, I love the fact that making of the wine is a passion for increasing number of people all over the country, and I can only applaud this trend. This is really a personal challenge, and I personally like it.
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 9:05 am
you’re so right. i apologize for my smugness. but seriously pass on OK! I don’t think any of these people have tasted real wine!
By chef mimi on August 15, 2014 at 9:17 am
I understand your point, of course. Well, I hope overall quality will improve with the time – but then again, even as they are, I’m sure they have enough people who like their wines – or they would have to close the doors…
By talkavino on August 15, 2014 at 11:48 am
[…] I posted about the challenge of trying the wines from all 50 states in US and visiting wineries in those 50 […]
By Wines of the World – A Sequel Challenge | Talk-A-Vino on August 15, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Anatoli,
A great poser, and I can only answer that I have had wine from six states, so I guess I shall have to try harder.
By thewineraconteur on August 17, 2014 at 2:39 pm
Well, yes – if you like the idea – but really, it is only for the personal enjoyment. As I consider myself a “collector of the experiences”, this is something which I enjoy – plus, it is quite challenging …
By talkavino on August 18, 2014 at 8:24 am
I have 10 states tried – I guess I need to get out more! It is so tough when I’m in one of the major wine producing states and two more are so close by!
By wineandhistory on August 17, 2014 at 10:52 pm
10 states is quite good – especially considering that you can’t just go to the neighborhood bar and try all 50 glass by glass…
By talkavino on August 18, 2014 at 8:26 am
[…] one more check mark for my collection of attempts to try the wines made in all 50 states – a personal challenge which I’m tracking right […]
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