Pictured: Dan Burkhardt
by Dan Burkhardt
Missouri Wine Country is getting noticed. Its grapes and wineries have made more news in the past two years than when a state wine was named “best red wine of all nations” in Vienna in the late1800s. With growing prestige, it may be time for Missouri Wine Country to learn a thing or two from Napa Valley.
America’s, and probably the world’s, best known wine destination is Napa Valley. Napa’s Mediterranean climate, scattered small towns, and location just a short drive from San Francisco make for a grape-growing mecca.
However as they looked at their future way back in the 1960s, Napa County leaders saw this list of remarkable advantages as something that also held the potential to destroy the natural beauty and rural ambience that was the area’s greatest asset. They realized the need to develop a plan to protect what people came to Napa for — the rustic and open feel of the valley itself. They established the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve.
A recent article about Napa asked, “What really draws people to the Napa Valley?”
The answer? “Yes, the region has great restaurants and incredible wines, but what really drives people to visit the valley is its natural beauty. The magnificence of the Napa Valley lies in its dramatic landscapes and lush vineyards, which lure people to the area. What few visitors realize is that these vistas might not exist today without the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve.”
For the Missouri River Valley’s Wine Country, the answer also may be maintaining our rural character! Looking to the future to preserve what draws people in and brings them back. Without the foresight of 1960s government leaders and vineyard owners, the Napa Valley the world knows today would not exist. While we may not find a “Napa-style” solution there are many ways to encourage land conservation and historic preservation.
Spectacular wineries have been built and five-star amenities have been added, but what has drawn people to Napa — and what will draw them to Missouri’s wine-growing areas — is the relaxed feeling of being in wine country. What creates a true wine destination, as Napa can attest, is a landscape that has a rural and open feel. America has plenty of tourist destinations with attractions of all kinds. But there are very few true wine destinations with expanses of rolling hills, unbroken agricultural vistas with century-old trees dotting the landscape — and shady winery terraces to take in the view.
America’s prized wine destinations are not sought after because they built wineries and attractions. They are sought after because they respect the land where the vines grow. Today, Missouri’s community leaders and winery and vineyard owners have the opportunity to consider what they can do to maintain Missouri wine country’s rural character and agricultural heritage. This will make the most of Missouri’s 170-year grape-growing legacy — and make our state the sought-after wine destination it deserves to be.
(Dan Burkhardt is president of Magnificent Missouri, and a Missouri grape grower.)
Environmental Echo 