Redefining American Wine

Grape images courtesy TerraVox Winery

In praise of equal-opportunity wine consideration, a look at the brands and distributors daring to embrace all-American wine beyond the expected.

WORDS Kathleen Willcox

It probably doesn’t surprise you to learn that California has more than 4,200 wineries. But it might surprise you to learn that Missouri has more than 100 and Alaska has four.

American wines from outside the expected, eternally lauded places—California, Oregon and Washington, for the most part—are often very tough to find outside of the regions where they’re made. So unless wine lovers actively seek out wines from less commonly considered areas, they are unlikely to encounter them at stores, restaurants or bars. Which, advocates of equal opportunity wine consumption say, is a shame.

“Wines from lesser-known regions in the U.S. have reached unparalleled quality,” says Sarah Trubnick, the co-founder and co-owner of New Hampshire-based Northeast Wine Company and Vitis Distribution. “They also offer people a glimpse into unique terroirs and varieties. These wines are often produced with integrity, and an emphasis on quality, authenticity and sustainability.”

Every state in the union produces wine, but go to even the most earnest, cutting-edge wine-centric restaurant or store in the country, and the vast majority of American wines available will probably be from California, with a smattering from Oregon and perhaps Washington. There may be additional selections from the state in which the place is located, but not necessarily.

But there is a growing movement afoot to broaden the definition of American wine, and share hand-crafted, thoughtful expressions of the country’s terroir, from coast to coast. Producers outside of the “big three”—and the distributors who’d like to share their wines—have a complex knot of cultural, historical and logistical issues to unsnarl in their bid to redefine American wine. But it can be done.

A storm front moves in over vineyards at TerraVox Winery in Missouri / Courtesy TerraVox Winery

CHALLENGE: INHERENT BIAS

Trusting what we know and being wary of new, untested things that we don’t absolutely need is what has allowed humans to thrive for more than 200,000 years. The flip side is, it leads to often erroneous assumptions about people, places and products we know nothing about.

“I really dislike the term ‘emerging wine region,’ ” says Trubnick, who also holds a Level 4 Diploma certification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). “Because most American wine regions aren’t emerging. They’re re-emerging. Prohibition annihilated thriving wine regions in the Midwest and Northeast, and when Prohibition was overturned, the effects lingered for decades, often because of conservative and religious groups that saw all forms of liquor as bad.”

Indeed, while rules and timelines vary state to state, it was not until the 1970s that the direct-to-consumer (DTC) movement was truly born, allowing producers in these regions to sell wines to people directly as opposed to through the difficult three-tier system that incorporates a distributor between the producer and final retail point of sale.

Erin Rasmussen, who previously studied and made wine in Napa and New Zealand, founded the American Wine Project in 2018 to explore winemaking in the Upper Midwest. For many years, she admits that she also operated under the false premise that “American wine just comes from the West Coast,” and that “all Midwestern wine was inherently sweet, out of balance and without spark.”

Her ah-ha moment happened when she tasted cold-hardy grapes straight from the vine.

“I realized what could be done with those grapes, and I wanted to be part of sharing that story,” she says.

Erin Rasmussen, founder of American Wine Project / Ray + Kelly Photography—Courtesy American Wine Project

CHALLENGE: MESSAGING AND DISTRIBUTION WOES

Making the wine is one thing, but sharing the story of that wine and getting it into the hands of potential wine lovers is another.

“The three-tier system is a remnant of Prohibition, and it’s very difficult to navigate,” says Trubnick. “Each state has its own interpretation of the system and operating across state borders can be mind-bogglingly difficult. Right now, we are only distributing wines in New Hampshire and Vermont. We’d love to get into other states, but there are so many specific conditions that need to be met, it’s hard without partners already in place on the ground.”

If and when producers and distributors get footholds in a market, informing the world of their presence is yet another Sisyphean task.

“I recently held a tasting of our wines in San Francisco for people in the industry, including journalists,” says Trubnick, who held the tasting at The Barrel Room, which she founded in 2011. “One prominent journalist told me how bothered they are by the fact that they don’t get to review these wines, and get stuck with wine from the usual, expected regions. But in the end, there’s nothing he can do.”

Major wine-focused outlets like Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator generally refrain from actively reviewing wines outside of California, Washington, Oregon and, in some cases, New York and Virginia. That lack of critical support not only means these wines don’t often get play in the pages of glossy magazines, it also means they can’t offer retailers and restaurants the shelf talkers and score-based accolades that move bottles.

Jerry Eisterhold, founder and owner of TerraVox Winery, an estate-grown vineyard in Kansas City, Missouri, is dedicated to cultivating and reviving North American native grape varieties like Wetumka and Lenoir. He admits that getting gatekeepers on board can be an onerous undertaking.

“Most sommeliers, distributors and retailers are not familiar with native grape varieties,” says Eisterhold. “We have to educate them from A to Z on everything before we can even talk about the possibility of having them take on the wine. And to even get that meeting in the first place, they have to be open and receptive to Midwestern wine.”

A lineup of bottles from American Wine Project / Ray + Kelly Photography—Courtesy American Wine Project

CHALLENGE: HIGH COST OF ENTRY

Making wine requires an extensive financial investment: you need to either buy and farm land or buy grapes, purchase or rent winemaking and aging equipment, and pay to bottle and label the wines. Just because you’re doing all of this in a more off-the-radar region doesn’t mean it’s cheap.

“The costs of ‘manufacturing’ are generally related to scale, so our challenges are no different than any other winery of our size,” says Terrence Glomski, general manager and principal at Arizona Stronghold Vineyards. “The costs of marketing are probably higher though, because in areas with large communities of wineries there is a large base of tourism and some built-in marketing.” 

Finding experienced staff and people who are comfortable installing and maintaining essential equipment is also harder and more expensive in states where winemaking isn’t a major driver of the economy, Glomski says. Which leads to $45 bottles of wine few have heard of and without a recent and successful history of making world-class wines. 

“People only have so much income,” says Zev Rovine, founder of Brooklyn’s Zev Rovine Selections, which distributes American Wine Project and other wineries from non-benchmark regions in the U.S. as well as bold-faced pockets of Europe. “There are a lot of options at the same price point from regions and producers they are confident they like.”

WIN: POWERFUL PLATFORMS AND SUBTLE CULTURAL SHIFTS 

Shelling out $45 on a random Wednesday from a place you didn’t know made wine feels like too much of a gamble for many. Which is why a powerful, well-respected expert championing a bottle can make or break a winery. 

“When Nancy’s Hustle in Houston put us on their list, it felt like a big win,” says Rasmussen of their placement at the James Beard Award-winning restaurant. “The wine buyer sought us out at Texsom, and we hit it off. His attitude is if you’re making great wine, it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”

The American Wine Project has become a cause célèbre  for sommeliers eager to indulge in a more diverse American wine diet, appearing on cool-kid wine lists at places like Pinch Chinese in New York City; Daytrip in Oakland, California; and Fairchild in Madison, Wisconsin. And at TerraVox, Eisterhold says they can’t make wine fast enough. 

“Last year, we made and sold out 2,400 cases, and we’re working toward doubling that,” he says. “It’s really all DTC. I’ve gotten great reception from potential distributors, but no deals yet. Retail stores aren’t receptive because at our $27–$55 price point, they say they won’t see enough of a margin.” 

Eisterhold suggests that, typically, people are not willing to spend upwards of $30 on something they’re not familiar with when there are scores of well-known brand names and labels that retail for $10–15, “until we expose people to our story and our wines,” he says. “Then it sells, and they come back.”

Northeeast Wine Company and Vitis Distribution works with wines across the northeast, including Boundary Breaks from New York’s Finger Lakes region. / Courtesy Northeast Wine Company

WIN: CONSTRUCTING A NEW NETWORK

Once bitten by the all-American wine bug, distributors with roots deep in classic wine culture can become determined ambassadors. Before launching Northeast Wine Company and Vitis Distribution, Trubnick admits that she was also in the dark on the quality and diversity of American wine writ large. 

“During Covid, I moved to New Hampshire and discovered that incredible wines were being made in the Northeast,” she says. “When I tried to introduce them to somms and other pros in California, I got a lot of pushback. That resistance made me realize that I needed to do something.” 

Sommeliers and wine directors are generally considered some of the best educators, capable of introducing eager  consumers to new styles and regions. “But if they don’t have access to the best wines from different regions, how will that ever happen?” says Trubnick. 

Rovine founded Zev Rovine Selections in 2007 as a wine import and distribution house, initially representing primarily French wines, but he was moved to expand. 

“We import and distribute wines from across the world,” says Rovine. “We are focused on natural wines produced without chemicals or additives. There are great natural wines being made across the country, and I realized they needed to be more available. We’ve found that natural-wine drinkers are more open to the wine if it’s great regardless of where it’s from.” 

Trubnick is also finding greater openness to all- American wine. That recent tasting in San Francisco? “I got amazing feedback,” says Trubnick. It’s a welcome change from the reluctance and reservation she once received. “No solid orders yet—but it’s a start.”