Nassau Valley Vineyards was the first winery in the state of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and is currently the largest in the state. When jazz singer Peggy Raley decided to open a winery in

, she first had to get the local state legislature to pass a law allowing wineries in the state. By 1991 she drafted the necessary legislation, and she obtained a license and opened the vineyard in 1993. Until October 2007, when Pizzadili Winery opened, it was the first and only winery in the state. There are eight acres of property at the site, and it caters to the beach-bound tourist traffic in the area.

Kevin Zraly Kevin Zraly is an American wine educator and the founder of the Windows on the World Wine School, who has been described as America's most famous and entertaining wine teacher. Career Between 1976 and 2001, Zraly held the position of wine director ...

, ''Kevin Zraly's American Wine Guide'', p.9 (2007)

History

Nassau Valley Vineyards is a pioneer in the modern Delaware wine industry, helping to resurrect the industry in the late 20th century. Prior to the winery's foundation, the history of

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

in Delaware was sporadic. In the 1630s, the

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

encouraged their

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...

settlers in the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

valley to plant

grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

and produce wine that could possibly be exported back to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, a country with little native viticulture of its own. When the Dutch took over the area in the mid 17th century and renamed it

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

, they similarly promoted viticulture in the area but found the area more suited for

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

orchards. From then on, viticulture and winemaking in Delaware was mostly confined to home winemaking until the late 20th century when Nassau Valley Vineyards opened up the first commercial winery in the state.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 519 Dorling Kindersley 2005 In the 1980s, Peggy Raley was working for '' Les Amis du Vin International'' (a wine appreciation organization) and "The Friends of Wine Magazine". Throughout her travels in wine regions across the globe, she became convinced of the viticultural potential in her native state of Delaware. Between 1987 and 1990, she planted 7 acres (2.83 hectares) of grapes. At the time Delaware state laws left over from the

Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...

prevented the possibility of Raley opening a winery from which she could sell wines to consumers. Raley began a campaign to change these laws, lobbying the state legislature and even drafting the 1991 legislation, herself, that was ultimately passed and signed into law. In 1993, Nassau Valley Vineyards was finally permitted to sell Delaware wine as the state's first commercial winery.M. Lambert-Gocs '
Delmarva dreamin'
'' Wines and Vines, September 2005 issue

Location and production

As of July 2009, Nassau Valley Vineyards was the only winery in Delaware to produce

estate grown wine Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representati ...

, meaning that they grow the grapes on their own property and produce the wine at a winemaking facility located on the same estate.Iowa State University/USDA Rural Development Project '
Delaware Wine Industry
'', Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Accessed: January 9th, 2010 The vineyard is located 3 miles (4.82 km) from Cape Henlopen on the Atlantic coast. The maritime climate of the region and its Atlantic influence reminded Raley of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, which led her to initially plant the Bordeaux

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

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' ...

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 ...

and

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

. Later expansion of the vineyards brought plantings of

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 ...

, Seyval blanc and

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 ...

. By 2005, Nassau Valley Vineyards produced around 5,000 cases of wine each year. In addition to their estate Delaware wines, the winery also produces wines from purchased grapes grown in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

References

External links

Nassau Valley Vineyards
{{Coord, 38.747, -75.190, display=title Wineries in Delaware Buildings and structures in Sussex County, Delaware Tourist attractions in Sussex County, Delaware 1993 establishments in Delaware