Oklahoma wine refers to
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
made from
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...
s grown in the
U.S.
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 territori ...
state of
Oklahoma.
Wine production was a significant component of the Oklahoma
agricultural economy in the 1920s. The industry was destroyed by the
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...
of the 1930s and the introduction of
Prohibition in the United States. Oklahoma currently has about 52 wineries. Most of the wineries are located in Green Country (Northeast Oklahoma), Lincoln county and surrounding areas in east central Oklahoma, Central Oklahoma and Southwest Oklahoma.
There is currently one designated
American Viticultural Area in Oklahoma, the
Ozark Mountain AVA.
Wines
Most Oklahoma wineries produce a range of wines ranging from sweet to dry. Several wineries have experimented with
non-grape based wines (utilizing everything from peaches to jalapeños peppers), and one winery,
Woods and Waters Winery, produces an
ice wine
Ice wine (or icewine; german: Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated grape ...
. Grape varieties used include
international varieties
An international variety is a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition. These are grapes that are highly likely to appear on wine labels as varietal wines a ...
such as
Cabernet Sauvignon and
Chardonnay,
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Ancient Rome, Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhine ...
varieties such as
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...
and
Gewurztraminer,
French hybrids, and American native varieties.
See also
*
American wine
Wine has been produced in the United States since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84 percent of all US wine. The N ...
References
Wine regions of the United States by state
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