Florida Wine Synopsis

Somewhere around 300 years before California was even a state and long before Plymouth Colony, America saw its first recorded wines being made. Named after the lush fruits and flora that overran the area at the time of their arrival, Florida seemed like the perfect place to the settlers back then to attempt to make wine.

These wines, made from native Muscadine grapes, were produced in inconspicuous French and Spanish colonies and marked an historic point in American wine history. Though a mostly forgotten wine producer today, Florida does still produce some of the most unique and interesting wines made today from the native varietals. So, why don’t we take a more in depth look at the Florida wine industry to see how it became what it is today? We should of course start by taking a look at the history of wine production there and how it’s changed through the years. We will then take a look at the varietals which dominate the industry in Florida today. Finally, we will take a look at some of the accolades that Florida wines have earned over the years, gaining respect worldwide.

As mentioned above, we shall start our enquiry into Florida wine by looking at how it all began in its history. Soon after their landing in Florida the Spanish colonists were amazed at the abundance of wild grapes that sprawled across the region. This soon attracted a fair number of Spanish and French Huguenot settlers who came for no other reason but the cultivation of the vines. Quite quickly the Huguenot colonists were successful in their endeavor when in 1565 they produced their first batch. We learn from a British Captain Sir John Hawkins, who was visiting the colonies at the time, that they had produced 20 hogsheads of wine from the wild grapes. He also reported that these wild grapes tasted much like those they had back in England. Following the success of the French the Spanish soon followed with vineyards being planted by missionaries for the production of s,acramental wine. Soon aspiring wine makers set their sights on attempting to grow the European Vinifera grapes in Florida which, like the rest of the country, was met with disaster. Due to the tropical climate of Florida, and its massive amount of rain, as well as diseases such as Pierce’s disease, the importation of European grapes was largely a disaster. This didn’t stop the continued production of the native Muscadine grapes and the wines made from them, though the levels of production were never brought to anything near commercial.

Eventually Florida was obtained by the British in 1763 (and then lost in 1783) and with it the transference of the wine industry there. With this acquisition the British authorities offered large bounties for the production of certain commodities in Florida, one of course being wine. There is even some evidence in records from the time that show that small quantities of Florida wines were even exported back to Europe. It was also shown though, that these exports were seen as merely rare and exotic beverages rather than the serious wines they were meant to be. However, some of the new British colonists wished to make a more substantial industry in the area, such as Dr. Andrew Turnbull. Turnbull attempted to make a colony, south of St. Augustine, centred around the production of wine. This was unfortunately doomed from the start, not even finishing the planting of the vines, due to having insufficient funds as well as tensions between his highly culturally diverse group of colonists from many nations. The small industry survived, as it had in the past, with merely small pockets of production until the 1930’s when the University of Florida produced a multitude of grape varietals suited well to the Florida Climate. These varietals spurred the expansion of the industry into the recent years, with vineyards such as Eden Winery, which is the oldest winery in Florida and the southern most in the US.

Though the new hybrid varietals have really expanded the Florida wine industry to where it is today, it was those native varietals which helped it survive, and make it unique in today’s market. These native grapes, such as the Muscadine, Noble and Scuppernong, are what give the Florida wine industry its unique qualities that it has. Though these grapes do grow in other southern states they do seem to be most at home in the hot humid weather that persists in the state of Florida which is so detrimental to other varietals. These native grapes didn’t seem to be enough for the vintner’s of Florida and thus, as mentioned above, the University of Florida created a variety of new grapes suited to the Florida Climate. These new hybrids include varietals like Stover, Blanc Du Bois, Swanee and Miss Blanc which are disease resistant and suited to the humid weather. Though, Vinifera grapes haven’t been forgotten here and have been seen in some quantities in recent years thanks to grafting. Even with these traditional varietals coming in, the predominant varietals grown in Florida continue to be the native ones along with their new hybrid kin.

Thanks to this uniqueness that Florida wines have they have been bestowed with praise and awards from all over. To start, various vineyards and wineries from across the state have gained praise at domestic competitions around the country. Such as at the 2007 Wines of the South competition, in Nashville, Tennessee, Ridgeback Winery took the Silver for their Rosco Red and Their Three Dog Night took a bronze. Then there is SeaBreeze Winery’s 2006 gold medal for their Palmetto White at the San Diego Wine Competition. We also have Florida Orange Grove Inc. and Winery taking a silver medal home at the Indiana State Fair for their Sinfully Noble wine. And if you aren’t satisfied with the state’s domestic praise then how about take a look at some of the international accolades taken by Florida wines. For instance, we have San Sebastian Winery’s Port taking a Bronze in the 2007 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, and the Silver in 2005. Then we have the Log Cabin Farm Winery winning a bronze at the Indy International Wine Competition for their Log Cabin Red. At the same competition as the Log Cabin Farm Winery we also find Vino Florida taking home a bronze for their Blache wine.

With such a rich history it is quite surprising to me that the Florida wine industry isn’t larger than it currently is; it deserves so much more. It is the birth place of American wine thanks to those early Huguenot and Spanish settlers. It even grew to a point where it was exporting wine back to the Old World, though admittedly as a novelty of sorts. Besides this they even developed some of the most prominent native hybrids in the South and excel at producing wines with them, as well as with the true native varieties. And with all of this they have produced some truly world class wines as evident from the multitude of awards given to the various wineries of Florida. Even with all of this, Florida contains only a handful of vineyards and wineries and seems almost forgotten to many these days. So please if you are ever in Florida, find one of the wineries, or even a wine shop, in the state and give these wines a try. Trust me, the native varietal wines they produce are well worth it.