Designated wine trails are a growing segment of the travel and tourism industry that promote local wine regions as tourist destinations. According to Wine Business Monthly, there is now at least one commercial winery in all fifty states. California is still the big kid on the block in terms of wine production. But by combining favorable growing conditions with good winemaking skills, wineries from Colorado to Connecticut are creating delicious offerings that can compete with California wines for consumers’ taste buds and wallets. Many states, therefore, see the value of wine trails as a way of promoting their distinctive vineyards to wine enthusiasts.
Many Wine Trails Exist Near Tourist Destinations
Wine trails are formed by neighboring wineries to promote themselves and to direct travelers to their various locations. Typically they are developed in cooperation with the state’s tourism bureau. As a component of agritourism, wine trails are often supported by brochures and web sites that cross-promote wine with local attractions. Members of the Dutchess County Wine Trail, for example, attract vacationers and day trippers visiting the FDR home, the Culinary Institute of America, and the Vanderbilt Mansion in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Similarly, the seven members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail in Southeastern Pennsylvania are more than happy to lure tourist dollars from wine enthusiasts visiting world-renowned Longwood Gardens and DuPont’s Winterthur Estate. Nearby B&Bs also get into the act by offering lodging and wine tasting packages to weekend travelers.
Small Wineries Depend on Wine Trails for Much of Their Business
Kreutz Creek Vineyards is situated along the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail in the unique micro-climate that exists between the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay. They are typical of the small winery trying to establish a presence among consumers more familiar with the popular California wines. “We have eight of our twenty acres planted in vines,” says owner and winemaker Jim Kirkpatrick, a number which pales in comparison to that of California behemoths like Kendall-Jackson Vineyards (14,000 acres). Without the marketing muscle of the larger wineries, Kreutz Creek Vineyards and others clearly depend on the tourist traffic generated by the wine trail. “We probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the trail,” says Jim’s wife, Carole.
A Chance to Try Uncommon Grape Varieties
The thirteen types of grapes grown on Jim’s eight acres highlight a key benefit that wineries scattered across the country can offer: an opportunity to introduce wine drinkers to less common grape varieties or “varietals.” Sure, everyone bottles a chardonnay or one of the popular reds, but how many can also offer a fresh, crisp vidal blanc or a smooth, pinot-like chambourcin? “They’re French hybrids which thrive in the somewhat colder mid-Atlantic climate we have here,” says Jim. Just as barbera thrives in Virginia, dornfelder in Indiana, frontenac in Wyoming, and tempranillo in Texas.
With the number of passionate winemakers who are able to take advantage of the distinctive soil and climate characteristics their states can offer, it no longer has to be “California, then everyone else,” when it comes to considering a good wine for tonight’s dinner.
