USA

Wine in USA has been produced for over 300 years. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 89 percent of all US wine. The United States is the fourth largest wine producing country in the world after France, Italy, and Spain. The North American continent is home to several native species of grape, but it was the introduction of the European Vitis vinifera by European settlers that led to the growth of the wine making industry. With more than 1,100,000 acres under vine, the United States is the sixth most planted country in the world after France, Italy, Spain, China and Turkey. The first Europeans to explore North America called it Vinland because of the profusion of grape vines they found. The earliest wine made in what is now the United States was from the Scuppernong grapes by French Huguenot settlers at a settlement near Jacksonville, Florida between 1562 and 1564. The first commercial vineyard and winery in the United States was established by an act of the Kentucky Legislature on November 21, 1799. In the 1970s and 1980s, success by Californian winemakers helps to secure foreign investment dollars from other winemaking regions, most notably the Champenois. Changing taste in the American palate has also helped to foster this growth, with 668 million gallons (25.3 million hectoliters) of wine being consumed in the United States in 2004. Today the American wine industry faces the growing challenges of expanding international exports and dealing with domestic regulations on interstate sales and shipment of wine. There are nearly 3,000 commercial vineyards in the United States, and at least one winery in each of the 50 states.