V is for Viticulture in Florida
When we lived in southern Illinois, one of our favorite weekend activities--besides hiking--was visiting various vineyards and wineries located throughout the region. Viticulture has burgeoned into a vim-and-vinegar enterprise in Illinois over the past few decades. Here's a link to a YouTube video that explains some of the history behind the phenomenon. Quite a lot of the credit for the tremendous growth goes to partnerships established between industry leaders and university researchers. A great deal of public funding in the form of grants and low-interest loans has been made available over the past several decades for entrepreneurs to try their hand at winemaking. You might say it's a vin-vin situation for everyone concerned, including consumers like us.
Once we moved to Florida, I began to miss our weekend visits to the countryside to sample the fruit of the vine. Our first home in Florida, a rental place on Anastasia Island, afforded us a chance to stop by San Sebastian Winery in St. Augustine. There we discovered fine wines, yes, but a vineyard with rustic ambiance? No.
So why is there a veritable vacuum or void of any viable vineyards close to Tallahassee? The consumer base is here, believe me. The student population alone could drain a thousand casks an hour or more if given the chance.
I guess lately the economy has placed public funding in peril or over a barrel. The think tank is in place. It's just missing someone with the vision to make it all happen here like it has in southern Illinois. A certain joie de vin--along with vast amounts of cash--is all that's required. So is anyone out there interested in vineyard investing?
Please visit A to Z Blogging Challenge for links to more "V's" from Challenge hosts and other writers.
Interesting. I never thought about vineyards or the lack thereof in the deep south and Florida.
ReplyDeleteWe have scuppernong grapes on an arbor and the dark muscadines grow all along woods' edge here. We and the critters just eat them.
Thank you for sharing the vineyard details through your V Post, Walk2write..Now just four more letters to go to complete the task that you undertake with zeal..
ReplyDeleteVery vital vitaculture. I've moved abit ahead from my student days with Boones Farm though.
ReplyDeleteOh love the idea of my own vineyard. Love the idea...pity about the wallet!
ReplyDeleteLOL! You were crackin me up w/all the vins... I was surprised when we visited Indy that there was a new vineyard planted across the street from one of the neighborhoods we looked at! I was all, "What tha..."
ReplyDeleteI love vineyards, so I say vin-on! :D <3
Vineyards are so grand to visit! (For that matter so is the original Guinness factory in Dublin, Ireland.)
ReplyDeleteMy uncle used to grow grapes at one time and I remember wandering around his property in amazement at how much work and effort goes into this crop.
ReplyDeleteThanks for teaching me a new word today!
Hi W2W ... we've got vineyards here in the UK .. following on the Romans 2,000 years ago! It's certainly taking off here with global warming .. perhaps the grape vines get too hot .. and grapes ripen too quickly without juicing up sufficiently ..
ReplyDeleteLet's hope you find your rustic vineyard soon .. sounds a nice idea!! Cheers Hilary