How Can You Tell If Wine Is Really Local?

Mark Ganchiff

Mark Ganchiff is the publisher of Midwest Wine Press, the leading source of news on the growing wine industry in the central United States. Mark has been a wine judge at the 2012 and 2014 INDY International Wine Competition, the 2014 Cold Climate Wine Competition, the 2013 Mid-American Wine Competition, the 2012 Illinois State Fair Wine Competition and the 2013 Michigan Wine Competition. He also enjoys speaking at wine events including the Cold Climate Wine Conference, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Annual Meeting, the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference and the Wisconsin Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Mark's articles about regional wine have appeared in Vineyard & Winery Management, WineMaker and several regional magazines. Mark is a Level One Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers. He lives in Louisville, but also has a residence in Chicago.

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5 Responses

  1. Ted Kearns says:

    Great article but just a small note. The wine can not be an estate wine (estate bottled) unless the winery is in an AVA. Check the fed regulation on that it may have changed. That’s why the Upper Mississippi river valley AVA is so big. It should have been called the driftless Area AVA but we have to be politically correct now days and drift less has a bad name. Ted

  2. don millner says:

    Your comment: Your number 4. statement includes, ” Wineries that sell so-called ‘bulk” wine are not the least bit local.” We sell some of our wine in bulk to another winery approx. 15 miles away, this wine is local. This is a minor case, but your statement implies that all bulk wine is from a great distance away. Thanks

  3. Danny Campobasso says:

    Is there a company in chicago that sells organic wine juice?

    • Mark Ganchiff says:

      Danny,

      I don’t think so, organic wine is relatively hard to find in the Midwest,

      Mark G.