Wiederkehr Wine Cellars and Vineyard

2011-04-07T04:03:58Z

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Wiederkehr Wine Cellars and Vineyard

Located on St. Mary's Mountain near Altus, Arkansas, the Wiederkehr Vineyards since its founding by [[Johann Andreas Wiederkehr]] in the late 1800s. The winery is still family owned and operated by the third and fourth generations. A huge initiator of Arkansas wine culture, Wiederkehr has remained a top producer of fine wines for over a century.

The Wiederkehr winery is a US Bonded Winery, No. 8. The original wine cellar that Johann Andres Wiederkehr carved from the hillside is not only still in existence but is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The cellar is now home to the Weinkeller Restaurant.

====History====
[[Image:WeinfestPoster 2007.jpg|thumb|The Weinfest Poster from 2007 (taken from the Wiederkehr Wine Cellars Wine Festival page).]]
This winery was founded in 1880, the year Johann Andreas Wiederkehr and his family emigrated to Altus from Switzerland. Wiederkehr chose Altus specifically for the surrounding area's climate and soil, as they resembled the grape growing climates and soils of Europe. Upon arrival in Altus, Wiederkehr quickly began carving a large wine cellar from the hillside. Wiederkehr initially made his wines from wild fruits, including persimmons and blackberries, but soon planted a small vineyard and began experimenting with grape varieties. He developed and patented the Campbell Early mutation grape. Johann passed his wine-making knowledge on to his son, Herman "J.B." Wiederkehr. Herman in turn taught his sons Leo and Alcuin,who built the small family business into the largest winery in mid-America by the 1980s. Wiederkher Wine Cellars was the first winery in Arkansas to win honors in Europe for its wines. The winery was the one of the first to partner with the University of Arkansas in developing hybrid wine grapes specifically for cultivation in Arkansas, and was the first winery east of the Rockies to produce vitis vinifera grapes. Presently, the winery is one of the top one hundred in the country and one of the top two in the state, producing over thirty varieties of wine, including several made from native Arkansas grapes. Johann's original wine cellar has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and now houses the Wienkeller Restaurant.

====The Winemaking Process====

Altus's unique environment of mountains and valleys helps create a variety of different microclimates, leading to the growth of a variety of grapes, which in turn leads to the production of a variety of wines. The Wiederkehr family has chosen the locations of their vineyards through the years by carefully researching how each location affects the growth of each variety of grape. When harvest time comes, the Wiederkehr's viticulturists and wine master monitor the grapes carefully in order to harvest them at the perfect time for production. Samples of the grapes are analyzed at a lab to ensure the grapes are harvested at their peak. When it is time to harvest the grapes, they are picked and quickly taken to the winery to be crushed into the fermentation juice or "must." This must is monitored and controlled carefully by the wine master to produce the desired characteristics in the final product. The juice is then aged in casks and then later bottled and sold.

====Weinfest====

Wiederkehr Wine Cellars hosts an annual wine festival (2010 was their 47th annual festival). Admission is free, however tickets must be purchased to view the Evening Show and attend the Festival Banquet in the Festhall. There are numerous activities at these festivals: tours of the historic wine cellars, the championship grape stomp, conga line dancing through the cellars, sing-a-longs (in German and English), free wine tastings, polka lessons, and many more live entertainment acts.

====References====
(http://www.wiederkehrwines.com/index.html|The Wiederkehr Wine Cellars Home Page)

(http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=2157|Wiederkehr Wine Cellars entry on the Encyclopedia of Arkansas)

Prohibition

2011-01-25T04:38:20Z

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The eighteenth amendment to the United States constitution, which prohibited the manufacture or sale of alcohol, was ratified by the state of Arkansas in January, 1919. It became effective on January 17, 1920, establishing a nationwide Prohibition. However, Arkansas had effectively been under prohibition for several years prior.

===Early Prohibition Efforts===
Temperance organizations were active in Arkansas throughout the nineteenth century. By the late 1880's, over 100 temperance or anti-saloon groups existed in the state. by 1913, thanks to the actions of organizations such as the [[Anti-Saloon League]] and the [[Woman's Christian Temperance union]] and the passage of local referendums requiring the opening of new saloons to be ratified by a majority of local voters, 66 of Arkansas' 75 counties had banned saloons. In 1915, the General Assembly passed the [[Newberry Act]], which effectively prohibited the manufacture or sale of alcohol in the state. The following year Arkansas became one of the first states to institute complete prohibition when Governor [[Charles Brough]] signed into law legislation outlawing the importation of alcohol.

===The Eighteenth Amendment===
The national prohibition movement gained momentum in 1917, when the United States entered into World War I. Grain, a key ingredient in the distillation of liquor, was needed for the war effort. As such, Congress ratified the eighteenth amendment in January of 1919. It became effective one year later, on January 17, 1920.

During Prohibition, the illegal distillation of alcohol was a significant presence in Arkansas, especially in the Ouachita Mountains. Al Capone, who often visited [[Hot Springs]] for the spas and gambling, contracted with bootleggers in the Ouachita Forest to provide alcohol for his clubs in Chicago. This moonshine was shipped to Chicago in bottles and train cars labeled as belonging to the Hot Springs-based Mountain Valley Spring Water company.

During the 1920's, the Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas organized vigilante groups they called "Cleanup Committees" to enforce the prohibition laws. The Klan was especially active in the oil towns of southern Arkansas. In November of 1922, one "Cleanup Committee" expelled an estimated 2,000 people from the town of Smackover after attacking liquor and gambling dens there.

===Repeal===
Following the sweeping Democratic victories in the 1932 elections, long-time Arkansas senator [[Joseph T. Robinson]] drafted and introduced legislation to repeal the eighteenth amendment. The measure recieved widespread support because many Americans believed the sale of alcohol would stimulate the economy, which was currently in the midst of the Great Depression. The eighteenth amendment was repealed in 1933.

==References==

==External links==

FranaWiki - User contributions [en]

Wiederkehr Wine Cellars and Vineyard

Prohibition