Top 100 red wines of Mississippi

Discovering the wine region of Mississippi

Mississippi is a state in the southeastern United States, bordered by Louisiana to the west and Alabama to the east. Vitis vinifera grapes do not thrive in the state's Climate, and what little wine is produced there comes from the Muscadine variety, which is native to this Part of the country. Mississippi is roughly rectangular, covering 135,500 square miles of forests and deltas. The state Lies between latitudes 30°N and 35°N, at a similar distance from the equator as the Mendoza region of Argentina.

However, unlike the high-altitude deserts of Mendoza, Mississippi is subtropical and humid, which is the main reason why it has never developed a significant wine industry. Fungal diseases such as downy mildew and Pierce's disease are prevalent here, and the unpredictable climate of the Gulf of Mexico is a hazard during the growing season. History has been another obstacle to Mississippi viticulture. The state banned the manufacture and sale of Alcohol in 1907, 13 years before the federal Volstead Act brought prohibition nationwide.