The Smoky Hill Vineyards and Winery of Kansas

Discovering the wine region of Kansas

Kansas is a state located in the Center of the United States of America, which covers a little less than 200 500 km². The state is better known for its grain crops and sunflower products than for its wine production. However, there is a small but steadily growing wine industry in the eastern Part of the state, concentrated in the area near Kansas City and aLong the Kansas River. There are also a trio of wineries in the Wichita area.

Like its neighbor Missouri, Kansas has a long history of winemaking, which began with German winemakers living along the Missouri River in the mid-19th century. Before becoming the first state to ban the manufacture and sale of Alcohol in 1881, Kansas had one of the largest vineyards in the country: in fact, even in 1900, there were 2,000 acres of vines. Underground Grape growing continued during the early years of Kansas prohibition, supplying both Kansas and Missouri, but the national prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920 put an end to the Kansas wine industry. Statewide prohibition in Kansas lasted until 1948, and alcohol laws remained restrictive until the late 1980s.