Kansas Works to Revive Its Wine Industry

Grape growers say the time is not yet ripe for the rebirth of the Kansas wine industry, despite the recent lifting of a tangle of legal restrictions against farm wineries.

Although the state’s wine industry flourished a century ago and was among the top 10 grape-producing states until Prohibition began in 1920, there were no provisions for farm wineries under modern Kansas law until 1983--a half-century after Prohibition was repealed.

However, no wineries have sprung up even though this year’s Kansas Legislature amended the 2-year-old winery law to make it easier to get the industry off the ground.

“I don’t know of anyone who’s in a position to do it this year,” said Dr. Robert G. Rizza of Halstead, Kan., a physician and grape grower who has led the fight to re-establish the state’s wine industry.

“When you deal with grapes--and let’s face it, that’s the key word when you talk about wine--there’s a certain amount of lag time,” Rizza said.

Substantial Cut in Fees

Among the key amendments made in the winery law this year was a sharp cut in the annual license fee, to $250 from $1,100. In addition, the winery performance bond--a source of payment in case a winery defaults on taxes or fines--was reduced to $2,000 from $25,000.

“I don’t know of anyone who was willing to gamble that this legislation would change,” Rizza said. “So, now that a workable law has been passed, I don’t know of anyone who is ready for production. But something had to happen first. Otherwise, we would never have had any kind of a wine industry in this state.”

Rizza, who operates a 10-acre vineyard near Halstead in south-central Kansas, said it might take two to three years to prepare ground for grape production and the vines must be at least three years old before they produce.

He said the vines do not mature and come into peak production until they are seven years old.

Bill Strukel, chief enforcement officer for the state Alcohol Beverage Control division, said he had expected some applications for a winery license within 60 days of the time the amended legislation was signed into law.