 | This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject.(September 2021) |
Lucian W. Dressel | |
|---|---|
| Education | Granite City, H.S. Harvard (BA) Columbia University (MBA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1960–present |
| Website | davisvines |
Lucian W. Dressel is an American winemaker and viticulturist. Dressel wrote the application to have Augusta, Missouri, designated as America's first officially recognized wine district by the federal government. [1]
After earning an MBA from Columbia, Dressel initially worked at the family Aro-Dressel Dairy in Granite City, Illinois. [2] He was also teaching at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, where after a year he was promoted to be the first Assistant Dean of the Business School. [3] Dressel then moved on to become the first Director of Development for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. [4] In 1966, Dressel bought the property of the old Mt. Pleasant Wine Co. in Augusta, Missouri, [5] which was forced to close in 1920 with the advent of prohibition.[ citation needed ] When he obtained his federal wine license he was the youngest person in the country to own a permit to operate a winery. [2]
During the 15 years from 1968 to 1993 when the Dressels owned the winery it won 218 gold medals for its wines at national and international competitions,[ citation needed ] including a gold medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London for Mount Pleasant's 1986 vintage port. [6]
During the National League baseball playoffs in 1987 between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants, a competition was set up in San Francisco between Missouri's Mount Pleasant Brut versus Domaine Chandon from Napa Valley in Northern California. Five California wine judges were flown in to mediate at the Washington Square Bar & Grill in San Francisco. When the results were tallied Mt. Pleasant won, 56-17 in the blind taste testing. The unexpected victory made national headlines, and one of the judges, wine critic Robert Finigan, praised Mount Pleasant in his national newsletter Robert Finigan's Private Guide to Wines. [2]
Shortly after selling the winery in 1982, Dressel moved to Davis, California. [7] With consultation and advice from Dr. Harold Olmo, and assistance (and vines) from the staff of the National Germ Plasm Repository[ failed verification ] he bred and developed a new family of wine grape vines by crossing Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel with America's best red wine grape, Norton. [7] [8]
| This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(September 2021) |
In 2002, Dressel was approached by California investors who wished to create a new winery in Illinois that would grow new wine grapes and make European style wine. He and his son Joseph Dressel were hired to design and build the 100,000 gallon capacity winery and make the wine. From 2003 to 2011, Lucian Dressel served as the General Manager of the winery while Joseph was the Wine Maker. During this time, the winery became the second largest in the state of Illinois and won many awards for quality, most notably being one of only six wines, out of the over 120 entered, to win a Gold Medal at the only National Norton Festival held in 2007.
In 1992, Dressel composed "A Visit from St. Nicholas," a cantata using the text of the 1923 poem by the same name. [4] The cantata was first performed by the Webster University Orchestra and Chorus. [4]
In 2008, Dressel collaborated with Dr. Diane Sol on the musical portions of her new translation of "ANTIGONE" performed at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.[ citation needed ]
Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, historic architecture, and culture. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the Spanish missionaries from Mission San Francisco Solano established the first vineyards in 1812.
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about the geographic pedigree of their wines, as wines from a particular area can possess distinctive characteristics. Consumers often seek out wines from specific AVAs, and certain wines of particular pedigrees can claim premium prices and loyal customers. If a wine is labeled with an AVA, at least 85% of the grapes that make up the wine must have been grown in the AVA, and the wine must be fully finished within the state where the AVA is located.
Grüner VeltlinerGerman:[ˈɡʁyːnɐfɛltˈliːnɐ] ) is a white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The leaves of the grape vine are five-lobed with bunches that are long but compact, and deep green grapes that ripen in mid-late October in the Northern Hemisphere.
Missouri wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigrants also entered wine production. In the mid-1880s, more wine was produced by volume in Missouri than in any other state. Before prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. Missouri had the first area recognized as a federally designated American Viticultural Area with the Augusta AVA acknowledged on June 20, 1980. There are now four AVAs in Missouri. In 2017 there were 125 wineries operating in the state of Missouri, up from 92 in 2009.
The Livermore Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Alameda County, California, surrounding the city of Livermore in the Tri-Valley region. Both the AVA and the city are named after Robert Livermore, a landowner whose holdings encompassed the valley. The groundwater basin underlying the valley is the Livermore Basin, the largest sub-unit of which is the Mocho Subbasin. The Livermore Basin is one of five aquifers in the San Francisco Bay Area that supply most of the metropolitan Bay Area population. The entire Livermore Basin aquifer faces a concern over elevated total dissolved solids by the year 2020 due to an expanding human population leading to higher rates of return water flows to the aquifer containing certain salts.
Mount Pleasant Estates is a winery in Augusta, Missouri, United States, on the north side of the Missouri River in what is called the Missouri Rhineland.
The Missouri Rhineland is a geographical area of Missouri that extends from west of St. Louis to slightly east of Jefferson City, located mostly in the Missouri River Valley on both sides of the river. Dutzow, the first permanent German settlement in Missouri, was founded in 1832 by Baron von Bock. The area is named after the Rhineland region in central Europe, a wine-growing area around the Rhine river, by German-Americans who noticed similarities in the two regions' soil and topography.
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".
Wine has been produced in the United States since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84 percent of all US wine. The North American continent is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.
Illinois wine refers to any wine that is made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2006, Shawnee Hills, in southern Illinois, was named the state's first American Viticultural Area. As of 2008, there were 79 wineries in Illinois, utilizing approximately 1,100 acres (4.5 km2) of vines.
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world. Records of commercial wine production in the region date back to the nineteenth century, but premium wine production dates back only to the 1960s.
The Augusta AVA was established on June 20, 1980 as the first federally approved American Viticultural Area, eight months before the Napa Valley AVA in northern California. The petition was submitted by Clayton W. Byers and Lucian W. Dressel, representing the local wine industry, to the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on October 16, 1978. Located entirely within the state of Missouri, the boundaries of this wine region encompass 15 square miles (39 km2) around the city of Augusta near the intersection of St. Charles County, Warren County and Franklin County.
The Guenoc Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Lake County, California, United States, about 15 mi (24 km) north of the town of Calistoga. Guenoc Valley AVA was the first American Viticultural Area designation granted to an area with just a single winery.
Sonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, in the United States.
The Spring Mountain District AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in the Napa Valley AVA in California. Spring Mountain District AVA was officially established as an American Viticulture Area in 1993. Encompassed within its bounds are about 8,600 acres (3,480 ha), of which about 1,000 acres (400 ha) are planted to vineyards. Given the small crop yields on hillsides, the region represents less than 2% of Napa Valley wine. Currently the region has just over 30 winegrowers.
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Napa County wine refers to the viticulture and winemaking in Napa County, California, United States. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require registration with the United States Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The vast majority of Napa County is covered by the boundaries of the world-famous Napa Valley AVA, an American Viticultural Area, and its various sub-appellations. The portion of the county that falls outside of the boundaries of the Napa Valley AVA is northeast of the Chiles Valley AVA, where few grapes are cultivated.
The Hermann AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Gasconade County, Missouri, and entirely contained within the larger Ozark Mountain AVA. The wine appellation is located on the southern side of the Missouri River near the town of Hermann, about halfway between St. Louis and Jefferson City. The AVA covers the northernmost hills of the Ozark Plateau with many of the 200 acres of vineyards planted along hillside locations. As of 2007, seven wineries were producing wine in appellation, including Missouri's largest winery, Stone Hill Winery.
St. Vincent is a red wine grape that originated in the United States from a chance seedling that first came to the attention of Scott G. Toedebusch, in 1973, while managing a vineyard owned by Lucian W. Dressel in Augusta, Missouri. Dressel originally called the vine “Stromboli” because the leaves turned a bright red in the fall, and the vines had volcanic production. Philip Wagner of Boordy Nursery in Maryland, one of the original propagators of the vine, suggested that a more melodious name would be St. Vincent,, and the name was changed.