Upper Mississippi Valley is by far the largest American Viticultural Area (AVA) in North America and, in turn, the largest designated wine-producing area in the world. Stretching along the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis to Davenport, the AVA covers more than 500 miles of the river and nearly 30,000 square miles (77,000 sq km) of land. Cold-hardy grape varieties do best in the Upper Mississippi Valley, and the best wines are made from Edelweiss, Marechal Foch and La Crosse, among others.
The topography of the Upper Mississippi Valley is the result of glacial activity during the last Ice Age, making it distinctive from the surrounding landscape and providing justification for the 2009 establishment of this vast AVA. The region reaches into the south-western corner of Wisconsin, and also covers land in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Despite the huge size of the Upper Mississippi Valley, only a tiny fraction of land is planted to vines.
For more-detailed information about this AVA, see Upper Mississippi Valley – Iowa.
