Ozark Highlands AVA

The name "Ozark Highlands" has been used synonymously with "Ozark Mountains" to refer to the entire Ozark region, encompassing most of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Examples of this usage can be seen in The Geography of the Ozark Highland of Missouri by Carl O. Sauer (1920) and Early History of the Northern Ozarks by Gerard Schultz, M.A.(1937). These works became the definitive source on the complex topography of the Ozark Region. It is important to note the rationale for Sauer"s selection of "Ozark Highlands" as an appellation:The term “mountains" is the oldest, and is most employed in the very rugged Arkansas portion, where the name Ozark" also originated. It is not appropriate to the Missouri part of the Ozarks, has never been in common use there, and is resented by the inhabitants. The term "plateau" properly describes only the western third and is so limited in local usage. For the remainder of the area it is correct only in a technical physiographic sense, and misleading otherwise. For certain large but discontinuous tracts the name "hills" is appropriately used. "Dome" and "uplift" are geologic, not geographic expressions. The name best suited, because not too specific is "highland." It is applicable to the mountain plateau and hill sections, as well as to the gently sloping boarder areas.The Ozark Highland has three distinguishing characteristics of surface: (1) elevation generally higher than that of the surrounding regions; (2) greater relief; and (3) general accordance of summit levels. Following Sauer, in 1937, Gerard Schultz, M.A., in his Early History of the Northern Ozark frequently and regularly used the term "Ozark Highlands" in discussing the geography of the northern Ozarks. More recently, this common designation specifically referred to that portion of the northern Ozarks lying in the Missouri border and clearly labeled as such in a recently published scholarly map. In recent years, however, the name "Ozark Highlands" has developed an additional meaning. Due to the efforts of the Ozark Highland Vintners, this name has come to refer specifically to the more limited area being established as a viticultural area by this Treasury decision. To demonstrate the prevalence of this narrower meaning, the petitioner submitted more than a dozen newspaper clippings and magazine articles relating to wine production in the "Ozark Highlands" area. In each instance, the name "Ozark Highlands" refers to the viticultural area established by this Treasury decision, not to the entire Ozark region. ==History==

The Hermann area in the northern Ozarks was founded in 1836 by settlers from the German Settlement Society. Pioneer leader George Bayer selected a location along the banks of the Missouri River for its similarities to the Rheingau region that many of the settlers came from. The area was named Hermann after Arminius of Germania, a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe, who defeated three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. This "Second Fatherland" was intended for German immigrants to be a self-supporting refuge for their heritage and traditions. The settlers established a joint-stock company and advertised widely throughout the United States and Germany, seeking farmers, laborers, winemakers and artisans to establish what they called a "German Athens of the West." Grapes also were grown by Italian immigrants who settled into two widely separated Ozark communities. Both settlements, Tontitown in Washington County, Arkansas, and Rosati, Missouri in eastern Phelps County, Missouri, were colonized in 1898 under the leadership of an Italian-born priest. The members of these colonies were fleeing from an ill-fated philanthropic colonization venture in southeastern Arkansas, where malaria had decimated their ranks. One reason for selecting the Ozarks locations was their suitability for growing grapes. Then, too, the Ozarks reminded them of their homeland in Italy, and the region was free of malaria. Prohibition in the United States completely wiped out the commercial wine industry in the Ozarks, however, the Rosati Winery became a grape processing station for the Welch Grape Juice Company avoiding closure. After the Repeal of Prohibition in 1933, commercial winemaking was revived and Rosati Winery opened. Today, there is around under vine and the Meramec River Wine Trail is the primer enotourism guide of the Ozark Highlands. ==Terroir==

Topography Geographically, the "Ozark Highlands" viticultural area constitutes "the region formed by the undissected northern uplands of the Ozark plateau." Climate The "Ozark Highlands" are also distinguished from surrounding areas on the basis of climate. These upper portions are relatively frost-free for longer periods of the year. The cooler frost-causing air in the Spring and Fall of the year flows down the hillsides from the higher to the lower elevations, especially into the deeply trenched river valleys. This leaves the Ozark Highlands relatively frost free as compared to the lower elevations. ==Viticulture==

The majority of Ozark Highlands vineyards and wineries located on the Ozark Plateau are on average at the elevation of . The region also produces a wide variety of wine styles ranging from sweet late harvest dessert wines and fortified wines, including port-style and solera made sherry-style wines to drier still red, white and rosés. Many fruit wines are also produced, usually from cherry, strawberry or raspberries. ==See also==