The Official Wine Festival of Kentucky
CELEBRATING THE HERITAGE of American Viticulture, the Kentucky Wine and Vine Festival is held on the second Saturday of each May in historic downtown Nicholasville, Jessamine County, Kentucky. Jessamine County is the site of the first commercial wine vineyard in the United States.
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| Authorization of the first commercial vineyard in the United States granted to John James Dufour in 1798. |
IIn the year 1798, a Frenchman from Switzerland by the name of John James Dufour, came to Jessamine County to start the first commercial wine vineyard in the United States. Dufour accepted an offer by the Wine Industry Association of Kentucky, considered to be the first to introduce commercial wine making into the United States, to come to Kentucky to start the vineyard. Among the members of the association were several prominent Kentuckians including the great statesman Henry Clay. In 1799, grape vines were planted by Dufour in Jessamine County, on a site near the Kentucky River. The first year, the plants bore good grapes that were very ripe for the September harvest season. Dufour took bunches of these grapes to Lexington, and the people of the Association were very impressed. Unfortunately, that was the first and last year the vineyards bore fruit. Disease attacked all of the vines expect for several of two varieties. With the remaining vines, in the fourth year of operation, the vineyard made a small amount of wine, some worthy enough to become a part of Thomas Jefferson’s collection at Monticello. However, because the operation was so slow to show a profit, many of the shareholders stopped their contributions to the effort, and eventually Dufour abandoned his vineyard in Jessamine County. He moved his operation to Indiana, along the Ohio River, near the Kentucky and Ohio borders. There he and some of his fellow countrymen, founded the town of Vevay, Indiana. In Vevay the group planted the second commercial vineyard, and produced the first profitable wine-growing venture in the United States. In 1825, Dufour wrote a book, The American Vine-Dresser’s Guide. This book, which was the first American winegrower’s guide, was published in English in 1826 in Cincinnati.
The heritage of wine making in the United States, started in Kentucky over two hundred years ago, continues today in Jessamine County. At present there are twelve vineyards and one winery in the county, with more being planned for the future. The Kentucky Wine & Vine Fest is held in Jessamine County to celebrate the legacy left by John James Dufour. Sponsored by Nicholasville Now! Main Street Program, with help from the Nicholasville Tourism Commission and a host of volunteers, the festival site is located in downtown Nicholasville, the county seat. Several wines, representing the many vineyards in Kentucky, are poured at the festival each year, along with wines from other areas of the United States and other countries. In 2005, the Kentucky Wine & Vine Fest was named the official state wine festival of Kentucky.
