A "Bucket List" can be Morocco Phone Number List defined as a list of actions that individuals would like to accomplish in their lives. I have my own list and staying in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House is not on the list. At the end of this month, another item from my list will be crossed off - attending a baseball game at the infamous Wrigley Field in Morocco Phone Number List Chicago. Taking the Bucket List trip will allow for another item of interest - traveling to learn more about the wine industry in Illinois. WINE GROWING HISTORY In the 1770's, French Morocco Phone Number List settlers first introduced wine making to small village in Illinois now called Peoria. Emile Baxter, along with his sons, opened a winery along the banks of the Mississippi River near Nauvoo in Morocco Phone Number List 1857. The Baxter Vineyard remains the oldest

operating winery in Illinois. Morocco Phone Number List Before prohibition, Illinois laid claim to being the fourth largest wine producing state in America. Prohibition, as it did in many states, virtually caused the wine growing industry to disappear Morocco Phone Number List in Illinois until resurgence in the late 1970's. By the year 2001, there were 27 wineries and, in the last nine years, another 63 have been added - a 330 percent increase in the past Morocco Phone Number List decade. WINE GROWING ZONES Illinois is divided into four major wine growing zones. Each zone approximately divides the state into quarters with the growing zone boundaries Morocco Phone Number List running east to west. The zones are aptly named the Northern, Central, South Central and Southern. Nearly one-half of the vineyards are located in Jackson, Union, Johnson and Jo Daviess Morocco Phone Number List Counties. About 55 percent of the wineries are located in Union, Jackson,

Madison, Adams, De Kalb and Morocco Phone Number List Randolph Counties. Illinois has the capacity to produce approximately 850,000 gallons of wine per year but is currently operating at about 65 percent of capacity. Grapes are cultivated Morocco Phone Number List on approximately 1200 acres in the state. WINE Of the grape area harvested, twelve grape varieties comprise nearly ninety percent of the harvest. The following twelve varieties, Morocco Phone Number List listed from most produced to least are: Chardonel, Chambourcin, Morocco Phone Number List Vignoles, Traminette, Concord, Foch, Seyval, Norton, Vidal Blanc, Frontenac, Niagara and Cayuga White. The Northern and Southern zones account for 57 percent of the cultivated Morocco Phone Number List acres of grapes. Many of the grapes grown are considered hybrid varieties adapted to the cold climates of the state. Fruit wines from apples, peaches and berries are also recognized as Morocco Phone Number List a key category within the state's wine industry.