CARBONDALE - Shakespeare's Juliet asked "What's in a name?" Southern Illinois vintners in the 11 counties officially designated the Shawnee Hills hope the answer is "respect."

The Shawnee Hills region was officially recognized as an American Viticultural Area by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau at the end of November. Beginning Dec. 27, Southern Illinois wines made with at least 85 percent grapes grown in the Shawnee Hills area can include the Shawnee Hills AVA designation on their labels.

Vintners in the AVA designation who also produce their own grapes are permitted to use the term "estate bottled."

"The designation is designed to benefit the consumers," Ted Wichmann, founder of Owl Creek Vineyard in Cobden and currently a registered grape grower, said.

Wichmann was responsible for promoting the concept of Shawnee Hills as a recognizable grape growing area to the ATTTB. He said in wine, origin is everything.

"The AVA designation earns Shawnee Hills a place on the map along with the nation's most respected wine regions," he said. "More importantly, in a wine world that is increasingly homogenized, the AVA stamp confirms the Shawnee Hills region's capability for producing unique wines that are distinctly Illinois."

So what does that really mean? It means that a consumer who wants to support or who simply prefers Southern Illinois wine can look for the Shawnee Hills designation and know that wine is produced in Southern Illinois from grape to bottle.

Even more than that, though, the AVA designation confirms that there is something unique about grapes grown in the sandstone and limestone heavy soil here in Southern Illinois. The characteristics are as unique as those seen in grapes produced in Sonoma or Napa Valley in California.

"Wine is about place," Wichmann said. "Where grapes are grown is part of what gives the wine its characteristics."

For the region, it's a good thing generally, he said, because it puts Southern Illinois on a different kind of map.

"This gives the vintners a little more special designation," Dr. Paul Jacobs, owner of Von Jakob Vineyard and winery, said.

He has had good luck with French hybrid grapes such as Chambourcin, Chardonel and Vidal Blanc. He said the Tramminette wines remind him of German varieties.

"Each (grape variety) is distinct," he said. "It's yet to be seen how much the AVA designation will help market Southern Illinois wine, but I think it's really good news."

Jacobs said Southern Illinois is in its very early stages of becoming a renowned wine producing and grape growing region. In Southern Illinois, wine production of any real capacity has only been around about 30 years or less. In California, probably home to the most famous American wines, it has been part of the culture for about 100 years.

"How are things valuable? When they are rare," Wichmann said. "There is almost an unlimited amount of California wine - you could buy gallons and gallons of it. Southern Illinois wine is valuable because there is less of it."

And the AVA designation goes a long way to saying that what there is of Southern Illinois is distinct with predictable characteristics. It's a big step for the fledgling industry - especially because the Shawnee Hills is the first AVA designation in Illinois.

Here's the official description of the wine growing region from the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association - an unglaciated ridge of land that runs 20 miles north to south, the Shawnee Hills region spans 80 miles east to west and is bordered by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The AVA designation recognizes the unique characteristics given by sandstone and limestone based soil that offers superior ground water drainage in an area sometimes given to excessive rainfall.

The area is 400 to 800 feet higher than neighboring areas, exposing the area to drying summer breezes that help fend off fungal infection in an otherwise humid climate. The environment and temperatures are near-perfect for such grape varieties as Chambourcin, Seyval, Norton and Chardonel.

The area includes wineries and grape growers in: Alexander, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Union and Williamson counties.

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

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