The American wine industry is growing in a state not typically known for the drink: Illinois.

The number of Illinois wineries has grown in the past decade. Sycamore Winery, located at 322 West State St., opened in April of 2006.

Before prohibition Illinois was the fourth largest producer of grapes and supplied about 25 percent of the wine consumed in the United States.

In the last 50 years, Illinois dropped into the lowest 10 percent of the grape and wine producing states according to ILWines.com.

Illinois weather is often the topic of local adages, but the climate is actually suitable for growing grapes.

“Climate is only a factor in growing grapes not in wine production,” said Sycamore Winery owner Scott Prutton. “Illinois grapes generally produce a sweet wine.”

Wineries can buy grapes from growers across the country.

“We buy from local growers as well as other regions,” Prutton said. “We basically buy the grapes from the best regions or the regions they are known for.”

Also, some Illinois wineries have their own vineyards. Valentino Vineyards & Winery, located about 10 miles west of lake Michigan at 5175 Aptakisic Road in Long Grove, is one such winery.

The warm days and cool nights in northern Illinois produce ideal grape growing conditions, Rudolph Valentino DiTommaso, owner of Valentino Vineyards & Winery, said.

“The climate is really fine for growing grapevines, especially for French or American hybrids; they can take Illinois winters with no problems,” Valentino said.

Vineyard harvests in California begin in August, whereas Illinois harvests usually begin in September, Valentino said.

“We have a shorter season versus California," he said. “Therefore you grow early and mid-season ripening grapes, you don’t grow late season growing grapes. There are so many early season and mid-season grapevines that you have a huge amount of choices.”

Illinois wines are mostly purchased directly through the winery.

“[Our] wines are only available at the store and at the local farmer’s markets for now,” Prutton said. “We’ve been so busy we can hardly keep up with demand.”

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.