Tag: louisville

If you don’t already know this, it’s time you do: The beautiful state of Kentucky is home to America’s first successful commercial vineyard and winery. In the early 1800s, when the Spanish missionaries were establishing religious outposts in California, a Swiss native by the name of John James Dufour was determined to create a Swiss colony complete with a commercial vineyard, just about 25 miles from Lexington. The official year was 1798, more than 50 years before Stephen Foster composed the legendary song, "My Old Kentucky Home."