History of Camp County Viticulture

History of Camp County Viticulture Running Head: HISTORY OF CAMP COUNTY VITICULTURE History of the Viticulture Industry in Camp County, Texas Phillip A Jones Texas A&M University Texarkana History of Camp County Viticulture Texan’s have many reasons to be proud of their state One source of pride is the viticulture industry Texas wines win awards and compete with the best the world offers, such as Jacob’s Creek from southern Australia, winner of three Silver Medals in 2007, or Barefoot Cellars of Napa, California which proudly mention on their bottles, that they won twenty plus awards since 2005 Table grapes are also continually being studied and tested for viability as a production crop for Texas Another reason of pride is the ability of some Texans to buck trends, go against the grain and succeed when conventional wisdom says it cannot be done Camp County, located in the northern half of east Texas, has three such entities, producing grapes Their historic contributions to an increasing Texas viticulture industry are waiting to be told This is a modest attempt to just that East Texas as a region is considered “grape disease territory,” and Camp County is located wholly within this region (McEachern, 2003) Diseases fatal or near fatal to grapes prevalent in Camp County are Black Rot, a fungal disease, and Pierce’s Disease, which is bacterial in nature (McEachern, 2003, Burns, 2004) Because of the prevalence of these diseases, the common practice for wineries located in the east Texas region is to bottle wine from grapes grown in other regions of the state or nation A good example of this is another recent startup in East Texas, LouViney Vineyard and Winery located in Wood County (Marshall, 2007, pp.203-205) One vineyard, Headwaters Farm and two wineries, Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards and St Rose Vineyard & Winery are attempting to reverse that trend Los Pinos Ranch has created a “Texas Niche” in Camp County (East Texas Journal, 2005) The vineyard grows varieties of vinifera grapes, and produces and bottles its own wine, with a present production level of 5,000 cases annually (Lankford, History of Camp County Viticulture 2007) The self-promotion efforts of this vineyard have been noted and are creating increasing interest about viticulture in East Texas There are many varieties of vinifera grapes and these cultivars are what the majority of the Texas viticulture industry concentrates on growing This fact is shown by the time and effort spent on cultivar trial plantings and constant testing (Lipe, Davenport, 2004) These continual trials support an industry response guided towards wine production as opposed to table grapes St Rose Vineyard & Winery, nee Guerra Vineyard & Winery has taken a completely different track, with increasing recognition outside of self-promotion They are producing awardwinning wine from the Muscadine grape (Siegel, 2007) A word about Muscadine grapes Long considered unsuitable for wine production, Muscadine grapes have been modernized and improved through extensive breeding programs located at Universities in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina (Hoffman, 2005) Hoffman also mentions they are resistant to many of the diseases that affect vinifera cultivars, and have great potential in the Texas Market (2005) These two wineries are ignoring conventional wisdom that grapes, which will make quality wines, cannot grow in East Texas Each one is contributing to Texas viticulture using two of the six “types” of grape grown in Texas These types are Vitis vinifera, French X American hybrids, American varieties, Muscadines [Vitis rotundifolia], rootstocks, and natives (McEachern, 2003) Native varieties and American varieties may be considered the same thing to laymen’, however, the two are as distinctly different as a housecat and a tiger, same Genus, different species These differences include fruit size, skin thickness, bunching characteristics, and leaf shape In order to give the story of Los History of Camp County Viticulture Pinos, St Rose, and Headwaters Farm vineyards their true perspective, a general overview of the viticulture industry’s checkered past in Texas is needed McEachern contends “Grapes have grown naturally along rivers and streams in Texas for thousands of years” (2003) While others claim that viticulture in Texas is only three centuries old and was introduced by European settlers, especially Franciscan monks (Handbook of Texas, 2001) Anthropologists and Historians can conceive that the earliest tribes of man in Texas did realize grapes were, at the least a food source, and took steps to protect the vines.* This, in the purest theoretical sense of viticulture constitutes viticulture by this author’s standard However the traditional cultivated vineyard must be credited to “Franciscans who in 1682 established a mission at Ysleta … near El Paso” (Handbook, 2001, McEachern, 2003) Texas Wine Ambassador Program, or T.W.A.P., helps those interested in Texas viticulture history by dividing it into five “eras” the time before prohibition (pre 1919), the time following prohibition (post 1933), and the final three eras beginning in the early 1970’s (T.W.A.P., 2007) These final three eras break down to approximately the early 1970’s, when interest was expanding, the rapid expansion of the 1980’s where production increased exponentially, and post 1980’s (Handbook, 2001) The time before prohibition gave viticulture one of its greatest minds Thomas V Munson of Denison Texas catalogued the 1,000 varieties of grape native to North America and Texas between 1880 and 1910 (Handbook, 2001 McEachern, 2003) He * Explanatory note: Michael C Meyer, William L Sherman, and Susan M Deeds authors of The Course of Mexican History, 7th ed (New York: Oxford Press, 2003) on page provide a chart listing the evolution periods of humans in Mexican areas of North America On this chart the time frame of 8000-2000 B.C show the “Slowly evolving domestication of food plants.” Thomas A Bailey, David M Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen authors of The American Pageant, 11th ed (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998) on page 9, note the role that increasing agriculture had on Native American lives and where the settlements would “periodically gather into encampments along a riverbank.” While these gatherings were mainly for fishing, agriculture in the form of gathering edible plants occurred by the women of hunter-gatherer tribes History of Camp County Viticulture established a nursery in Denison, which allowed him to propagate and ship grapevines throughout the South (McEachern, 2003) It was at this nursery where Wagner credits him with the discovery of one of the best “native” species for wine making, the Catawba (1933, p 50) Chemistry of Winemaking even cites him in many chapters determining which grapes make good “native American” wines (Webb, et al, 1974) Muscadines were not considered as suitable for wine production Wagner also notes that Munson himself “admitted that out of the 75,000 seedlings which he grew, not more than 100 could be looked upon as worth perpetuating” (1933, p 67) It was during the early 1900’s some progress in the viticulture industry was made as small wineries were sprinkled around Texas, such as Fredericksburg, Brenham, and El Paso (Handbook, 2001) Munson undoubtedly helped these wineries either through the provision of stock, or the knowledge gleaned from his research Prohibition effectively ended commercial viticulture in Texas with only Val Verde Winery surviving (McEachern, 2003) Between the end of Prohibition in 1933 and the late 1960’s there was little interest in commercial viticulture The general public’s revived interest in wine starting in the late 1960’s ended the practice of viticulture mainly conducted by small growers for home or local consumption (Handbook, 2001) The tale of Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards, St Rose Vineyards, and Headwaters Farm starts in the later half of this revival, in fact not until after the turn of the century However, disease and climate are such limiting factors for viticulture in Texas that one more aside from their story is required to explain the effects of both and provide some insight into why Los Pinos, St Rose, and Headwaters Farm are defying historical norms History of Camp County Viticulture It was during the time of little interest in viticulture that extensive trial plantings conducted by the Texas A&M University Extension service helped to delineate regions and viability of grape species for commercial production (McEachern, 2003) The Texas Winery Guide or T.W.G divides the state into four distinct regions: central, north, southeast, and west (2007) McEachern further divides the regions into the South Plains, Far west, Hill country, West Cross timber, East, and South (2003) These trials identified the prevalent climate and disease issues that have to be addressed by viticulturists throughout Texas East Texas, where Camp County is located, is in the North region or the East region depending on which authority cited (T.W.G., 2007, McEachern, 2003) Specific disease’s affecting Camp County have already been addressed, those being Black Rot and Pierces Disease, which makes cold hardiness a major climatic concern, of many for both of these two vineyards in Camp County Cold hardiness is an issue because some varieties of grapes not well when the temperature goes below freezing Pierces’s Disease, a major factor in Camp County, is extremely hazardous to vinifera cultivars The disease can completely destroy a vineyard causing “grape clusters to shrivel and the stem of the vine to grow stunted and misshapen” (Burns, 2004) It is such a problem and threat to the viticulture industry that numerous “multi-institution interdisciplinary” programs are working on ways to manage Pierce’s (Hellman, 2006) One of these is a DNA study conducted to fight Pierce’s in the Texas hill country region Pct Pct Dry Ranch Vineyards is involved (Burns 2004) Los Pinos in assisting researchers of this Dry disease (Sneed, 2008) Armed with this necessary information, Camp County Texas viticultural history can now be told Pct Wet Pct Dry History of Camp County Viticulture Camp County and Precinct’s with Alcohol sale’s Status Camp County Texas was formed out of Upshur County on April 6, 1874 by an act of the Texas Legislature (Spencer, 1974, p ix) For all of its existence it has been primarily agrarian and largely rural The county is best known as the birthplace and headquarters of Pilgrim’s Pride, the largest poultry producer in the United States It has also been a “DRY” county, meaning a total ban on alcohol, until the voters of the third precinct voted themselves “WET” in 1978 (CNTY CT Minutes Vol 10, p 602) This distinction is important as all the vineyards and wineries are located in the remaining three “DRY” precincts The growing of sustenance crops for their own families and a very few cash crops was the focus of agriculture in the early years of the county These early cash crops were cotton, sweet potatoes, and pecans (Spencer, 1974, 135-137) The copy of the United States Agriculture Census for 1880, stored in the records of Camp County’s Faye History of Camp County Viticulture McMinn Genealogical Research Center, lists by precinct the farmers and ranchers of Camp County Vineyard Locations N St Rose Vineyard & Winery Headwaters Farm Pittsburg Wet Precinct Los Pinos Vineyards Los Pinos Vineyards St Rose Vineyard & Winery Headwaters Farm On this form there is a column for listing the number of acres planted in vineyard While most sections are illegible, the ones clear enough to read show that no vineyards, commercial or private, were noted then Evidence of viticulture activity is not found in the United States Agricultural Census until the year 1987 (Ag Census, 1987) In that year there is recorded a total of three farms in Camp County with a total of seventy-two vines of bearing age In 1997 the number of farms had increased by one, Guerra Vineyard, to four and the data on number of bearing plants is withheld to protect individual farms This is not an auspicious start The growing of grapes for other than home consumption was likely not considered by farmers busy working to feed themselves and their families History of Camp County Viticulture Viticulture as a business was non-existent Still, attempts at winemaking of a sort went on as the following recollection shows One of the earliest memories of Kitty Bynum, born and raised in Camp County, is of traipsing after her older brothers and sisters during the late 1930’s, early 40’s as they harvested the wild Muscadines that grew along the creeks of her family’s farm in the southern part of the county (2007) She remembers that once they had enough to fill a “big ol’ [sic] jug” about three-fourths full, they would crush the gathered grapes, put them in the jar, seal it, and then bury it in the woods for six to eight months (Bynum, 2007) This concoction would ferment into a primitive sort of wine, which her older siblings would mix with water and add sugar if needed, then drink This process was far from the refined methods and product being produced from genetically the same grape today at the St Rose Vineyard and Winery St Rose Vineyard and Winery began life in 1994, with initial plantings, a deep well, and installation of irrigation, which makes it the oldest verifiable existing vineyard in Camp County The winery is the project of the late Rosemary Guerra and is presently owned by her daughter and son-in-law Mark and Ann Arra Business started as Guerra Vineyard and Winery in 2005 with the name being changed to St Rose in late 2007 to honor the late founder (Arra, 2007) A short version of how Mrs Guerra started the winery can be found in The Wine Roads of Texas, by Wes Marshall As Marshall states in his opening paragraph on Guerra Vineyard, Rosemary and her husband Dr Manuel Guerra had spent the last forty years in Pittsburg TX (2007, 200) Marshall was able to speak with Mrs Guerra prior to her passing on February 3, 2007 Her husband, who still practices medicine in Pittsburg, survives her Dr Guerra History of Camp County Viticulture 10 established his practice in Camp County in January of 1966 and Rosemary worked with him for the remainder of her life, both in the office and as a lab technician (Pittsburg Gazette, 2007; Camp County Customs & Characters, 1986) Rosemary Guerra, who graduated with a B.S degree in Microbiology from Iowa State, went to Grayson County College in Denison and studied viticulture and enology at the school established there in honor of T.V Munson Her degree and work as a lab technician for her husband’s practice gave her a good grounding in the chemistry needed to eventually produce quality wine Testament is the numerous awards handed out by appreciative judges when judged at wine tasting events like GrapeFest, mentioned further below (Siegel, 2007) Ann, present owner and Rose’s daughter, second generation viticulturist explains that when her mother initially planted the vineyard on the family property northwest of town, it was to indulge her love of farming, as well as provide both her and Dr Guerra “something to do” when they retired (Arra, 2007) That was the plan, but her untimely passage and his continued practicing of medicine is allowing Ann and her husband Mark to finish Rose’s dream The winery and tasting room sit on approximately 50 acres of gently sloping land in the lower half of the northwest corner of Camp County There are approximately acres under vine with 800 plants in cultivation (Arra, 2007, Marshall, 2007, p.201) These are divided into sections based on type of Muscadine ISON, a patented dark variety, and Carlos a bronze variety, are just two of the types she planted As a daughter of a farm family growing up, and with a love for the land, Rose understood that farmers have to work with the land not against it This was the driving reason she chose to plant Muscadine varieties of grape instead of vinifera types to grow The natural History of Camp County Viticulture 13 looked to expand the landscape maintenance company he owned into the nursery business and started looking for land away from the DFW metroplex Jones and family, along with his brother Brent Jones’ family, began to remove themselves from Dallas Texas and found their quiet spot in the country This was achieved in July 2000 as a 24acre tract of heavily wooded and neglected property, located in the western side of Camp County, was won in a bidding process through the Texas Veterans Commission Land Board (Jones, 2008) Starting to clear swathes of trees and brush in an agonizingly slow process of slash and burn, an area for Phillip’s home was cleared and initial nursery infrastructure was installed Every spare weekend and vacation in 2000 and 2001 was used and the final occupation of home and farm occurred in late September 2001 On September 11, 2001 a water well for the irrigation system was dug (Jones, 2008) Initial elements of the vineyard to come were discussed as a viable alternative to the landscape maintenance business at this time Discussion was prompted by discovery of the remains of an abandoned homestead with four grapevines planted in a semblance of rows Continuing the above mentioned landscape maintenance business, and returning all capital to the improvement of the farm, the decision was made to cease landscape maintenance and concentrate on viticulture as the primary source of income Headwaters Farm started business in January of 2002 growing Muscadine Grapes (Jones, 2008) Jones was completely unaware of the previously mentioned efforts of the Guerra’s, at this time Only later upon his return from service in Iraq in 2004-05, as a combat engineer, and the subsequent opening of St Rose Vineyard &Winery did he discover his idea of History of Camp County Viticulture 14 growing Muscadines in Camp County commercially was not unique and had begun years earlier The initial planting of twenty Muscadines happened in December of 2001 Five rows of four vines each containing the varieties Noble, Carlos, Scuppernong, and Hunt were put in on the southerly facing slope of the high north side of the property in what had been a grown over pasture Further clearing, again by hand using slash and burn, resulted in the area being ready for expansion by another sixty vines in January of 2004 Jones’ wife Shelley and two sons Jacob and Jeremiah built all the trellis and supports, as well as planted the new vines by themselves Jones was mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in December 2003 and unable to participate It was during the fall of 2003 the initial planting of twenty vines produced their first crop Shelley quickly turned this into jelly and sold out all twenty cases by December Returning to Headwaters in March of 2005, Jones and family worked on finding an outlet for literally the fruits of their labor This was realized with a partnership between Jones and Brent to utilize a store- front on highway 80 in Mineola, Texas selling Headwaters Farm jams and jellies, and produce grown by Brent’s family in Mineola Sales have increased almost yearly and the future appears good for continued growth (Jones, 2008) In 2005 the drought almost claimed the vineyard at Headwaters Farm It was in the fall the water in the well put in on September 11th had fallen to a level the pump could not reach Fortunately some quick financial restructuring allowed for a short-term solution of connecting to the community water supply and a long-term fix by the construction of a pond in January 2006 to hold water as a supplement to the well History of Camp County Viticulture 15 Climatic and disease issues have been addressed, as well as can be, by planting Muscadine grapes Doing so shows Headwaters Farm conceding, as has St Rose Vineyard &Winery, to nature by choosing the hardier species of grapevine A few other varieties of Muscadine were planted and they are Higgins, ISON, and Dixieland added to the previously mentioned varieties The years 2006 and 2007 saw the latest expansion by another two sections to bring the total acreage “under vine” up to two and a half and a total of 152 vines in the ground by the start of 2008 An Internet website was started to market jellies in 2007 with the first sales coming early in the first months of 2008 At this time there are no plans to enter the winemaking side of viticulture There exists however, the possibility of providing grapes to others for winemaking Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards is the end result of a desire to make quality wine Jeff Sneed, a native Californian trained as an architectural engineer, moved to Camp County Texas on December 4, 2000, to begin to make wine (Lankford, 2007; Marshall, 2007, p 202; Sneed, 2008) Sneed searched for his property carefully and thoroughly (Marshall, p 202, 2007) Sneed had done enough research into the process of growing grapes in Texas that he was aware of the disease issues he faced in East Texas Undaunted by the challenge he deliberately chose the Camp County property for three reasons: a.) he wanted to live “in the country”, b.) West Texas may be the place to grow grapes, but east Texas is the place to sell wine, and c.) he simply liked the way the property looked (Sneed, 2008) As Marshall notes, four months after purchase Sneed was installing his vineyard (2007, p.202) Aware that he was bucking the trend mentioned earlier, of bottling wine in east Texas from grapes grown in other regions of the state, Sneed diligently planted History of Camp County Viticulture 16 vinifera species of grape and put ten acres of his forty acres ‘under vine’ (Lankford, 2007; 2008) Planting the vinifera varieties of Blanc du Bois, Black Spanish, Cynthiana, Cabernet Sauvignon, one row of Champanelle for jelly, and an experimental lot of Carbonara grapes, he did make concessions to the disease factor (Lankford, 2007; Sneed, 2008) Blanc du Bois and Black Spanish are the varieties that have proven to be Pierce’s disease resistant Sneed has one other concession to disease: a long-term contract for grapes with a property in west Texas to help ensure steady production levels (2008) Lankford cites and Sneed confirmed that the Carbonara lot is the only planting of this type outside of the nation of Chile (2007; Sneed, 2008) Sneed’s success with these varieties of vinifera has attracted the attention of the Texas Agriculture Department He is presently on the state advisory board for viticulture for this region The state will even be conducting research studies for improved disease resistant varieties at Los Pinos (Sneed, 2008) These research studies guarantee viticulture in Camp County must be mentioned in years to come when Texas viticulture is discussed This places Camp County in a position much like the early 1900 test vineyards, which cannot be left out of a history of Texas viticulture if thoroughness is the objective Sneed’s position on the advisory board and the investment in Camp County research has occurred since 2005, when state involvement in the viticulture industry increased The years of 2001 and 2002 were spent laying the groundwork for what are presently four businesses, if considered separately, and starting them from nothing The four distinct sectors of the vineyard operation as Sneed explains are the farming of the vineyard, manufacturing of the wine, retailing of his finished product, and finally the onsite restaurant where cuisine complimenting his wines is served (2008) History of Camp County Viticulture 17 Sneed knew very early he had made the right choice in location During conversion of the old barn on the property into the tasting room/retail area/restaurant Sneed ran into trouble Pouring concrete for a floor in the barn he had to get the concrete poured into the bucket of his tractor and then carried it to the part of the barn he was pouring the concrete in Due to the temperature and distance between the truck and the pour rate into the bucket, the concrete was starting to harden before Sneed could get to spreading the growing approximately three and one half foot tall pile When he jumped off the tractor to begin spreading concrete he was fighting a losing battle The driver of the concrete truck saw his predicament and climbed down to assist him In his own words “In California the guy would have sat in the A.C of the cab and ate a sandwich The friendly helpfulness of him and others I have come in contact with here is what I love about Texas” (Sneed, 2008) Sneed opened for business in 2002 to mixed reviews As mentioned previously his tasting room and vineyard are located in one of the three “DRY” precincts of Camp County (refer to map) There is a palpable love/hate relationship with a significant portion of residents according to Sneed The residents appear to be in one of two camps: they are either happy that the winery is bringing different cultural influences to Camp County, through marketing and themed events; or, they think that alcohol in any fashion is evil (Sneed, 2008) Marshall notes the opening day in 2002 when “more than a thousand people showed up” (2007, p.203) Sneed had told Lankford, and confirmed when spoken with, the information of the winery turning into “a nightspot” when mentioning that there is standing room only on most Friday evenings (2007, 2008) This is popular with a few locals though Sneed confirms the majority of customers are the History of Camp County Viticulture 18 thousands of tourists who have heard about the winery through his marketing efforts The success of his vineyard marketing has drawn recognition of various levels From the previously mentioned position on the regional advisory board, to providing the photograph used for the cover of Marshall’s The Wine Roads of Texas (2007) Sneed became politically active in the county soon after the opening of the winery due to a dramatic increase in his vineyard’s property taxes In May 2005 the winery was the site of the organization S.T.O.P’s (stop taxing oppressing people) brainchild of Sneed and Pat Smith another local business owner, original meeting to protest exorbitant increases in property taxes (Gay, 2005, p.1-2) Sneed organized a petition drive which let local officials hear from disaffected taxpayers in Camp County Meetings for this organization were held at the winery, drawing significant crowds to visit the operation (Sneed, 2008) An increased awareness by citizens of Camp County of Los Pinos and the products it offered was one result of this exposure The organization’s efforts resulted in a review by the county tax assessor of property tax valuations for residents of the county All three of these vineyards, and most importantly the two wineries, have made and will continue to make significant impact on the economy of Camp County as will be shown below with some statistical data The impact of their efforts also affects the state agricultural economy as well in a positive manner None of the three vineyards listed in the Ag Census of 1987 were found to have an economic impact on the economy of Camp County after an extensive search of Ag census and county records The Guerra Vineyard, as it was known in 1997, is the only named vineyard found out of the four shown to exist on that year’s Ag Census It is History of Camp County Viticulture 19 apparently the only one still conducting business in Camp County The figures cited in the following paragraphs are estimations based on calculations of figures available The property tax rate is the actual combined rate for all Camp County taxing entities the three vineyards have in common As for property taxes, different exemptions are available to the owners so the actual amounts paid could be considerably less Actual sales tax amounts collected have been suppressed by state law because of a statute to protect the businesses due to the fact that less than four entities are doing business in the county (Guajardo, 2008) All figures for sales tax revenue are calculated at the state of Texas maximum 8.25% per 100% evaluation (Comptroller, 2008) Starting with the most commercial vineyard, Los Pinos, and dealing solely with items produced from the grape, either wine or jelly, the following totals show a historic view of the economic impact these three vineyards have had for Camp County Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards wines cost on average between $12.50 and $23 per bottle depending on purchase site and type of wine purchased (Sneed, 2008) Using an average price of 15 dollars a bottle and the figure mentioned in the introduction of 5,000 cases annually, it is easy to calculate sales and sales tax income created The estimated sales generated by this vineyard alone equal approximately $900,000 per year The conservative amount of sales tax revenue generated by these sales figures is $74, 250 annually at the maximum state tax rate of 8.25% (Comptroller, 2008) Factor in the 2007 appraised value of the facilities and equipment of $318,310 if taxed at the combined max rate of 1.597509%, equals $5,085.03 of property tax; Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards contributes approximately $80,000 annually as of 2007 to Camp County’s Economy This amount is up from the starting numbers of $116,930 for facilities and equipment in History of Camp County Viticulture 20 2003 and $0 sales at the start of 2002 (Camp Central Appraisal District, 2008) The property tax paid in 2003 for Los Pinos equaled $2640.38 if taxed at the max rate of 2.25809% It is easy to see why Sneed was adamant and vocal in leading the charge for property tax reform as noted earlier (Gay, 2005, p 1-2) Headwaters Farm had as its appraised value for 2007 the figure of $56,380, leading to a figure of $900.67 when taxed at the max rate for 2007 This is up from $42,160 in its beginning year of 2002 when taxed at a max rate of 1.914576% equaling $807.18 (Camp Central Appraisal District, 2008) Jams and jellies are considered food and as such are not subject to sales tax in the state of Texas (TX Admin Code, 2007) The sale price of a jar of jelly is $4 each with 2007 sales equaling approximately $850 with excess inventory to carry into 2008 for the first time in existence This is up from initial production and sales in 2003 of approximately $372 (Jones, 2008) St Rose Vineyard & Winery showed a decline in its appraised values from 2006 to 2007 The appraisal for buildings and equipment in 2006 was $101, 960 and $58,320 in 2007 At the max rate for tax year 2007 the winery would have paid $931.67 in property taxes The 2006 amount would have been $1816.21 at a max tax rate of 1.781294% The average price for St Rose Vineyard &Winery wine is $10.00 (Arra, 2007) With an estimated annual case sales count of approximately 250 cases, this equals estimated annual sales of approximately $30,000 Taxed at the state maximum of 8.25% per 100% this equals approximately $2,475 in annual sales tax revenue (Comptroller, 2008) This equates to an annual combined total tax contribution to Camp County of approximately $84,307 for all three entities As a percentage of total income into the tax coffers of Camp County in 2007, this is quite an increase over 2000 when none of these three History of Camp County Viticulture 21 vineyards were doing business These figures equal approximately 06% of the income credited to the county in the 2002 Economic Census figures, the latest data available These are respectable figures for entities in their first five years of existence as further explained on the following charts Property Taxes 6000 5000 4000 Los Pinos St Rose Headwaters 3000 2000 1000 2002 2003 2006 2007 History of Camp County Viticulture 22 Sales 1000000 800000 600000 Los Pinos St Rose 400000 200000 2002 2003 2005 2007 Sales 1000 800 600 Headwaters 400 200 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 History of Camp County Viticulture 23 Sales Tax 80000 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 Los Pinos St Rose 2002 2003 2006 2007 Camp County Texas’ contributions to the varied history of Texas viticulture are shown to be fairly recent All identified vineyards/wineries having been shown to exist for only the last two decades (Ag Census, 1987) However, this does not negate the history making impact these three vineyards are having on Texas viticulture as well as the economy of Camp County The increased tourism from visitors visiting tasting rooms or Los Pinos’ restaurant benefits other businesses as well by bringing people and their dollars into the county Sneed’s efforts have caused the State department of Agriculture to continue to discourage vinifera viticulture in east Texas because of disease prevalence Because many think they can copy Sneed’s success against disease, the Texas Department of Agriculture simply has to rethink its position and invest research and money into viticulture in east Texas In the heart of “chicken” country, Camp County is where Pilgrim’s Pride was founded and is headquartered; an industry that is in the process of growing statewide has taken root Viticulture, especially the winemaking side, appears to have a bright future in the history of Texas as a whole, and Camp County in particular History of Camp County Viticulture 24 Increased monitoring and attempts to improve the viticulture industry by local, regional, as well as State agencies is gaining momentum Further study into the vineyards of Camp County contributions to viticulture in Texas will be warranted in the future At this time the future appears promising As shown, three pioneering vineyards located in one of Texas’ smallest counties, are in the process of putting Camp County on the viticulture map, ensuring that future discussions of Texas viticulture in a historical sense cannot be complete without discussion of their contributions History of Camp County Viticulture 25 History of Camp County Viticulture PRIMARY SOURCES Ag Census (2008) Census of Agriculture: 1987, 1992, and 1997 Compilation record of data maintained by Cornell University Retrieved January 31, 2008, from http://agcensus.mannlib.cornell.edu/show2.php Arra, A., Carattini, J & Jones, P (2007) [Interview notes between author, manager, and one owner St Rose Vineyard and Winery] Unpublished raw data Burns, R (2004 November) Research team combines DNA technology with entomology research to fight wine grape disease Research in Review Retrieved October 1, 2007, from http://agnews.tamu.edu Bynum, K & Jones, P (2007) [Interview notes between author and resident of Camp County 1934-1955] Unpublished raw data Camp Central Appraisal District (2008) [Appraised property values and taxing entities assessed rates for years 2000 through 2007] Unpublished raw data Camp County Commissioners Court (1978) Minutes to canvass votes of Precinct May 19, 1978 Volume 10 page 609 Pittsburg TX Comptroller of Public Accounts (2008) Sales and Use Tax Chart for State of Texas Economic Census (2008) Economic Census: 2002 Compilation record of data maintained by U.S Census Bureau Retrieved February 3, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/data/tx/TX063.HTM Gay, R (2005, May 26) Taxpayers form a coalition The Pittsburg Gazette, pp 1A, 2A Guajardo, C (2008) [E-mail Correspondence from Research analyst Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts] Unpublished raw data History of Camp County Viticulture 26 Hellman, E., Kamas, J (2006) Texas Viticulture Report SERA-14 2006 Annual Meeting Retrieved September 5, 2007 from http://agnews.tamu.edu Jones, P (2008) [Personal and Business records to include Deed, Tax I.D number, tax records, etc.] Unpublished raw data Lipe, W., Davenport, D (2004) Grape Cultivar Performance on the Texas South Plains, 1974-1986 Retrieved September 6, 2007 from http://winegrapes.tamu.edu./research/texas/cultivartrial.shtml Pittsburg Gazette (2007) Obituary clippings stored in archives of Faye McMinn Genealogical Research Center Pittsburg/Camp County Public Library Siegel, J (2007) 10 Surprising Texas wines Fort Worth Star Telegram, online edition Retrieved September 10, 2007 Sneed, J & Jones, P (2008) [Interview notes between author and owner Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards] Unpublished raw data Texas Administrative Code (2007) Title 34, Part 1, Chapter 3, Subchapter 0, Rule 3.293, paragraph 7, section (A) Texas Winery Guide (2007) Austin TX: Texas Dept of Agriculture SECONDARY SOURCES Amerine, M.A., Berg, H.W., Cruess, W.V (1967) The Technology of Wine Making Westport CT: AVI Publishing Camp County Customs &Characters (1986) Article on Dr Manuel Guerra Dallas TX: Taylor Publishing Company History of Camp County Viticulture 27 East Texas Journal (2005) Camp County winery carves a Texas niche East Texas Journal Retrieved September 15, 2007, from www.easttexasradio.com/east_texas_journal/etj20031001_5.htm Handbook of Texas Online (2001) Grape Culture Retrieved September 2007 from http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/afg2.html Lankford, R (2007) Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards Texascooking.com, June edition Retrieved September 15, 2007 from www.texascooking.com/features/june2007_los_pinos_ranch.htm Hoffman, R (2005) Muscadine Grapes: A low maintenance fruit for Texas Texas Gardner Retrieved September 6, 2007 from www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/marapr05/Grapes.html Marshall, W (2007) The Wine Roads of Texas San Antonio TX: Maverick Publishing Co Spencer, A (1974) The Camp County Story Fort Worth TX: Branch-Smith, Inc McEachern, G (2003) A Texas Grape and Wine History Proceedings of the 10th Annual Oktober Gartenfest Retrieved September 5, 2007 from http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/Texaswine.html Texas Wine Ambassador Program (2007) History of Texas Wine Industry Retrieved September 6, 2007 from www.depts.ttu.edu./hs/winetest/module1.asp Wagner, P M (1933) American Wines and How to make them New York: Alfred A Knopf Webb, A D., et al (1974) Chemistry of Winemaking Washington D.C.: American Chemical Society ... researchers of this Dry disease (Sneed, 2008) Armed with this necessary information, Camp County Texas viticultural history can now be told Pct Wet Pct Dry History of Camp County Viticulture Camp County. .. contributions History of Camp County Viticulture 25 History of Camp County Viticulture PRIMARY SOURCES Ag Census (2008) Census of Agriculture: 1987, 1992, and 1997 Compilation record of data maintained... her Dr Guerra History of Camp County Viticulture 10 established his practice in Camp County in January of 1966 and Rosemary worked with him for the remainder of her life, both in the office and