Quench the Thirst

By John Haughey | Contributing Writer

“At the beginning, no one would raise their hand. Now, maybe 20, 30% raise their hands,” says Shook, whose family has operated Florida Orange Groves Winery in St. Petersburg since 1997. “So, we're making progress.”

Florida wine may sound incongruous, like Russian tequila or Canadian Kahlua, but the Sunshine State is actually the nation's seventh-largest wine producer with a viticulture industry that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. More proof of the vitality: Florida's wine industry has grown from 600 acres of grape cultivation in 2007 to more than 1,500 acres now, and from three wineries in 1984 to 40 today, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture's Division of Marketing and Development. The list of wineries includes 24 Certified Florida Farm Wineries — at least eight of which are within an hour's drive of downtown Tampa.