Our story begins when Jean-Jacques Dufour (referred to as John James Dufour) was born in 1763 to a prominent winemaking family in the Swiss canton of Vaud. Dufour became fascinated with making wine in the American colonies when he was 14 years old after reading reports from French soldiers complaining about the lack of wine during the U.S. Revolutionary War. In August 1796, Dufour immigrated to the U.S. and spent the next year and a half researching vineyards in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. From his research, he found that Pierre Legaux's vineyard in Spring Mill, Pennsylvania, showed the most promise for producing American wine. Dufour proceeded to propose the creation of a Kentucky Vineyard Society in the Kentucky Gazette on January 17, 1798. In September 1798, he attained backing from subscribers like Henry Clay and arranged the purchase of land. By November he named the property "First Vineyard," believing it would become the first commercial vineyard in the U.S. Dufour left First Vineyard to return to the New England area to purchase 10,000 cuttings of over 35 different species of grapes from Legaux and other vineyards. Eager to begin, he planted five acres in the spring of 1799 before all the shares were even subscribed for. The Kentucky Vineyard Society was incorporated by the Legislature of Kentucky on November 21, 1799, making it the first business of record incorporated in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dufour's contract with the Kentucky Vineyard Society, however, wasn't executed until August 5, 1800, 16 months after the vineyard had been planted. In 1802, Dufour recognized that two species of grapes, the Cape grape and Madeira grape, were resistant to most common diseases that other grapes were failing to. The Cape and Madeira grape varieties went on to create the first batch of white and red wine that was ingested on March 28, 1803, by members of the Kentucky Vineyard Society and others in Lexington, KY. On February 2, 1805, Kentucky U.S. Congressman John Brown introduced Dufour's brother John Frances to President Thomas Jefferson. John Frances made the wintry trek by horse and delivered two five-gallon casks of wine from First Vineyard to the president. Dufour left First Vineyard in 1806 to settle estates in Switzerland, but due to the war, his stay was extended. During his absence, First Vineyard came to an abrupt end in March 1809 after a freeze destroyed the crops, and the Dufours resettled in Switzerland County, Indiana. Dufour's adaptation of these two grape types, along with his writing of "The American Vine-Dresser's Guide," guided those who wished to expand the wine industry of this country. It is recognized that numerous endeavors to grow vinifera grapes, grapes not native to the U.S. from which to make wine, are where this nation's wine-making started. Thus establishing that First Vineyard was the first viable commercial winery and vineyard in the United States. But the story doesn’t end there. By the late 1800s, production had revived, with Kentucky emerging as the third-largest grape and wine producer in the nation. Prohibition then brought the Kentucky grape and wine industry to a standstill in the 1920s, leading many farmers in the state to shift their focus to tobacco production. However, in 1976, Kentucky enacted laws permitting the operation of wineries, and with the assistance of tobacco settlement funds, numerous farmers were able to reintroduce grapes as a viable cash crop. Since the 1990s, the number of wineries in Kentucky has significantly increased from less than 10 to 74 commercial wineries. Over 100,000 bottles of Kentucky wine are sold each year, receiving recognition and awards locally, nationally and internationally. Researchers continue to explore grape varieties and production methods that reflect the state’s soil and climate, demonstrating that Kentucky values its wine-making heritage and strives for excellence in the industry to this day.