08/23/2026
🍇🍷🌻 KANSAS WINE HISTORY IS BEING WRITTEN! 🌻🍷🍇
THE KAW VALLEY IS READY TO TAKE ITS PLACE ON THE NATIONAL WINE MAP.
Z&M Twisted Vines and its owners, Bryan Zesiger and Dr. Gina Montalbano Zesiger, are proud and honored to share this historic milestone for Kansas agriculture.
On August 14, 2026, the U.S. Alcohol and To***co Tax and Trade Bureau published Notice No. 241 in the Federal Register, formally proposing the establishment of the Kaw Valley American Viticultural Area—an AVA.
When finalized, the Kaw Valley will become the FIRST American Viticultural Area in the State of Kansas.
October 13, 2026, is the deadline for public comments. TTB will then review the record before issuing a final rule. We are not declaring the federal process complete before it is—but make no mistake: reaching the Federal Register as a proposed AVA is an enormous, historic achievement for Kansas agriculture.
An AVA is not merely a slogan or a marketing campaign. It is a federally defined grape-growing region recognized for geographic and environmental characteristics that distinguish it from surrounding areas and affect how grapes grow.
The proposed Kaw Valley AVA encompasses approximately:
🍇 3.5 million acres
🍇 5,493 square miles
🍇 All or portions of 15 Kansas counties
🍇 33 vineyards
🍇 Approximately 500 acres already devoted to viticulture
The federal proposal recognizes something Kansas grape growers have known for years: the Kaw Valley possesses distinctive glacial-till soils, including the Pawnee and Shelby soil series, with rock fragments, drainage characteristics, and a composition that can influence grape development and wine character.
For our family at Z&M Twisted Vines, this moment is deeply personal.
We planted thousands of vines. We fought drought, lost vines, replanted, rebuilt, and kept working. We fought to have a farm winery treated like agriculture—because that is exactly what it is. We poured our labor, savings, hearts, and lives into Z&M Twisted Vines and into the belief that Kansas could earn a legitimate place in the American wine industry.
In 2024, we hosted the Kansas Viticulture Summit here at Z&M Twisted Vines, 24305 Loring Road in Lawrence, while this recognition was still only a vision. Gina welcomed that gathering as president of the Kansas Viticulture and Farm Winery Association. Growers, winemakers, educators, agricultural leaders, public officials, and supporters came together around a shared belief: Kansas has a viticultural story worthy of national recognition.
Now that vision has reached the Federal Register.
Gina’s leadership and persistence deserve enormous recognition. So does the tireless work of Margit Kaltenekker and K-State Research and Extension; Scott Kohl and Highland Community College’s Viticulture and Enology Program; the Kansas Department of Agriculture; Senator Tom Holland; the Kansas Viticulture and Farm Winery Association; and the many vineyard owners, winemakers, educators, families, volunteers, customers, and advocates who refused to give up on Kansas wine.
This accomplishment does not belong to one person, one organization, or one winery.
It belongs to everyone who planted a vine in Kansas when others doubted it could succeed.
Everyone who pruned in the cold, worked through the heat, fought disease and drought, hauled a harvest, poured Kansas wine, attended meetings, conducted research, wrote letters, taught classes, supported local wineries, or simply believed Kansas deserved this opportunity.
Once finalized, qualifying wines produced with at least 85% Kaw Valley-grown grapes will be able to carry the KAW VALLEY AVA name on their labels. That name will connect the grape, the farm, the wine, and the consumer to a federally recognized place of origin.
That can mean new vineyards, new investment, stronger Kansas brands, wine tourism, restaurants, lodging, agricultural education, specialty-crop development, and new opportunities for rural communities.
An AVA alone did not make Napa Valley famous. But Napa’s success was built around the power of place, identity, quality, and people working together.
Now Kansas has the opportunity to build its own nationally recognized wine destination.
THE KAW VALLEY CAN BECOME THE MIDWEST’S ANSWER TO NAPA VALLEY—not by copying California, but by telling a story that is unmistakably ours:
Kansas soil.
Kansas grapes.
Kansas farms.
Kansas resilience.
Kansas wine.
Someday, a grower may plant a vineyard because the words “Kaw Valley” mean something nationally. A family may plan a Kansas wine-country weekend. A restaurant may proudly feature Kaw Valley wines. A bottle carrying this name may travel across the country—and when someone asks, “What does Kansas wine taste like?” the answer will begin right here.
We are overwhelmed. We are proud. We are grateful.
And we are not finished.
Please support the proposed Kaw Valley AVA and submit your public comment by October 13, 2026. Look for Notice No. 241 and Docket No. TTB-2026-0003:
https://www.ttb.gov/regulated-commodities/beverage-alcohol/wine/notices-of-proposed-rulemaking
Drink Kansas.
Grow Kansas.
Believe in Kansas.
THE KAW VALLEY IS RISING. 🍇🍷🌻
Stop by our vineyard tasting room to grab a FREE Kaw Valley AVA bottle opener to help celebrate!!
The State of Kansas Explore Lawrence Lawrence Farmers MarketFrom the Land of Kansas Kansas Department of Agriculture Bryan Zesiger Gina Montalbano Zesiger Z&M Twisted Vines Winery - Leavenworth Cheers Kansas Kaw Valley AVA Kansas Specialty Crop Growers Association Kansas Farm Bureau
