Goshen County may be a long way from Napa Valley, but you wouldn’t know that to drive along some of the roads that criss-cross the farmland.

Table Mountain Vineyards

The agrarian community is brimming with juicy wine grapes, grown at nearly a dozen burgeoning vineyards. Across the state, more than 20 growers contribute to the fledgling industry.

Table Mountain Vineyards, the state’s largest winery, started with 300 vines in 2001. Patrick Zimmerer and his family were inspired after Patrick wrote his senior thesis at the University of Wyoming on the feasibility of growing grapes in Eastern Wyoming and Western Nebraska.

“No one in our family has a ‘green thumb,’ and honestly we had no idea how the vines would react or adapt to our tough growing conditions,” says Zimmerer, who is also president of the Wyoming Grape and Wine Association.

Today, the Zimmerers have more than 11,000 plants and a winery on 11 acres. Table Mountain also uses grapes from other local vineyards to make its wine.

5ive Star Vineyard

Rose Bebo and her husband planted their 5ive Star Vineyard, like many of their friends have done, on extra parcels of land on their farm. They supplement their harvest with the grapes they sell to Table Mountain Vineyards.

“In the last three or four years, there’ve been quite a few vineyards popping up,” she says. “These farmers have a little patch of ground here or there that they want to do something with.”

Smaller vineyards like 5ive Star are the legs of the local industry, Zimmerer says, supplying many of the grapes that wineries like his use to produce wine.

“While we don’t claim to be the ‘Napa Valley’ of Wyoming, we boast 100 percent Wyoming-made and produced wines,” he says. “You truly taste Wyoming’s growing conditions and enjoy a bit of ‘Wyoming character’ in every sip.”