Total Despair In Arkansas

Wow. Dig this."I'd very much like to see the focus on the Arkansas wine industry, it's a dying industry I feel," said Audrey House, owner of Chateau Aux Arc in Altus, the center of the state's wine country."

"That cracks my soul," he said. "If you want to start a winery go to Missouri or Oklahoma. Harsh words, but this is my home state so I can say them."

State prohibitions on selling wine over the Internet have hurt his business, which is largely dependent on out-of-state tourists, Cowie said.

"Texans are my bread and butter," he said. "But I can't ship my wine to them."

Post said he's happy with the ban on Internet sales as his winery has a good relationship with distributors and is stocked in grocery stores. The status quo on interstate shipping is fine with him.

"My primary focus this session will be that no one messes with it," Post said.

Justin Morris, distinguished professor of food science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said the Arkansas wines are closely tied to tourism. And tourism is likely to take a big hit in the coming months of recession.

"They have some really good wines in their tanks down in Altus, but they've got to have tourists coming in there and buying," Morris said.

But the state's wine industry has always struggled to carve out a niche, Morris said.

"It's never been nice and calm. It's always been a survival type situation."