According to Wine America, the association representing the country’s wineries, the U.S. wine industry was valued at close to $5 billion in 2014, with grapes constituting the nation’s highest-value fruit crop. California’s Wine Institute further reports that U.S. wine production totaled 835 million gallons in 2015, 90 percent of which came from Californian vineyards. Established wine-growing regions in California, Washington, Texas and Oregon are being joined by increasing numbers of vineyards in states like Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina and New York. And while the creation of a new vineyard is an expensive, time-consuming and at-times risky investment, the economic and lifestyle rewards make the business of owning a vineyard an attractive proposition for many oenophile entrepreneurs.