An acre and a half behind an unassuming building on Southern University’s campus, less than a mile from the Mississippi River, is home to one of Baton Rouge’s more unexpected sights.
At first glance, it doesn’t look like much is going on, but the rows and rows of plants marked by wooden posts tell a different story. A step closer, and the grapes appear. At this time of year, the grapes are minuscule. They still need three to four months to grow until it’s time to harvest.
Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center is growing wine grapes in Baton Rouge — in the kind of heat and humidity most people would assume grapes would hate. Yet these rows of vines are producing fruit, fueling research and supporting an ambitious goal: helping build a Louisiana wine industry.
People who work in the vineyard often use the same word: beautiful…