Pioneer Arkansas Grape Grower, Winemaker Mathew Post Leaves Legacy with Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

MEDIA CONTACT

John Lovett

U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 763-5929  |  jlovett@uada.edu

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —  Mathew Joseph Post Sr., a pioneer in the Arkansas grape-growing and winemaking industry who collaborated with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station on numerous grape and wine research projects, has died at the age of 97.

Post was the first to introduce several varieties of grapes to Arkansas. He passed away Oct. 20 at his home in Altus surrounded by family.

“Mr. Post has been very important to the Arkansas grape growing and winemaking industry for decades and he was instrumental in developing new Arkansas cultivars in a public-private collaboration with the Division of Agriculture,” said Jean-François Meullenet, director of the experiment station and senior associate vice president for agriculture-research. “We offer our deepest condolences to the Post family for their loss.”

Among his many accomplishments, Post was recognized in 2016 by the Arkansas Association of Grape Growers with an Outstanding Achievement Award for his decades of work in propelling the grape and wine industry in Arkansas. In addition to introducing the French-American hybrid Seyval Blanc and the native hybrid Steuben to Arkansas, Post worked closely with Third District Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt to establish the Altus Viticultural Area in 1984.

“Mathew Post was a pioneer for his family and the Arkansas grape and wine industry,” Renee Threlfall, research scientist of enology and viticulture with the experiment station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “He was a champion for fostering collaborations between Post Winery and the U of A System, and his willingness for innovation has greatly impacted the Arkansas grape and wine industry.”

In 2004, Post was awarded the prize of Supreme Knight by the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine. The honor is bestowed on only a few individuals nationally and is reserved for those who are deemed to have made “monumental” contributions to the industry. He was also inducted into the Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2012.

Threlfall said the name Post is synonymous with grape-growing and winemaking in Arkansas and across the United States. The farm family has been growing grapes and making wine in Altus since Mathew Post’s great-grandfather planted his first vineyard in 1872. Mathew and his father, James Post, purchased the Altus Cooperative Winery in 1947. Not long after the purchase, the younger Post was elected president of the co-op and served as head winemaker at Post Winery. During the following 60 years, Post worked closely with the Division of Agriculture on numerous grape and wine research projects, providing land, equipment, labor and grants.

POST A.M.E.N. — Alfred, Mathew, Eugene and Norbert Post are pictured in 1934 with a Southwest Times Record newspaper press modified by their father James Post to press grapes when Prohibition was repealed. The Post family calls this their “A.M.E.N.” photo, an acronym for the first letter of the names of the Post men pictured. (Courtesy Post Winery) 

In the late 1950s, Mathew Post worked closely with Philip Wagner, who is known as the “Father of the Hybrid Movement.” Through their professional association, Mathew Post introduced the French-American and American-native hybrid varieties on a commercial scale to Arkansas. Though there are many, perhaps Post’s greatest contribution to the industry was the introduction of muscadine grape production on a commercial scale in 1970.

Mathew Post was born March 15, 1925, in Altus and spent his childhood on Saint Mary’s Mountain. He attended the nearby Subiaco Academy and shortly after graduating in 1943 served in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps for three years in the Pacific arena. He pursed a medical degree like his brother, Dr. Jim Post, at St. Louis University but returned to the family winery in 1947 and became a lifetime grape grower and winemaker.

In November 1951, following the tragic loss of his father in an automobile accident, Post was left to run the winery. Less than two weeks later he married his wife of 70 years, Bett Duerr of Charleston. They had 12 children, added many acres to the farm and installed a state-of-the-art automatic bottling facility at 1700 S. Mary’s Mountain Road. Post Winery went on to become the largest wine producer in the state in the 1990s and continues to produce table wines to this day.

As a community leader, Post was elected mayor of Altus for 12 years and served an additional 10 years as city water commissioner. He also served as an ordained deacon at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Altus, where he was buried on Monday, Oct. 24.

“My dad was, is, and will remain a hero and moral compass to me, our family and many others who have been so bless to experience his God-given wisdom,” Joseph Post said.

​To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at @ArkAgResearch.

To learn about Extension Programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit https://uaex.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AR_Extension.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.