Topeka ? State Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky has appointed a group to advise him on marketing and regulating the Kansas wine industry.

“Before Prohibition, Kansas was home to a thriving wine industry,” Polansky said today. “I want to do what I can to help grape growers and vintners recapture this important part of our state’s heritage.”

Polansky has named members to the Kansas Grape and Wine Industry Advisory Council, which will meet quarterly.

As representatives of the wine industry, Polansky appointed Greg Shipe, owner of Davenport Winery in Eudora, and Norm Jennings, owner of Smoky Hill Winery in Salina. To represent commercial grape growers, he appointed Janet Forge, owner of Prairie Ridge Vineyard in St. George, and Dan Ward, owner of Slough Creek Vineyard in Oskaloosa.

Also appointed to the council were Kim Heck of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in Lawrence; Sorkel Kadir, assistant professor of horticulture at Kansas State University; and Tom Groneman, director of the Kansas Department of Revenue’s alcoholic beverage control investigation and inspection unit.