All Inclusive Wine Tour. Includes Brunch, desert, wine tastings and transportation
Your adventure begins at Walnut Creek Vineyard and Winery. Here you will indulge in a fantastic lunch consisting of a personal pizza, salad, dessert and a full wine tasting. Walnut Creek is dedicated to crafting premium vinifera and hybrid wines. They use grapes from Missouri, California, Washington, and Colorado farms. Every bottle of wine is a culinary adventure!
Next up is Fence Stile Winery. Fence Stile is situated on 55 acres of land and has 8 varieties of grapes making up 10 acres of vineyards.
Last up is Casa Di Vite International Wine Cafe. Here you'll enjoy exceptional International wine tastings. This experience will provide a house vintage-style wine cafe.
Each winery stop includes a full tasting experience. Plus, you'll receive a souvenir 6-bottle wine bag to fill up with your favorite wines!
The Truth About Bubbles
Missouri Life columnist, Doug Frost knows something about adding a sparkling Missouri wine to your holiday table. Read how “sparklers” came to be and why Missouri has some really good sparkling wine for you to serve at your next celebration.
By Doug Fros
“COME QUICKLY! I’M DRINKING STARS!”
These are the words Father (Dom) Pierre Perignon was reported to have exclaimed when he “discovered” Champagne. Except the story is all nonsense. Nothing of the sort happened, we can safely say. Why?
Because Pierre Perignon made it clear to those who worked with him at the Abbey of Hautvillers in the late 17th century that wine with bubbles was flawed wine, and the Abbey of Hautvillers did not make or sell flawed wine.
Not exactly the story the marketers of Champagne or Dom Perignon want you to know, but there it is. Like so many stories surrounding alcoholic beverages, the Mad Men put a spin on a tale (or just made something up out of whole cloth in Perignon’s case) and it was somehow forever enshrined.
Take the Manhattan cocktail. We’re told it was invented in 1874 for a Manhattan Club party for Jennie Churchill—created and forever a classic, all in honor of the eminently important Churchills. Small detail: Jennie was giving birth to Winston in that year, and she wasn’t in Manhattan at all. But never let the truth get in the way of a good story, as Mark Twain was supposed to have said (but here, again, we don’t actually have proof of him saying that).
It gets a little dicey trying to suss out where these drinks come from. That shouldn’t surprise us. Getting a straight story out of folks who’ve been drinking is a questionable endeavor. And we’ll never know who invented sparkling wine because there was no need to invent it. Fermentation (when yeast converts sugar to alcohol) causes the formation of carbon dioxide bubbles that liven up your beer and tickle your nose. They’re a natural byproduct of fermentation. Until the advent of filtration—something practiced off and on for centuries but only perfected in the 19th century—all wine that went into a bottle might have some bub- bles in it (hence Perignon’s complaining, perfectionist attitude toward those bubbles).
We know that another French Abbey, this time in the southern town of Limoux, was purposefully creating sparkling wine back in the 16th century. In this case, it appears the wine was sold with some yeasts in the bottle, rather like a bottle-conditioned beer, so bubbles were in the wine deliberately. Interestingly, that style of winemaking has reappeared in the guise of Pet-Nat wines. Some Missouri wineries are offering those. Eureka’s Claverach Winery was the first out of the gate.
So, why is Champagne always sparkling? Why is it the wine of celebration? In truth, a little bit of Champagne is made without bubbles, but most is fully frothy. It earned its celebratory role because the
Champagne region was the site of the coronation of French kings and was often the battleground where matters like who gets to be king were settled. It’s hard to imagine a true party, especially during the holidays, without a pop of the cork and a glass of the fizzy stuff.
Surprisingly, America’s first truly successful winery was the Cincinnati Wine Company in the 1830s. Their product? A sparkling Catawba wine. There are still a few of those around in Missouri, and they’re quite tasty. But if you prefer a drier style bubbly, you’ll be pleased to discover that Missouri’s dry sparklers are better than ever. Those wines deserve your attention and, in truth (no marketing bull, I promise), you deserve a glass of Missouri sparkling wine too.
MO BUBBLIES FOR YOUR TABLE
Eagle’s Landing Rosalia Pet-Nat
Hermannhof Brut Reserve
Les Bourgeois Brut
Mount Pleasant Brut Imperial
St. James Sparkling Blackberry
Stone Hill Blanc de Blancs
Put some Missouri wine in your holiday punch. Find the recipe here.
Article originally published in the November/December 2023 issue of Missouri Life.
Spring into the Season’s Best Wines
As trees and flowers wake up for a new season, their fragrance fills the air. Springtime scents inspire Missouri Life’s wine expert, Doug Frost, to seek out Missouri wines with the same intensity. Discover which spring wines he recommends.
Wines with Spring in Their Step
I remember my first trip to South Africa, although it was nearly 20 years ago. In my Midwestern mind, I had pictured Africa as hot, dry, and smelly. In reality, South Africa was the most redolent, aromatic landscape I’d ever visited. The aroma came from flowers—fragrant, wonderful flowers. It is said that there are more species of flora in that part of Africa than are contained in the entire Northern Hemisphere.
It was a shock how beautifully in-bloom everything was. It is like that for me in spring, even here. The sameness of the wet, sometimes icy streets and the frozen earth bereft of leaves and living grass alters, almost suddenly, or at least I notice it rather suddenly. The wet soil begins to harbor living things again. It’s fecund and earthy, and the rains that wake up the ground give rise to more than just the crocuses that always seem to wear a shroud of light snow. It’s as if I’ve been given a signal to smell things again.
I used to ignore smells, but can you blame me? I came from a family of all boys. There was nothing good to smell, I promise. But then I grew up and discovered wine, and it was like somebody granted me new powers.
Discovering the pleasure in my sense of smell happened because of my appreciation for wine, and wine brings it back again. Grapes like Traminette or Valvin Muscat exude the same heady intensity as new spring blooms—the same pungency and wild floral ferocity, at least at their best. Missouri makes many of the best.
A few people label their Valvin as “Moscato,” and that’s perfectly legal. Indeed, the Moscato and Valvin Muscat grapes share a lot in common. They sometimes share the same gentle sweetness, but increasingly winemakers are making dry or nearly dry versions of these grapes.
Let me be clear: Wines like these needn’t be dry in order to earn approval. Most people like sweet things, even if the wine industry has sometimes shamed people for enjoying anything other than bone-dry wines. For me, it doesn’t matter what you like as long as you figure it out and drink it.
But as the weather relents and nature buds out, I’m ready for bright and fresh flavors. I’m ready for wines with floral aromas. I’m ready for wines that taste like springtime.
GREAT SPRINGTIME WINES
Adam Puchta Traminette
Augusta Traminette Estate
Blumenhof Valvin Muscat
Defiance Ridge Katy’s Traminette
Les Bourgeois Vineyards Vignoles-Traminette
Montelle La Rosée
Mount Pleasant Villagio
St. James Vignoles
Stone Hill Traminette
Article originally published in the March/April 2023 issue of Missouri Life.
The Miracle of Missouri’s State Grape
The Norton grape being designated as Missouri’s grape flies in the face of its history and origin. Our wine columnist Doug Frost explores this robust wine and guides us to the wineries with the best Nortons, often called Cynthiana.
By Doug Frost, who is both a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, is one of only three in the world to achieve both titles, which involve strict tasting and sniff tests. He lives in Kansas City. That Norton has been designated as Missouri’s grape flies in the face of its history and origin. At first, called the Virginia Seedling (or Norton’s Virginia), the Norton tale begins with Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton (1794-1842), whose vineyard, like others of his mindset, was a playground for the grapevine enthusiast.
It reflected a still undiscovered new world of grapes, fruits, flowers, and all manner of flora. Becoming a childless widower at 28 years of age, he spent the next few years in fitful depression, and he, in his own words, “looked to the grave with pleasure as a retreat from misery.” He would find solace in his farm, as one “who delights to dip his locks in the scented dews of the hyacinth and makes love to the roses and tulips.” Be understanding of his overwrought prose—it was the 19th century, and he was still a young man.
Though a doctor, Norton received more praise for his horticultural efforts than for constantly telling patients to “take one of these powders every two hours in a little sugar and water,” as he complained. His obituary focuses on his efforts with the grapevine, and among his breeding successes was the grape that bears his name, although he did not in fact purposely breed it. Norton appears to be an accidental pollination between the Bland grape (named for its discoverer, not its character ... or possibly for both) and one much-contested vinifera grape, and here we can let the arguments fly, but not from me.
It is Norton’s journey through Missouri that pertains. By the late 19th century, there were Norton vines here, though often called Cynthiana (essentially the same grape). By the 1960s, the state was more famed for the grape than Virginia (which still rankles the skilled Norton interpreters there). The prevailing wisdom at the time was for the grape to sleep in the barrel for long periods of time, but the current style of fresh and fruity does the grape more justice.
Indeed, the miracle of Norton is that it can succeed as a rosé, a sparkling wine, a dry wine, a sweet Port, and nearly everything in between. Yet winemakers who coax prettiness from the grape are themselves miracle- workers; Norton has piercing malic acidity that has to be tamed to reveal its charms.
As viticulturalists have noted, Norton is a remarkably robust vine, able to withstand Missouri’s torrid summers and sub-zero winters. It’s that hardiness that has led to the grapevine being used to breed others. To date, Crimson Cabernet (Norton crossed with Cabernet Sauvignon) is the most popular, and it has yielded numerous good wines in the two or so decades since its creation.
Still, it is Norton’s outsized personality that brought it to its current status—talked about, even lauded, but not always loved. The wine it gives can in fact live longer than almost any other hybrid wine, but it also can be vexingly unpredictable. I am not altogether shocked when a Norton that only a few months ago was delicious is suddenly awkward and off-kilter. Experience tells me to be patient and to return later, but that’s not a message consumers may find comforting. Nonetheless, for many of us, a grape with so much individuality is cause for celebration. Norton has few peers, whether in Virginia or here in Missouri, where it seems to have found its permanent home.
Where to seek the best Norton:
• Adam Puchta
• Augusta,
• Dale Hollow
• Defiance Ridge
• Jowler Creek
• Les Bourgeois
• Montelle
• Mount Pleasant
• Noboleis
• St. James
• Stone Hill
To give due credit, some of this information is taken from Todd Kliman’s book about the Norton grape, The Wild Vine, as well as an American Wine Society the article was written by Rebecca and Clifford Ambers.
Set Your Holiday Table with the Number 1 Cranberry Wine in the Country from St. James Winery
As the holidays approach, everyone is thinking about gathering and gifting. In a challenging year of shipping delays and supply chain issues, thinking local ensure delicious meals and thoughtful gifts, with the added bonus of supporting your neighborhood small businesses. St. James Winery is Missouri’s largest winery and has a number of seasonal offerings that will add something unique to your table throughout the holiday season. Their award-winning cranberry wine makes a fun and festive addition to your cocktail bar, or a beautiful centerpiece to a gift basket for family, friends, or coworkers.
This article is presented in partnership with St. James Winery
Gathering
St. James Cranberry Wine is the number one cranberry wine in the United States, winning myriad awards including:
- 2018 Gold (92 Points)-Los Angeles International 2018 Double Gold-Tasters Guild Consumer
- 2018 Gold-Indy International
- 2018 Gold (92 Points)-San Francisco International 2018 Bronze-Jerry Mead’s New World International 2018 Gold (92 Points)-Critics Challenge International
- 2018 Double Gold-Denver International
- 2018 Bronze-Pacific Rim International 2018 Gold-Dan Berger International 2018 Gold-Tasters Guild International 2018 Gold-Great American International
While delicious on its own, St. James Cranberry wine is delicious as a cocktail mixer or addition to holiday desserts. Visit the website for recipes including cranberry sangria, cranberry poached pears, and cranberry Moscow mules.
Gifting
St. James Cranberry Wine is the perfect addition to any holiday gift basket, or bring something unique as a hostess gift. It’s perfectly priced at $14.99 a bottle, which makes it an affordable offering for every occasion.
Though St. James has only about 150 employees, they have been hard at work preparing an abundance of cranberry wine to serve everyone this holiday season. Found in many of your local grocery stores, this delicious beverage and many others can be found on their website and will be shipped quickly to you in time for all your parties and gatherings. Supporting this local business, and others with a locally sourced holiday gift basket is the perfect way to give and give back this holiday season.
The holidays can be a stressful time, so whether you’re treating yourself to a little relaxation, or planning the perfect party, let St. James take care of you! Make St. James Cranberry Wine and other seasonal offerings a part of your holiday memories that you’ll cherish for years to come.
Put Missouri Wine into Your Holiday Punch
Missouri Life’s wine columnist, one of only three people in the world to achieve the two highest wine degrees, shares this lovely 19th Century Punch using sparkling wine to make your holiday dinners even more festive. Your loved ones and guests deserve to drink something interesting after these pandemic years, and a happy little secret is that Missouri wines make better cocktail ingredients than California wines or Europe’s best.
Doug Frost, who is both a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, is one of only three in the world to achieve both titles, which involve strict tasting and sniff tests. He lives in Kansas City, Mo.
19th Century Wine Punch Stir together:
- 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar mixed with the peels from 4 lemons. Leave overnight, then stir into the punch, peels and all.
- 1 750 ml bottle of Cognac VS or higher
- 3⁄4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1⁄2 quart water
- 1 750 ml bottle of Missouri sparkling wine
’Tis the season for entertaining, especially in this (nearly) post-pandemic era. Some of you have been partying with your peeps all along—you know who you are. The more circumspect among us are having to refamiliarize ourselves with the complicated rules of social engagement. Do I have to invite the neighbors? Will they know if I don’t? How will I explain all those cars in the driveway?
It’s generally accepted that drinking increased during the pandemic. It’s equally agreed that the average bottle price went down—quantity went up and quality often went down. But if only out of sheer gratitude for being able to hug each other again, shouldn’t we stop squeezing those hard-earned pennies? Don’t our loved ones, and even the people we merely like, deserve to drink something interesting as these holidays press upon us?
Inevitably, we must choose the wines and drinks we will serve, and there may be tension between what we think our guests want and what we personally drink. Not to hector, but a good host makes people feel comfortable and that extends to finding out what they like and then making certain to have it. Not everyone likes dry wines, just like not everyone likes sweet wines, so regardless of your personal preferences, why not have both?
Some people like red wine, and some like white, so you’re going to need to have dry and sweet versions of each unless you know precisely what your guests like. That reflects hospitality at its best. Good hosts also offer lots of non-alcoholic options, beyond just a glass of ice water, though people should always drink water if they are drinking wine.
Wine has been consumed in multiple ways throughout time. A martini is a spirit mixed with a fortified wine called vermouth. Famed cocktails like the French 75 or the New York Sour require a dose of wine. And the happy little secret about Missouri wines is that they make for far better cocktail ingredients than California wines or Europe’s best.
It has to do with the grapes we grow here. Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Traminette, and all the rest carry more tartness than Chardonnay, Cabernet, and the like. The cruel irony is that our wines are often castigated for being sweet. They are not, but if they are, it’s that they might otherwise be unbearably tart. So, while this might make my winemaking friends seek me out for slow torture and murder, there is nothing wrong with using local wines to make fruit punch, sangria, or even mulled wine—all classic beverages that eschew the seriousness of wine snobbery and bring back the fun and festivity.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t also have some dry, non-effervescent, unadulterated wine for actual snobs like me. That’s what being a great host is: offering delicious things as a demonstration of gratitude for your friends and family, for having come through an actual pandemic, and for believing in the simple and vital act of hospitality.
WINE DOG: Take pride in Missouri's wine
Regional pride is real; I share it. I take perverse pleasure in correcting people who assume that I live in some coastal wine mecca. I often mention my experiences when I give talks around the world about the wine market.
On a semi-regular basis, someone will grab me afterward to tell me they enjoyed hearing about a place like Kansas City. Then they ask, "So where do you live now?" I will pause for effect and say slowly, as if to a child, "Kansas City." If I'm really out for a good time, I follow that with, "I live in Kansas City, you know, [another pause] for the weather."
Hijinks aside, I like the seasons, and in Missouri we see them in living color, especially in the fall. Let's be honest: spring is a joke. We go from grey chunks of ice on the ground to 85 degrees and similar humidity in the span of a few days. The magnolia blossoms in the backyard haven't enjoyed more than a day or two of blooms in years. Spring is chimera in Missouri.
But fall? Oh, that's when we shine! Out west, the four seasons are (famously) fire, flood, earthquake, and landslide. The easterners will boast of their autumn colors, even as some vestige of hurricane dumps its Caribbean load onto their hills. The grape harvest may be long over, but Missouri's vineyards share a bright palette with our forests, at least for a while.
But there may not be enough of those vineyards. There are more and more troubled vintages (freeze, frost, hail, you name it, probably locusts next), so our winemakers are forced to go outside the state for their grapes. It's understandable when yields are miniscule.
In years like 2007, when a late freeze, called the Easter Massacre, destroyed so much, winegrowers had to get their grapes from somewhere else. But ask any Missouri winemaker: the acreage of good vineyards in the Show-Me State is not right-sized.
So in Missouri, as in so many other midwestern states, it's too routine for wineries to buy their grapes from other states. It's an understandable crutch. Missouri typically struggles to ripen well-known grapes like chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon. Rather than educate your customers about the virtues of chambourcin or vignoles, how much easier it is simply to buy chardonnay from California? I'm not trying to vilify these wineries' choices, but it helps explain why there are not enough good grapes grown here. It's harder and less consistent than on the West Coast (at least in the fire-free years, fewer and fewer that they are), and customers don't always recognize the value of local grapes.
As a new generation of wine drinkers venerates so-called "natural" wines, they almost exclusively celebrate wines from somewhere else. Our local farmers deserve our business, and many shoppers seem to grasp that. But our grape growers and wineries are just as worthy. So show your pride, take a drive, and enjoy the scenery—and take in some Missouri wine while you're at it.
7 Reasons to Visit Missouri Wine Country
This article is presented in partnership with Missouri Wines.
Springtime is a perfect opportunity to explore Missouri’s unique and beautiful wine country. Need a reason to visit? Here are seven.
1. Palate-Pleasing Wines for All
No matter what your taste preference might be, Missouri’s award-winning wine lineup has something for you, from varietals like Norton and Vignoles to proprietary blends and dessert wines. If you have a penchant for fruit wines or meads, several wineries offer them. Searching for slushes or craving a canned concoction? Missouri wine country offers vino in a variety of vessels.
2. Unbeatable Views
Wineries across the state offer unbeatable atmosphere for guests to enjoy fresh air, clear skies, and great company. Sip among expansive gardens, along the bluffs of the Missouri River, or amid scenic views of vineyards. Even from cozy indoor seating areas, guests can enjoy Missouri wine country’s breathtaking scenery.
3. Experiences That Excite
Where else can you play disc golf with a glass of wine or enjoy wine in a cave? In addition to award-winning wines, Missouri’s wineries offer thrilling attractions and opportunities. Looking for some behind-the-scenes action or education on how your favorite varietal gets from vine to wine? Many wineries offer exclusive tours and educational events to expand your wine wisdom.
4. Events, Festivals, and Trails, Oh My!
Whether you’re looking for an evening out or a weekend-long excursion, there’s always something to do in wine country. Check out one of eleven wine trails to discover a pre-planned adventure. Do festivals, fairs, or live music fit your style? Many wineries offer these and much more. Stop in for a crush festival during harvest or sip and shop during a holiday event in wine country.
5. Staycation Escapes
Need a break from the daily grind but don’t want to travel far? Missouri wine country offers ample accommodations to fit your needs. Picturesque cottages, villas and bed and breakfasts welcome visitors for a relaxing and rejuvenating experience. For those on the adventurous side, treehouse abodes, camping facilities, and spooky stays may be just what you’re looking for.
6. Pals and Paws Welcome
Celebrate friendships and meet other wine fans on your next visit to a winery in the Show-Me State. Missouri wines’ furry fans are also welcome at a number of pet-friendly wineries, and some locations have their own resident pets.
7. Patronage Perks with MVP
You can earn rewards for exploring Missouri wine country with the Missouri Winery Visitors Program. Members earn points when they visit wineries, and those points can be redeemed for exclusive rewards, experiences, and sweepstakes. Sign up to be an MVP before your next excursion to wine country.
Visit a winery near you, or one that’s been on your Missouri wine country bucket list, and make unforgettable memories.