Love the Wine You’re With

It seems like many people have a love/hate relationship with the holiday Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t go wrong by pairing Missouri wine with this ultimate day of love. Call up your spouse, date, new love, or best friend and make plans to venture out to Missouri Wine Country this V-Day. There are lots of options and more than enough love and wine to go around!

A Taste of Chocolate, February 21 & 22, Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail

Nothing helps spark romance more than chocolate. Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery, Hemman Winery, Hunter Valley Winery, and The Barrens Winery are hosting a two-day wine and chocolate pairing that is certain to bring an air of romance to the Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail. Each ticket includes a souvenir glass, and if you make it to each of the four wineries you’ll be enter to win prizes! 

If you’re wondering which winery would be good to have lunch at, allow me to suggest Apple Creek Vineyard & Winery.  Start with the Bread and Olive Oil and meet in the middle of any of their delicious pizzas!

Be Wine with Wine, February 13 & 14, Serenity Valley Winery

This will be the 4^th year Serenity Valley Winery throws its Be Wine with Wine dinner. The meal will include 6 sweet and savory tapas paired with 6 of their award-winning wines. When it comes to creating perfectly paired dishes, I have never been disappointed at what Serenity Valley has come up with. Seating is limited, and reservations are required.

Serenity Valley Winery offers the perfect backdrop for cuddling up with someone special to watch the sunset over their beautiful lake and rolling landscape.

Chocolate Wine Trail, February 21 & 22, Hermann Wine Trail

Chocoholics take note! This event includes 7, yes 7, decedent chocolate pairings. If that doesn’t get your heart racing, I’m not sure what will. Adam Puchta Winery, Bias Vineyard and Winery, Dierberg Star Lane, Hermanhof Winery, OakGlen Winery, Röbller Winery, and Stone Hill Winery have each come up with some very intriguing recipes to pair with their fantastic wines.

You’re chocolate lover will not be disappointed! Chocolate Lasagna and Mousse Cannoli really caught my attention.

Romancing the Grape, February 14 & 15, Route du Vin Wine Trail

Is your date an adventurous foodie? Say no more. The Route du Vin’s Romancing the Grape is the perfect balance of exploration and fine cuisine. Sainte Genevieve Winery, Charleville Winery, Chaumettte Winery, Twin Oaks Winery, Cave Vineyard, and Sand Creek Winery have each concocted unique tasting sized bites to pair with their top-quality wines. The dishes that really caught my eye include the Bacon Sriracha S’mores and Indian Winter Spiced Chicken.

Spend the afternoon exploring wine country or make a whole weekend of it. There’s so much to see and do in the Ste. Genevieve area including great antiquing and breweries!

Staying home for Valentine’s Day??

Even if you don’t plan on going out to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Missouri wineries can still help you plan a romantic date at home. Start off with some “Hill Berries” from Canterbury Hill Winery. Valentine’s Day isn’t complete without chocolate covered strawberries. Canterbury Hill Winery can also add balloons, wine or gift cards to your order.

Don’t forget, nothing pairs better with chocolate covered strawberries better than sparkling wine! I am a huge fan of Missouri sparkling wines and indulge in them whenever possible. My go-to list includes Mount Pleasant’s Ten Bucks, St. James Winery’s Sparkling Blush, Adam Puchta Winery’s Sparking Brut, Crown Valley’s Moscato, and my all-time favorite, Les Bourgois Vineyard’s Brut. You can find some of these sparkling wines in your local grocery stores, but most you’ll have to order online or from the winery directly.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wine Tourism Day

                                   

Wine Tourism Day is happening in North America, Saturday May 11 for the first time ever!  Look for wineries, hotels, and restaurants to offer special events and incentives in celebration of wine tourism. Missouri has a lot to celebrate since we have A LOT of wineries (over 100).  The Missouri Wine and Grape Board does an amazing job of promoting the wine and grape industry which provides more than than 14,000 jobs.  Over twenty Missouri wineries will be participating in Wine Tourism Day. You can find them all HERE.  We are going to highlight four that really caught our eyes...

Sip & Dip Saturday

Cave Vineyard, Ste. Genevieve, MO

10AM-6PM, $5 per person

Cave Winery is giving you the chance to discover what Italians have known for ages; biscotti are excellent dunked in wine!

Your $5 Wine Tasting will include 5 samples of wine, a souvenir glass, Cave Vineyard Biscotti, and a taste of la Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life).  Dunking biscotti in wine is a Strussione family tradition, and all biscotti are based on Grandma Stussione's original Almond Biscotti recipe and made in their Winery Loft Bakery.  Feel free to experiment with different combinations of wine and biscotti!  Need another reason to stop by Cave Vineyard?  They really do have a cave on-site and you can drink your wine inside of it!  No joke; and their wine is superb.  We'll be heading down one hot summer day to enjoy some chilled wine in their cool cave. 

Road Trip Missouri - A Wine Tourism Adventure 

Wenwood Farm Winery, Bland, MO
10AM - 6PM, No Charge

Celebrate beautiful Missouri with a beautiful drive.

Wenwood Farm Winery came up with a really fun promotion for Wine Tourism Day, and if we didn't have a wedding to attend that evening, we probably would have ended up there.  Make sure you set your odometer before you head out to Wenwood Farm because they are donating 10 cents per mile to Earth's Classroom, a local non-profit dedicated to celebrating Missouri's history and natural world. The 3 visitors who traveled the farthest will each be mailed a gift certificate ($40, $20, $10).  We think this idea is great because a big part of enjoying Missouri wine tourism is driving. The drive between wineries can be a really special part of your trip.  We love seeing the country side and passing through small and large towns along the way.  Enjoy the drive!


Let's Go Fly A Kite - Wind and Wine 

Serenity Valley Winery, Fulton, Missouri 

10AM - 6PM, $10 Wine Flights ($5 goes to charity)

Let's go fly a kite!

If there are two things Serenity Valley Winery has it's WIND & SPACE.  We were just there last weekend for the Celebrate Spring event, and the land they are located on is just stunning countryside. It seems to go on forever.  They are inviting people to come fly a kite and enjoy their wine.  Pack up your picnic basket and bring the family to relax, sample their wines, and see how long you can keep your kite up.  They will be awarding a prize to the best kite; so get creative!  Wine Flights featuring 3 wines and food paring will be sold for $10, $5 of which goes to charity. 

Vineyard Tour in America's First Wine Region - Augusta Appellation
Augusta Winery, Augusta, MO

11AM - 3PM, $10 per person

Set foot on the ground that was deemed America's First Wine Region!

Vineyard Manager Paul will be taking groups out at 11AM and 1PM from the tasting room location in downtown, historic Augusta to tour one of their vineyards.  This tour will teach you about local varietals, recent growing seasons, and the wine making process.  You will even get to taste the grapes straight from the vine.  These tours will last between 1 to 1.5 hours and drop you off at their Wine and Beer Garden at the conclusion to enjoy live music until 5PM.  This is the event we will be participating in to celebrate Wine Tourism Day.  It worked out well since we have a wedding to attend that evening in Augusta.  We are really looking forward to getting a first-hand look at where the Augusta wine-making process starts.

CHEERS!

Celebrate Spring: RECAP

Due to some bad planning on our part, we weren't able to make it to all 7 Missouri River Wine Trail wineries during the Celebrate Spring event, but we did have a great time at the 3 we did make it to. We headed out Sunday afternoon to our first stop at Serenity Valley Winery in Fulton, MO. This was our first time visiting them at their new location in Callaway County, and we were very impressed with their set up. The tasting room is nestled on rolling country hills overlooking the peaceful Serene Lake. We had the pleasure of chatting with owners, Lee and Regina Ruppert, who were very proud and excited about their new location. Serenity Valley served their Spring Blossoms (Green Apple Reisling, Sweet) paired with a refreshing Ensenada Shrimp Cocktail! We have tried this Resiling at multiple wine tasting events, and it's quickly becoming one of our favorites. The shrimp was light and refreshing with a great flavor profile. We also sampled their Velvet Rhaspody (Raspberry Zinfandel) which had recently won a metal at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. With hints of chocolate and a smooth velvet finish, this wine made quite an impression on us.


The second winery we went to was Canterbury Hill Winery in Jefferson City. This winery is also new and moved into the building that once held Summit Lake Winery. This is such an amazing building on-top a hill overlooking the capitol city. They paired King’s Choice, a sweet white wine with a seafood salad with crab and shrimp. While we were there we had some of their Artichoke Dip with tortilla chips and banana peppers which was superb! The restaurant was full of people enjoying their Sunday dinner. Their large patio is sure to be a hot spot once the weather gets warmer!

The last Celebrate Spring stop for us was Westphalia Vineyards in Westpahlia, MO, the cutest town we've ever driven through. Did you know....this is the oldest German town West of the Mississippi! (Not, Hermann) Their Norton Tasting room is in an building that was once a hotel and has a charming vintage decor. We had the pleasure of meeting owners, Terry and Mary Neuner and learning all about their wine making process. We are hoping to come out and help them with  their vines this fall. Mary served us some delicious spicy crab dip which was paired with Riesling Sweet. We also sampled some of their dry reds including the Norton Reserve, Cabernet Franc, and a blend of the two, the Prodigal Son. This is one of the few Missouri wineries that can boost about using natural processes that don't include adding sulfites to their wines. You can really taste the natural freshness of their wines.


Celebrate Spring was a very fun event full of great wines and food pairings. We do wish  the wineries would have coordinated about what foods they were serving. All three dishes were tasty, but they were all seafood. We are looking forward to the next Missouri River Wine Trail event, Herb Du Vin taking place June 15-16th, so we can try to visit the other 4 wineries on the trail. CLICK HERE to see the rest of the photos we took!

Celebrate Spring

The rain will eventually stop (we hope!), and then you'll have the whole weekend ahead of you. Need something to do? We highly recommend heading out to Mid-Missouri for Celebrate Spring. This event is put on by the 7 wineries part of the Missouri River Wine Trail (Coopers Oak Winery, Les Bourgeois Vineyards, Westphalia Vineyards, Serenity Valley Winery, Bushwhacker Bend Winery, Coopers Oak Winery-Booneville, & Canterbury Hill Winery & Restaurant). We have gone to a couple of the Missouri River Wine Trail's events and always enjoy ourselves. You can start Celebrate Spring at any of the 7 wineries. There you'll receive your glass and start your epic day of tasting. My favorite part of Missouri River Wine Trail events is that each winery pairs one of their wines with a food dish. It's really eye opening when you taste a wine with food that really enhances the wine. I think that's what really makes this worth it! Pack your picnic basket and head central this Saturday or Sunday from Noon to 5pm  Each winery is no more than 30 minutes away from the next one. Twenty dollars includes you sampling glass and a wine and food pairing at each of the 7 wineries.

Buy your tickets HERE!



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