A Better Perspective

I thought the picture I posted yesterday was pretty cool, until I saw this picture on Diane Wilson's facebook page. It's evident that she's the professional photographer. Check out more of her pictures, and just all sorts of good info on her shop at Center for the Arts. Brilliant.

New Links

I wanted to point you in the direction of a couple different websites. The first one is Norton Says. On Norton Says you can plan a trip to Missouri wineries, and find out more about the Norton grape and wine made out of Norton grapes.

The other link is to Missouri Wine Girl blog. Danene works for the wine and grape board that I am a member of, and she has lots of say about Missouri wines.

Also, if you are on facebook, become a fan of Norton Says.

Happy Clicking!

Frozen Queen Anne's Lace

While tromping around the ice covered vineyard the other day, I came across these frozen Queen Anne's Lace. It is officially a weed, and even more precisely a member of the carrot family, but it is abundant, and pretty in the summer, and photogenic covered in ice.

Walking In a Winter Wonderland

I took a nice brisk walk this morning, and took a few snapshots of the vineyard covered in ice. It was melting while I was out there, but it's supposed to ice back up this evening, and melt again tomorrow. Or, we could have snow. I'd hate to be a weather person right about now.

I know it's trendy to say you hate winter, and I guess I'm out of style, because I really do like winter. I'll be the first to tell you I'm a terrible driver on the ice or snow, but I think the snow and ice can be beautiful, and a welcome change.

Facts and Figures

Recently research was done on the economic impact of wine and grapes on the Missouri economy. You can request the full report from the Department of Agriculture Grape and Wine Program, but I thought I'd summarize a few interesting points.

By the end of 2007, the report projects there to be 6,186 full time jobs in the Missouri wine industry to be paid $150 million. They also project there will be 352,000 cases of Missouri wine sold accumulating a retail value of $51 million. There are currently 72 wineries and 200 commercial growers in Missouri cultivating 1,350 acres.

From 2000 to 2005, the number of wineries in Missouri grew from 31 to 50. In 2005 Missouri sold 702,000 gallons of wine. 70% of Missouri wineries produce less than 5,000 gallons a year. Missouri ranks #11 in the country in terms of grape production. Missouri's wine, grape and related industries are projected to have a $701.2 million economic impact to the state of Missouri.

The average price of a ton of grapes in 2005 was $774.00 Also in 2005 the most expensive grape was Chardonel, with a range of $800-1000. In 2007 the projected most expensive grape is Vidal blanc grapes with a range of $1,200-1,400.

Missouri has 4 recognized American Viticulture Areas (AVA.) They are Augusta, Hermann, Ozark Highlands, and Ozark Mountain.

Missouri Farmer Today

Here is a link to a nice article written by Mindy Ward at the Missouri Farmer Today magazine. It is in reference to the Regional Cuisines Project I am a board member of and have talked about here before. I really like this article, and I like the picture on the front. =)

“The wildlife thinks we’re their grocery store,”

Click here to read an article written in the Columbia Missourian in which I was quoted about the grape crop loss this year. Many other wineries are cited in this article, and I will have to say I think this article was well researched and put together. The part where it says, "Damages from the freeze and birds could total up to $3 million across the state," is definitely disheartening.

41st Annual

Jour de Fete

August 11 and 12th

Arts and Craft Show

Food, Drink, Entertainment and Great Things to Buy!

For Info Call: 1-800-373-7007

Come into the winery for some great wine and air conditioning!

Damage Control?

On Friday, Keith Striegler, director of The Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology came out to survey the frost damage to the vines. Keith was one of my teachers and mentors from Fresno, and now he works for us here in Missouri. He cut into some buds with a razor blade to see if they were green in the middle, to see how much bud damage we had. If a vine looked really bad, he shaved a small piece of the bark to see green to tell if the vine was even still alive. The Concord and Vignoles are not good at being fruitful on secondary or tertiary buds, so if we get any crop on them it will be a miracle. The Norton and Vidal look about the same, with about 60% damage, and the Seyval is supposed to be one of the most fruitful on secondary and tertiary buds, so he thought we would get a full crop from those vines. He said a frost of this much devastation, from Oklahoma to North Carolina, has not been documented in 118 years.

The next 6 weeks are the most critical, to see what if anything comes back and buds and sets fruit. Our hearts are heavy, our babies are sick, and we will have to be patient for their recovery. As Keith says, "this is a learning experience."

This is a picture of my students (plus John) in the port cellars at Mt. Pleasant Winery. Their winemaker, Mark Baehman, is on the left, giving us a very passionate tour. I love that guy!

As I mentioned, I'm teaching a Fundamentals of Enology class at the local junior college. Saturday we took a class trip to two wineries; Mt. Pleasant and Sugar Creek wineries, both in the Augusta area. At Mt. Pleasant, I set up a tour with Mark Baehman, the winemaker, and Pat Cummings, the director of sales. The tour and tastings were brilliant, and we had a wonderful guided tour through the tanks and barrels and underground caves. Then we headed to Sugar Creek winery, were we came unannounced, but luckily, Becky Miller, one of the owners, was there and gave us a tour of their winemaking facility. The last stop on the trip was to Lukas Liquor, which is a huge liquor store in West County. This was the students idea, since there really aren't that many great places to purchase wine in our area. Even I came away with a couple great bottles of wine.

I think we got an excellent view of both small and large wineries in Missouri. Large wineries, where they make sparkling wines and port and have dinner parties and small wineries where the owner is there on a Saturday and personally shows you around.

This is a picture of my students at the tasting bar at Mt. Pleasant. Think they are enjoying the class?

Regional Cuisines

There are 6 counties including and surrounding Ste. Genevieve County in Missouri that are part of a pilot project started by Beth Barham, a professor at the University of Missouri. The project is called the Regional Cuisines project, and the idea is that rural parts of America can be tourist destinations if they were marketed as such, similar to Europe. If you visit France or Germany or Italy, you visit cities, but you also visit the countryside, and drink local wines and eat local cheeses. America has yet to adopt this idea, but Beth is hoping to change that, with our help. We are just in the beginning stages, but the possibilities are endless. Check out these websites for more information on the project and our 6 county area now deemed the "Mississippi River Hills."

Education Available

At the beginning of February there is the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference at Tantara Lodge in the Lake of the Ozarks. If you are interested in growing grapes or making wine in Missouri or any part of the Midwest, this is the conference to attend. There are many great speakers lined up, plus a great tradeshow too. It's a great place to learn, mingle, drink wine, and really understand the wine industry in this part of the world. Click on the link for more information and registration.

At the end of January I will be teaching a Fundamentals of Enology class at Mineral Area Junior College in Park Hills, Missouri. I will be honest and tell you that I have never taught such an in depth class before, but I am looking forward to it. It is 15 weeks long, on Monday evenings and starts on January 22nd. It's not too late to sign up! We'll cover everything to the history of winemaking, how to make red, white, sparkling wine, along with lab analysis. We will also be tasting some wines, and visiting Missouri wineries. Now who doesn't want to take a class like that?

Where to Buy Our Wine

Way back when I made a list on this blog of where to buy our wine at Walmart. Now I have a list of where to buy our wine statewide. I will start today with St. Louis and surrounding area. So, if you live in the greater St. Louis area, this list will help you purchase our wine without going to our tasting room. We would still love to see you in our tasting room, where samples of all our wines are free, and we have music and outdoor seating. Did I mention this weekend is our Autumn Daze Festival? Maybe tomorrow I'll write more about that.

Express Mart West Barnhart
J's Package Liquor St. Louis (Riverview Drive)
Lukas Liquor Ellisville
Queen's Bi-Rite Barnhart

Schnucks
Ballwin
Bridgeton
Creve Coeur
Cross Keys
Des Peres
Eureka
Gravois
Ladue
Loughborough
O'Fallon
Overland
Arnold
Clayton
Lindell
Oakville
Westfall
Zumbehl

Starr's St. Louis (Big Bend)

Looking For Something to do This Weekend?

This weekend is the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis. We will be surrounded by many talented artisans, and we will all be selling our craft. Come check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Mercantile Library Exhibit

Two weeks from tonight is the opening of the Mercantile Library's Exhibit; Uncorking 200 Years of Missouri Wine. It should be a grand event, and for a very reasonable price, $20 at the door. If you live in the St. Louis are and are interested in tasting some fine wines, and learning about Missouri wine history, this is the place to be. The exhibit will run through June 30, 2007, but September 28th, 2006 is the only night they will be pouring wine. Maybe John and I will see you there.

State Wide!

As a result of having our wine in all those Wal-Marts I talked about earlier, Dad and I have found a distributer to take our wine not only to Wal-Mart, but state wide. Mostly I am excited, but as we get closer, a tiny part of me is starting to get nervous. This is kind of make or break. We have a salesman now, more of a friend of the family than an employee, and he takes good care of all those little shops along the way from here to there. We are comfortable with the trickle of money coming in once a week. The distributer has placed a healthy order, so that is promising, just as long as they keep reordering. Will their sales force keep us in mind at every store across this big state? I sure hope so.

If you live in Missouri, do us a favor and buy a bottle of our wine at your local store when you see it. ;)

I hope this is just the beginning of realizing our full potential.

Representing Model Senator Lynn