Meet the faces behind Musket Cellars & Vineyards. Musket Cellars & Vineyard is a new family-owned winery that opened its doors in August 2024. Founded by Kim Musket, her parents and her brother, the winery carries forward a tradition of winemaking that spans multiple generations. Kim, as the winemaker, brings over 14 years of experience in multiple states and multiple wineries. She oversees all aspects of production, manages the tasting room, leads social media, and continues the family’s legacy of crafting wines rooted in tradition, innovation, and connection.
The Musket family’s story begins in Sicily, where their great-grandfather first made wine. After immigrating to Kansas City around 1920, their grandfather continued the craft in his basement, keeping the family’s passion alive. While Kim initially had no idea about her Sicilian winemaking roots when she began college, she discovered this was her calling. Starting at the University of Missouri with a business degree, she quickly switched to Food Science with an emphasis in Enology and Viticulture. During her studies, she gained hands-on experience through vineyard research and lab work at the Institute of Continental Climate of Viticulture and Enology (currently the Grape and Wine Institute). She landed a valuable internship at Les Bourgeois Vineyard, in Rocheport Missouri, and spent over a year with them.
After graduating, Kim spent about five years with a new winery in Missouri called Arcadian Moon as the assistant winemaker. During this time, she fine-tuned skills, knowledge, and day-to-day business operations which led to growth of the winery. This experience tested her academic knowledge and focused it to wine production. Kim was responsible for creating several award-winning wines at the Missouri Wine Competition and Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition under the Acadian Moon label.
She moved to Arizona in 2017, to expand her skills, working at Arizona Stronghold Vineyards for five years. She worked with more than 20 varietals, mastered new winemaking skills and techniques, and was promoted to head winemaker, overseeing production of 360 tons of grapes annually at one of Arizona’s largest custom crush facilities. Continuing Kim’s award story, she created more wines that won awards at the Arizona Wine Growers Association (AWGA) and Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition under the Stronghold Vineyard label.
Her family called her one day and asked, “If we start a family winery here in Missouri, would you move back home?” Kim didn’t hesitate to say yes! Over the next two years, the Musket family planned their dream and in 2019, they landed a 90-acre property outside Pleasant Hill, Missouri. With its 10-acre lake, pond, and spacious 5,000-square-foot building, the site was perfect to be transformed into a production facility and tasting room. During the next five years of dedication and hard work the site became the realization of her passion and the family’s dream.
After the “Yes”, Kim returned to the Midwest in 2021, working first as winemaker at Post Winery in Arkansas and later as winemaker at Smoky Hill Winery in Kansas. These roles allowed her to stay close to home while continuing to refine her craft. She was able to dedicate her weekends to help prepare Musket Cellars & Vineyard for launch.
The family completed their first harvest sourcing grapes from Missouri vineyards in Fall 2023. The first vintages of Kim’s wines were bottled in June 2024, and Musket Cellars & Vineyard officially opened its tasting room August 30, 2024. That Fall, Kim moved to full-time with the winery to complete its first onsite harvest, processing 16 tons of grapes, with bottling in May 2025, creating the 2nd vintage of her wines.
Kim has developed a passion to support and help women in the wine industry and locally women-owned businesses. Musket Cellars & Vineyard is a majority women owned company that fuels her passion. Kim had an outlet for her passion as a part of a women in wine project in Arizona called Vin De Filles. The project is about women creating a bottle of wine where annual proceeds go to Verde Valley Sanctuary project based in Verde Valley, Arizona. Kim had the honor to be one of the featured winemakers at a five-course charity dinner featuring Fall 2025 with the Musket Cellars & Vineyard 2024 Valvin Muscat.
In their first year, Musket Cellars & Vineyard won nine medals at the Missouri Wine competition:
- Gold medal winner: 1100 (Dessert Wine).
- Silver medal winners: 2024 Valvin Muscat (Dry), 2024 Vidal Blanc (Dry), 2024 Vignoles (Semi-Sweet), 2024 Sunrise Rosé (Semi-sweet), 2024 Gun Barrel Red (Dry), 2023 Chambourcin (Dry), J30 (Dessert wine).
- Bronze medal winner: 2024 Pink Sky (Sweet).
Come Sip with Us! For more information check out their website: www.musketcellars.com.
