There is always too much to do in too little time. We all lead stressful lives and once in a while it’s necessary to unplug and take some time for ourselves. Why not grab a glass of your favorite locally crafted, Missouri wine and sit down with this special coloring page for a little you time? August 2 is National Coloring Book Day, but any day is a good day for self-care. Cheers to de-stressing with the simple things. Print your very own Missouri wine coloring page here. 

August is Vignoles Month, and it is the perfect time to celebrate Missouri’s fruity favorite. Vignoles, a French-American hybrid white grape, makes wine with immensely fruity flavors and aromas. It’s made in every style and sweetness from dry and refreshing, to luscious and sweet, and everything in between. There is truly a Vignoles for everyone, no matter their taste preference. It’s likely this versatility that makes Vignoles the most popular white wine in the state.

Vignoles (pronounced veen-yole) grapes account for 15% of all the grapes grown in the state, that’s 260 acres. At the recent 2018 Missouri Wine Competition, three different styles of wine made from Vignoles grapes all won Best of Class honors. A Dry Vignoles from Adam Puchta Winery took the title in the dry white wine category. St. James Winery’s 2017 Dry Vignoles, a semi-dry wine, took the honor in its category, and a Vignoles from Stonehaus Farms Winery also won Best of Class in the sweet white wine category. These three wines are all quite different, but equally delicious and each are made from Vignoles.

Vignoles wine’s tropical fruit notes and bright acidity make it incredibly food friendly. Dryer Vignoles wines pair well with Asian dishes, salads, Swiss cheese and more. Vignoles wines that are a little sweeter are great matches for spicy food. Try anything from Thai food, to Mexican dishes, and even buffalo wings with a semi-sweet or sweet Vignoles wine. The sweetness helps cut the heat and the fruity flavors compliment perfectly. Vignoles dessert wines are great with crème brûlée and cheesecake. Find your favorite Vignoles and food pairing today! 

Introducing a brand-new Missouri Winery Guide! We are thrilled that the Missouri wine industry keeps growing and evolving. Those changes meant it was time to update our printed materials. The last two versions of the guide have been maps that fold out to reveal winery listings and locations on a map of the Show-Me State. Prior to those versions, we produced booklets with listings for all the wineries in the state and a small map in the center. There was an equally avid following for each style of publication, making the next step clear… why not do both?!

Meet our new winery guide, a booklet listing Missouri wineries PLUS a fold out map in the back showing each winery’s location. The best of both worlds, this guide is the ideal tool to help you plan your next vino adventure in Missouri wine country. Pick one up at the next winery you visit or click here to request a guide be sent to you. 

Have you ever wondered what it takes to pull off a wine competition? The Missouri Wine Competition may not take an entire village but does rely heavily on a great group of volunteers who are passionate about Missouri wines. Take a peek behind the scenes at this premier wine competition that has been honoring the best wines in Missouri for the past 30 years.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdRvdBDKm3o

Pair your favorite treats with the perfect local wine the next time you have a snack attack. These dyanamic duos are delicious. Cheers!

Drum roll please… the results are in from the 2018 Missouri Wine Competition! For more than 30 years, this annual competition has honored the highest quality wines made in the state. More than 250 wines entered, but which ones rose to the top?

An esteemed panel of judges, comprised of wine experts and industry professionals, spent two days swirling, smelling and tasting all the wines entered. After all wines are scored, the entries that rise to the top, receiving gold medals, are pitted against each other for the honor of being named “Best of Class.” Those that make it to this top tier compete for the big win… the Governor’s Cup.

Join us in congratulating this year’s Best of Class winners:

o   Sparkling Wine: Stone Hill Winery –2013 Blanc de Blanc

o   Dry White Wine: Adam Puchta Winery – Dry Vignoles

o   Semi-Dry White Wine: St. James Winery – 2017 Dry Vignoles

o   Sweet White Wine: Stonehaus Farms Winery – Vignoles

o   Dry Rosé Wine: Les Bourgeois Vineyards – 2017 St. Vincent Rosé

o   Sweet Rosé Wine: Stone Hill Winery – Rosé Montaigne

o   Dry Red Wine: Stone Hill Winery – 2015 Chambourcin

o   Semi-Dry Red Wine: Augusta Winery – Alluvium Estate Bottled

o   Sweet Red Wine: Montelle Winery – Stone House Red

o   Dessert Wine: Stone Hill Winery – Cream Sherry

o   Late Harvest/Ice Wine: Montelle Winery – 2017 Vidal Blanc Icewine  

o   Distilled Product: Montelle Winery – Peach Eau de Vie

And the winner of the coveted Governor’s Cup for 2018 is Stone Hill Winery for their 2015 Chambourcin, a dry red wine that blew the judges away. The C.V. Riley Award for the best Norton wine went to Augusta Winery for their 2016 Norton Estate Bottled. This is a special recognition honoring the official state grape and the history of winemaking in Missouri.

In addition to Best of Class, C. V. Riley Award and Governor’s Cup honors, 87% of all the wines entered into the 2018 Missouri Wine Competition took home a medal.

The breakdown:

• 41 Gold Medals
• 94 Silver Medals
• 98 Bronze Medals

That’s more than 230 award-winning Missouri wines!

An army of devoted volunteers we affectionately call “The Flight Crew” helped ensure that this year’s two-day wine competition ran smoothly. We can’t thank them enough.

You can find the complete list of this year’s Best-of-the-Best here. Consider it your local wine shopping list!

MVP (Missouri Winery Visitors Program), the program that rewards consumers for visiting Missouri wineries, has been extended through December 31, 2019. That means MVP members have more time to visit wineries and earn points for incredible rewards and experiences.

MVP, Missouri's largest winery tourism initiative, continues to grow in popularity among loyal Missouri wine fans. Since the program’s inception in September 2016, MVP members have made more than 53,000 visits to wineries across the state.  

And now there’s even more to enjoy about MVP. . .introducing MVP Perks.

MVP Perks are exclusive offers available to MVP members when they visit select Missouri wineries. These perks include but are not limited to discounts on food or retail purchases. In order to qualify for these winery promotions, members need to present a form of MVP identification during their visit, including the ticket zipper pouch they received with their original membership packet and the unique membership card they will soon receive in the mail. They can also verify their membership by logging into their account and showing it to winery staff during their visit.

Visit the MVP website for a list of participating wineries and MVP Perks. These offers are subject to change so be sure to check back often.

Not an MVP member? What are you waiting for? Visit the MVP website and become a member today.

It’s a great time to be an MVP!

Concord is a sweet red wine that’s very popular across the Show-Me state. It’s a native American grape varietal and is known for its quintessential grape-y flavor. It accounts for 7 percent of all the grapes grown in the state, that’s more than 120 acres. If you’re not a sweet wine fan or if you’ve never had a Missouri Concord wine, we encourage you to try it. It just may surprise you!

It may surprise you that even though Concord is a red wine, it’s usually served chilled. It’s light, sweet and very refreshing on a hot summer day. Try adding Concord to your next picnic menu or grill-out!

It may also surprise you to learn that Concord is an amazing pairing with some really fun and unique flavors. Barbecue is a summer staple in Missouri, and spicy barbecue is delicious paired with a refreshing glass of chilled Concord. The sweetness of the wine helps tame the heat of the spice and works really well with the molasses and brown sugar flavors found in many barbecue sauces. Peanut butter and Concord go together well, like peanut butter and jelly, due to its grape juice-like flavor. Peanut butter desserts are divine alongside a glass of Concord.

It may even surprise you that Concord is a wonderful wine to cook with. Whether you’re making a wine-reduction sauce to drizzle on a pork chop or a wine glaze to top sugar cookies, Concord is the perfect addition! Try making wine ice cream, wine floats, or popsicles with a Missouri Concord for a sweet treat to help beat the heat this summer.

Give Missouri Concord a try this summer. It may surprise you! 

Immediately following the fertilization of the flowering stage in Missouri vineyards, comes fruit set as the flower transforms into a seed and develops a berry to protect itself. This stage in the grape-growing cycle is critical as it largely determines the yield of this year’s (or vintage’s) crop.

Not all flowers on the vine are destined to become grapes and therefore wine. Those that don’t develop into berries will fall off the vine in a couple weeks following full bloom. In the case of normal fruit set, the ratio of flowers that go on to become berries ranges from one third to a little over half, depending on several factors including the grape variety, health and age of the vine, and the climate during flowering and fruit set.

As berries emerge and grow, the potential for another vintage of delicious Missouri wine becomes more and more tangible. It’s an exciting time to visit Missouri wine country and watch the grapes being cultivated that will become your favorite sippers. Cheers to all the grape-growers across the Show-Me state for putting in the countless hours of hard work and dedication required to grow quality grapes. We can’t have great wine without great grapes, but they know that some things are worth the work!