Mardi Gras is a French term that directly translated means Fat Tuesday. And what would a celebration called Fat Tuesday be without good food? And what is good food without good wine? Incomplete! Spice up your Mardi Gras celebrations with delicious food and wine pairings.

Pair these classic Mardi Gras dishes with the perfect Missouri wine:

• Gumbo with Chambourcin if you’re a red wine fan or Chardonel if you prefer white wine

• Jambalaya with Norton or Concord wine

• Seafood Étouffeé made with and paired with Seyval Blanc wine

• Muffalettas with Catawba wine

• Oyster Po’ Boy Sandwiches with dry sparkling or Vignoles wine

• Shrimp and Grits with Vidal Blanc wine

• Red Beans and Rice with Chambourcin wine

• Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce with Traminette wine

• Beignets with sweet sparkling wine

• King Cake with Catawba wine

Many of these classic Mardi Gras dishes tend to be on the spicy side. You can of course customize the level of heat if you’re making them at home, but remember this handy rule if you’re going for the fiery version… “Sweet cuts heat!” A wine with some level of sweetness will help cool the burn of spicy food.

Missouri wine pairs well with Mardi Gras!

Chocolate is decadent and delicious. Wine is rich and robust. Put them together and you get perfection! Pair the best Missouri wine with your (or your sweetheart’s) favorite chocolate using the guide found here.

Norton, the official state grape of Missouri, is known for its ability to age well. Ever wondered why, or how aging wine changes it?

Aging wine can potentially improve the quality of a wine through complex chemical reactions involving the wine’s sugars, acids, and phenolic compounds (i.e. tannins). However, aging wine doesn’t automatically improve it, and there is such a thing as too old when it comes to wine. Different wines age at different rates and once they’ve peaked they can start to deteriorate.

Norton, while delicious now, is often a good candidate for aging because of its tannic structure and acidity. The ability of a wine to age well can be influenced by the grape variety, vintage, viticulture practices, wine region, and wine making style. So, while many Missouri Norton wines age gracefully, it’s always good to take the winemaker’s cellar life recommendations into consideration.

What happens to a wine when it’s aging? First of all, there’s a needed distinction here. We’re talking about bottle aging orcellaring. Missouri winemakers often age Norton wines in barrels prior to bottling. Barrel-aging imparts its own unique and compelling characteristics on the wine. Bottle-aging can alter the aroma, color, mouthfeel, and taste of a wine.

As wine ages, the harsh, young tannins give way to a softer mouthfeel; the color fades (from an inky dark to a light red brick color, for example); the bouquet becomes more developed and multi-layered; and the flavor becomes more complex. At its peak, an aged Norton wine can be a wonderful experience, completely different from that of a young Norton.

There are always exceptions, but as a general rule, Missouri Norton wines age slowly for the first 5 years, reaching their peak in 8-10 years with a suggested aging limit of 15 years. Some recommendations for a good wine aging environment:

• Bottles laid on their sides to keep the corks from drying out.
• A cool (approximately 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature is best for storing wine while aging.
• A dark area is best as the ultra violet rays from sunlight can lead to premature oxidation.
• Avoid vibration and heat fluctuation as they can hasten deterioration in the wine.

So, the next time you’re purchasing a bottle of Norton, consider buying a couple extra to cellar. If you have the patience, it can certainly be a fun experience to see how they change over the years. Missouri Norton pairs well with your cellar.

Sandwiches are easily one of the most customizable dishes you can create. Use this guide to build your best sandwich and pair it with the perfect Missouri wine.

When there is a chill in the air there is nothing better than a steaming bowl of soup to warm you up. Here are some soup and wine pairing suggestions, because what is better than soup on a frigid winter night? Soup and a glass of wine!

• French Onion Soup + Norton
• Broccoli Cheese Soup + Vidal Blanc
• Minestrone + Chambourcin
• Black Bean + Vignoles (especially if your black bean soup is spicy)
• Potato Leek + Chardonel
• Butternut Squash Soup + Traminette
• Tomato Soup + Norton
• Vegetable Soup + Seyval Blanc

There are countless soup recipes out there for everything from the traditional chicken soup to the most adventurous stew, and you’ve probably perfected a few of your own. Have you ever tried using wine as an ingredient? Cooking with wine can add depth and richness. Here is a selection of delicious soups made with wine.

White Wine Chicken Soup: Talk about a traditional winter meal. Chicken soup is good for the soul, as they say. It’s even better when made with a rich, oaky Chardonel wine. Tip: The longer this recipe cooks, the better it tastes, but it’s really simple. Make it on a day when you’ll be around the house for awhile.

Red Wine Beef Stew: This stew recipe is pure comfort and will warm you on even the most frigid of days. A dry Chambourcin wine works especially well with the beef, mushrooms and thyme in this recipe. Serve it with crusty bread or over rice to take advantage of the rich gravy.

“Dad’s Favorite Seafood Stew”: And that’s really saying something as the recipe author’s family was in the retail fish and seafood business for almost 80 years! This is a fantastically bright seafood stew that will warm you up without weighing you down.  A dry Seyval Blanc wine serves this recipe well.

Silky Leek and Red Wine Soup: This lush leek soup is creamy and comforting. The firm structure of a Norton wine lends this recipe an extra level of flavor, and the presentation is fantastic.

Soupe au Vin Blanc (White Wine Soup): This recipe has rustic roots, but with its creamy, rich flavor, it can stand up to even the most discerning of palates. A light, crisp Vidal Blanc wine is the perfect choice when making this delicious dish.

It’s the perfect time of year to try new things. If you have friends with an interest in wine, why not start your very own wine tasting club. A wine tasting club (not to be confused with a wine club, which is a membership with different benefits offered at many wineries) is a lot like a book club, but the focus is on wine. There are lots of ways you could go about organizing your wine tasting club. There is no singular “right” way, but here are some suggestions to get your started. 

Host the 1st Meeting: 

• Decide on the guest list. Inviting 6-10 people to start with is a good number. The group will most likely grow naturally as it progresses. So, you don’t want to start too big. (Remember: The more people, the more wine, food, glassware, and space needed.) 
• Send an invitation with all the details for the 1st gathering. Depending on your group’s preference, this can be a traditional or digital invitation. Focus on fun and education in the invite. You want to avoid intimidating anyone. (Tip: Ask the guests to bring their calendars to help when planning future events.) 
• Use the first meeting to get organized: 
  • Decide on a schedule. Do you want to meet monthly/bi-monthly? Consider alternating the hosting responsibility/privilege. Once you’ve decided on a schedule, setting up an online calendar that all members can access is a great way to stay on the same page. Another option is to set an automatic date such as the 2nd Thursday each month. 
  • Choose how you’d like to purchase the wines. Would your group prefer to have the host purchase a flight of wines to taste and reimburse at the event? Or would each member prefer to select and bring a bottle according to a previously chosen theme? (Tip: Set a price limit on the wines to keep everything as fair and affordable as possible.)
  • Brainstorm what types of wine you’d like to taste. The wine world is vast. Brainstorming ideas for themes of future meetings will allow each member the opportunity to explore something they in which they are particularly interested. (Examples of themes: Sweet Red, Dry White, Varietals, Areas, Wines Under $10… )
  • Select the scoring method. One of the most fun aspects of a wine tasting club is getting to discuss the wines you’ve tasted. This is made a great deal easier if everyone is using a streamlined method of evaluating them. You can create your own score cards as serious or as silly as you’d like, or check out these free printable options. (If your group decides to bring in the wines individually, it can be a fun component to see who has the “winning” wine of the evening.) 
  • Don’t forget the food! Wine and food go together. Whether your group wants to approach the food pot-luck style or have the host provide the nosh, keep in mind what wines you will be tasting. (Here’s a handy Missouri wine and food pairing guide to get you started, but the whole idea of a wine tasting club is to experiment. So, have fun with it!). *There are Wine Tasting Kits available to make hosting and organizing a wine tasting club even easier, such as this one from a local Missouri company called Belle Bash, or this one available on Amazon.

A wine tasting club is a great way to have fun with friends and learn about wine while you’re at it. There are no rules. Your club can be as serious or as casual as you’d prefer. Make it your own and have fun. 

Missouri wine pairs well with good times and great friends! 

Missouri wineries like to do things a little differently. With more than 125 wineries, you’re sure to find wines as unique and authentic as the people making them. The grapes we grow aren’t mainstream, but they sure are delicious. Many wineries in the state go a few steps farther from the beaten path making a variety of fruit wines and meads. Mead, often called honey-wine, is a beverage created by fermenting honey with water, and frequently fruits, spices, or grains. There are countless different types and styles of mead, but the defining characteristic is that the majority of the fermentable sugar comes from honey. Mead can be still or sparkling and ranges from dry to sweet and everything in between, even spicy!

Mead can be dated as far back as 2000 BC and is considered to be the ancestor of all fermented drinks. While descriptions and evidence of mead can be found in the history of numerous cultures, it gained much of its fame due to its popularity in central Europe. Mead is featured in numerous Germanic myths and stories about the Viking era from which many popular authors such as Tolkien, George R.R. Martin and Neil Gaiman have drawn inspiration. In Gaiman’s acclaimed novel, American Gods, mead is referred to as the drink of the gods.

Modern mead made by Missouri wineries holds up to the lore, winning national and international awards. Several wineries have made their mark offering a variety of styles and flavors of mead and a winery opened recently with the sole focus of making mead, called The Leaky Roof Meadery in Buffalo, offering four unique meads that are slightly carbonated and intended to be enjoyed by the pint.

Pirtle Winery in Weston boasts a plethora of awards for their Mead, Effervescent Mead, Blackberry Mead, and Raspberry Mead. Pirtle’s Mead pairs beautifully with cheesecake and spiced pears while their Raspberry Mead is the perfect addition to brunch.

7Cs Winery in Walnut Grove offers seven different kinds of mead ranging from the traditional Clover to After Burn featuring a surprising kick from jalapeño peppers. They also offer seasonal favorites such as pumpkin. 7Cs hosts a Mead Fest and Renaissance Fair every Fall to celebrate the beverage and the era that made it famous.

Windy Wine Company in Osborn produces several styles of mead: Wildflower (made with 100% raw Missouri wildflower honey), Campfire, Chipotle, Sparkling Hopped, Golden Griffin (made with Missouri clover honey), and Gingerbread Mead (made with Missouri dark honey).

Seasonally, Wenwood Farm Winery offers a Legacy Mead, made with a fragrant, sweet white grape and honey blend. Legacy is their Spring seasonal wine and is released the last Saturday in April at their Redbud Fest.

Honey is a celebration of springtime’s arrival. Toast the warmer weather and new season with a glass of Missouri mead.

Missouri mead pairs well with Spring!

Chambourcin (sham-bor-san). If you haven’t tried it yet, now is the time! Often called Missouri’s gateway red, it is a deliciously smooth red wine varietal that has soft tannins and an unmistakable earthiness. These characteristics coupled with a fruity quality make it perfect to pair with many foods. The flavor palate of fall favorites in particular is a great match for this medium to full-bodied red wine.

November is Chambourcin Month, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by pairing your favorite dishes of the season with a glass of Chambourcin today.

Here are some foods that pair especially well with wine made from this French-American hybrid grape:

Cheeses: brie, camembert

Meats: pork loin, short ribs, sausage, hamburger

Seafood: swordfish

Vegetables and Fruit: mushroom, strawberries, figs,

Sauces: red-sauce, mushroom gravy, applesauce

Spices: nutmeg, clove, cinnamon

Sweets: berry cobbler, chocolate cake

… just to name a few! Mix and match to find your best pairing.

Missouri Chambourcin pairs well with a long list of delicious food!

Hosting holiday meals can be stressful, but this guide is a great way to take some of the headache out of holiday meal planning! Find the perfect wine pairings for the type of Thanksgiving meal you and your loved ones prefer. 

The holidays are a great time for us to show our loved ones how much we care. What better way than with a handmade gift?! Here are some great DIY gift ideas for the wine lovers on your list. 

Make your own mulling spice sachets and give them in a pair or set of wine glasses with a bottle of your fave Missouri wine for mulling (Chambourcin works exceptionally well). Instructions here from HappyHourProjects.com. 

DIY wine bottle stoppers are an easy inexpensive gift option, and so easy to customize! Stay festive by using ornaments or think outside of the box with decorative door knobs or painted figurines. The possibilities are limitless. Instructions here from PartiesforPennies.com. 

Glam up some wine glasses. Champagne flutes are especially fun for this project, but you could use any glass that strikes your fancy. Instructions here from SomethingTurquoise.com. (They’re even dishwasher safe!) 

Whip up a set of wine glass coasters to eliminate the dreaded red-wine-ring and identify which glass belongs to whom. This is an easy sewing project that is super easy to customize for the recipient’s tastes. Instructions here from Muslinandmerlot.blogspot.com. 

It’s true, wine glasses are beautiful. If you’re an ambitious DIY-er looking for a project that will really make an impression, consider this gorgeous wine glass chandelier. Instructions here from Marc&Mandy.

Does someone on your list like to entertain? This wine barrel inspired tray or lazy Susan will be the perfect DIY gift for them. Instructions from LilBlueBoo.com. 

Customized wine tote by simply sewing a seam down the middle of a basic tote bag… viola! You have a two bottle tote bag. This tutorial from InfarrantlyCreative.com includes customizing the bags with a silhouette cutting machine, but if you don’t have one, try making stamps out of corks and customizing the totes that way. Or simply use a pencil eraser for a pixilated, ombré look like this one shown on VandCO.

Missouri wine pairs well with DIY gifts from the heart (and hands)!