Summer is here and so is Concord month. Cool off with this sweet red wine that pairs great with warm weather.

Concord, pronounced kahn-kord, is a deep, dark plum colored wine that smells like a jar of concord grape jelly. Its candy-like sweetness pairs well with cheddar cheese, BBQ, pork chops, orange chicken, spicy seafood, nutmeg, vanilla, poached pear, figs, grape pie and chocolate.

Concord accounts for 7% of all grapes grown in Missouri. There are 120.5 bearing acres of concord grapes in the state.

Missouri Wines invites you to cool off with Concord on a hot summer day!

Looking for a delicious sangria for your next get-together? Skip the online search and go with this refreshing recipe that features a dry white Missouri wine. This recipe also calls for a liqueur that you may never have added to your sangrias in the past – elderflower. Try something new and see why this sangria is the perfect choice for summertime entertaining.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
• 1 bottle dry white Missouri wine
• 2 tbsp Elderflower liqueur
• 2 cups lemon lime soda
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 to 2 Granny Smith apples
• Club soda

Directions:

Stir together the dry white wine and elderflower liqueur. Add lemon lime soda. To give your sangria a red, white and blue theme, gently stir in raspberries, blueberries and apples cut in the shape of stars. (Who knew that holiday cookie cutters were so versatile?) To give your beverage a more colorful hue, muddle the fruit to release some of their hue and flavor. Add a splash of club soda and enjoy!    

Looking for a delicious sangria for your next get-together? Skip the online search and go with this refreshing recipe that features a dry white Missouri wine. This easy to make recipe also calls for a liqueur that you may never have added to your sangrias in the past – elderflower. Try something new and see why this sangria is the perfect choice for summertime entertaining.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
• 1 bottle dry white Missouri wine
• 2 tbsp Elderflower liqueur
• 2 cups lemon lime soda
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 to 2 Granny Smith apples
• Club soda

Directions

Stir together the dry white wine and elderflower liqueur. Add lemon lime soda. To give your sangria a red, white and blue theme, gently stir in raspberries, blueberries and apples cut in the shape of stars. (Who knew that holiday cookie cutters were so versatile?) To give your beverage a more colorful hue, muddle the fruit to release some of their hue and flavor. Add a splash of club soda and enjoy!    

Missouri’s 130+ wineries produce amazing wine, including unique wines that will surprise even the pickiest palate.

Fruity
If your palate prefers fruity flavors, you may enjoy Hermannhof’s Cherry, Montelle Winery’s Red Raspberry, West Winery’s Sweet Blackberry, St. James Winery’s Mango or Strawberry, Stone Hill Winery’s Peach. Other fruity favorites include Tipple Hill Winery and Vineyard’s Black Cherry, Stonehaus Farms Vineyard and Winery’s Apple Cranberry, Hemman Winery’s Apricot, Pirtle Winery’s Blueberry, Odessa Country Winery’s Pear, 7C’s Winery’s Apple or Endless Summer Winery’s Pineapple.

Baked Goods
If you’re craving something delicious from the bakery, try St. James Winery’s Apple Pie, West Winery’s Spiced Apple or Windy Wine Company’s Blueberry Muffin. Ladoga Ridge Winery makes a flavorful Strawberry Rhubarb.

Spicy
If you’re a fan of spicy, try Endless Summer Winery’s Habanero or Jalapeno wines. They also feature a Raspberry Chipotle wine that begins with semi-sweet raspberry and quickly moves to a light smoky flavor, then finishes with a bit of a jalapeno/peppery flavor.

Nostalgia
Who doesn’t want to go back to their childhood favorite from time to time? Windy Wine Company’s Peanut Butter and Jelly wine is sure to make you nostalgic for classic PB & J sandwiches.  

We hope you try one of these and many of the other unique wines that can be found at Missouri wineries. For a complete list of wineries, visit www.missouriwine.org/wineries.

*This is not an all-inclusive list of unique wines Missouri wineries offer. Photos are credited to wineries.

What’s better than a clean, crisp white wine? Adding it to a delicious pasta salad. Pasta Primavera with Vidal Blanc is a flavorful dish that is full of beautifully colored vegetables, making it a great summertime dish. It’s easy to make and sure to impress your guests while they relax on the patio or poolside this season.

Servings: 4 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 28 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 oz farfalle pasta
• 1/4 cup leftover liquid from cooking pasta
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 cup sliced asparagus (1 inch pieces)
• 1/2 cup minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/4 cup Vidal Blanc
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 pt baby grape tomatoes (cut in halves)
• 1 diced yellow onion
• 1 diced summer squash

Instructions

Cook the pasta in salted water according to package instructions. Remember to save 1/4 cup cooking liquid before draining. While cooking the pasta, preheat a large skillet over medium low heat for a couple of minutes. Once preheated, add butter to the pan. Add diced onion and sliced asparagus and cook for two minutes. Add diced squash and cook another two minutes. Add the frozen peas. Cook for another two minutes. Stir in salt, pepper and minced garlic. Do not let the garlic burn. Cook one more minute. Add Vidal Blanc and cook a minute and a half. Turn off the heat after the wine has cooked. Add tomatoes and cooked pasta. Stir to combine. Add cooking liquid from the pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Serve immediately.

Refrigerate any leftovers and enjoy them later, cold or reheated.

Vidal Blanc, pronounced vee-dahl blahnk, is a French-American hybrid grape that most often produces a dry to semi-dry wine with fragrances of a fresh summer garden. Clean, citrus fruit flavors of apples and lemon make this wine a summertime favorite.

There are nearly 140 acres of Vidal Blanc grapes in Missouri which account for 8.2% of all grapes grown in the state. These grape vines do well in winter months and are susceptible to mildew and several other fungus diseases.

Vidal Blanc pairs best with simple, fresh ingredients like basil and garlic, as well as seafood and poultry. Perhaps the most perfect pairings for Vidal Blanc are warm summer days and a patio.

Missouri Wines invites you to enjoy a glass of Vidal Blanc, simple like a summer day.

Who knew fruit wine could pair so well with food? Many Missouri wineries offer a variety of fruit wines that you can pair with your favorite dish.

This season, make the beef kabob and dip recipe that’s guaranteed to be a real crowd-pleaser. Grill mouth-watering morsels of sirloin steak along with your favorite fruits and veggies, then dip them into a delicious sauce featuring a dry, Missouri white wine. It’s easy to make so what are you waiting for? Watch our step-by-step video and fire up the grill today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0QZfuBSwGQ

Skewer ingredients
• 1 beef Top Sirloin Steak Boneless, about 1-1/2 pounds, cut 1 inch thick
• 2 tsp coarse ground black pepper 
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• Red Onion
• Pineapple
• Green, red or orange peppers

Dipping Sauce Ingredients 
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 14 oz oasted red peppers, rinsed, drained, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (Vidal Blanc)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed or 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme 
• 1 cup unsalted beef broth
• 2 tsp cornstarch 

Sirloin steak seasoning instructions

Add salt, course ground black pepper, sweet paprika and minced garlic to sirloin steak, then add your favorite fruits and veggies. Grill to perfection!

Cave Hollow West Winery features an entire wine series that pays homage to Mark Twain. The winery is located across the street from the Mark Twain Cave Complex in Hannibal, the boyhood home of the legendary author. 

Satire, the winery’s newest dry white wine, is dedicated to Mark Twain’s legendary dry wit. The author, known for his satire, knew how to weave a good tale – some tall and unbelievable - others he swore were true, including the story of his birth. Twain claimed that Haley’s Comet passed overhead as he was born in 1835 and prophesied that he would die as it passed again. Twain died when earth passed through the tail of Haley’s comet on April 21, 1910.