It’s been an eventful year; 2016 has brought all kinds of changes. The Show Me State wine industry has seen new wineries open, the introduction of an exciting rewards program, tons of awards and honors, and much more. Here are some of the highlights of 2016 in Missouri wine country.

Welcomed six new wineries.

The number of wineries in the state just keeps growing! We added six new wineries this year:

• Curling Vine Winery with locations in New Florence and Branson
• Dale Hollow Winery in Stover
• Eagles’ Landing in St. James
• KC Wineworks in the Crossroads District of Kansas City
• McCullough House Winery in Thayer

Debuted a newly redesigned website.

At the beginning of 2016 we unveiled a completely redesigned website we hope serves you well as the resource for all things Missouri wine. On our site you can find info about all the 130+ wineries, food and wine pairings, recipes, infographics, videos and more.

Kicked off an exciting rewards program called MVP.

September 1^st marked the beginning of the highly anticipated Missouri Winery Visitors Program. Are you an MVP? It’s easy! All you do is sign up online, get tickets when you visit wineries, enter your tickets for points and use your points to get great rewards. The program runs through 2017, so sign up now!

Added two beloved varietals to our varietal month celebrations.

In 2016 we officially named April as Chardonel Month and July as Concord Month. We look forward to continuing the celebration of these fantastic Missouri grape varietals for years to come.

Honored… time and time again.

The Missouri wine industry has a long and proud history, and that pride carries through.

• We were honored with the Allied Industry Award by the Cattlemen’s Association
• Dr. Peter Hofherr, CEO of St. James Winery and Chairman of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board was named the Secretary/Treasurer of the National Grape and Wine Initiative for 2016.
• Ken Meyer, owner of Meyer Farms Winery, received the prestigious President's Award from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
• Bob Mueller, owner of Robller Vineyard, was honored as one of the "50 Missourians You Should Know" by Ingram's Magazine.
• Jowler Creek Winery was named one of Kansas City’s 25 Under 25 by Thinking Bigger Business Media.

… just to name a few.

Named another class of delicious, award-winning wines.

The 2016 Missouri Wine Competition saw more than 300 entries and a team of world-class wine experts awarded a new class of award-worthy wines, including crowning St. James Winery’s 2015 Vignoles the top honor of Governor’s Cup.

Welcomed a new AVA to the state.

An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Missouri is home to the country’s first designated AVA (Augusta, named in 1980), and in 2016 the Loess Hills District AVA was named. The new area covers the northwest corner of the Show Me State.

While we can’t cover everything exciting that happened in 2016, we hope this was a nice reminder of the exciting times we had this year. Thank you for your support of the local wine industry in Missouri over the past twelve months, and cheers to another great year in 2017!