Missouri Wine Country Tours and Tastings by the Good Cheap Wine Guide

Diddy-boppin Missouri’s Wineries

September 17th, 2008 · 7 Comments

Back when my wife was a kid they had this term they used for driving around and exploring. They called it “diddy-boppin”. Well we did a little diddy-boppin today in Hermann Missouri checking out wineries. We planned a more complete day. Get up early. Get to St. Charles to pick up the package for the Lewis and Clark Marathon tomorrow. (No, I am not running in the marathon, my wife Jodi was doing 13.1.) Get down to Hermann to watch the start of the next leg for the Tour of Missouri bike race, hit the wineries and get home early enough for our little runner to grab a good nights sleep.

Well, we started late, stopped for lunch at a sportsbar, had a cheeseburger with a bunch of Mizzou fans while wearing my Illinois Football shirt, got to Hermann well after the race start but still managed to still hit a couple of wineries.

If you leave St. Charles and head out West on Highway 94 and head towards Hermann you drive right by some great wineries where on weekends you can enjoy tastings, tours and entertainment. There are both large and micro-wineries along the highway that thrive on this weekend tourism and put out barbecues, music and specials. Each has it’s own personality. All in all, spending the afternoon looking at the hills of Missouri, drinking a great cheap wine, listening to live music and talking to friends sure beats raking leaves.

If you can afford the gas right now, Fall is the peak of the season. The small towns are as wide open for business as the wineries. You’ll find B&Bs, antique stores and special weekend events all in play from now until the end of October.

Stonehill Winery We started off at Stone Hill Winery. Stone Hill is a real success story and probably the best known Missouri winery. The wine tour is one of the most popular attractions in wine country. It’s not unusual to see tour buses unloading for the tour, the tastings or their great little restaurant. We hit the tasting bar and met some really great people who had made a weekend out of the wineries and the Tour of Missouri, and sampled the award winning Norton, Vidal Blanc and Vignoles before deciding to move on. I liked both the whites, especially the sweeter Vignoles, but just can’t seem to get my taste buds wrapped around a Norton.

We knew we would be pressed for time but just the same stopped by the lesser known Adam Puchta winery also in Hermann. This facility is not near as touristy as Stone Hill but equally rewarding for a visit. The winery is nestled back off the road in a more intimate setting than Stone Hill.

Adam Puchta Winery What the summer outdoor tasting room lacked in decor it made it up with personality. We had a great time tasting with Mary on the other side of the bar serving wine, wisdom and crackers. Mary would have us try different cracker flavors and then sample the proper wine for that taste. (I would say, “Thats a little dry.” and Mary would say “No, it’s not dry, it’s the oak.”). Key lime crackers, for example, (which are so good they could be addictive) are great with the Vignoles that Adam Puchta bottles and the asiago was great with the Hunters Red. We had a super time. Much to my surprise, after Mary’s insistence, we sampled the Norton but only after putting a bit of chocolate in our mouths. Wow, I liked a Norton. Not being a total stooge I cleansed my palate and tried it again. I still liked the Adam Puchta Norton! Amazed at the discovery we had to buy a bottle. We also bought some Hunters Red and the Vignoles. I’ll do wine quests on those soon.

Missouri Wine Country, we are putting you on notice. We’ll be back!

Cheers from the wine oaf.

Sphere: Related Content

Tags: Missouri Wineries · Adam Puchta Winery · Stone Hill Winery

7 responses so far ↓

1 dewman // Sep 21, 2008 at 3:05 pm

I didn’t care for wine too much until I tried an Adam Puchta Norton a few years ago. I’ve tried others but I still think it is one of the best Nortons around.
2 wineguide // Sep 21, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Have to agree dewman. The Bethlehem Winery is also pretty decent. Have you tried that one?
3 dewman // Sep 24, 2008 at 8:31 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I did not know about that one.The Augusta Winery is the only “in town” winery that I’ve stopped at so far. I’ll look for it next time I’m in Augusta and try a bottle (or two.)
4 wineguide // Sep 25, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Dewman,
LOL . Two always sounds good. I haven’t been to their winery so I’m not sure where it is located. Let me know what you find out! Stay in touch wine brother.
Wine Oaf
5 dewman // Sep 28, 2008 at 9:39 pm

Adam Puchta is still my fav Norton. But the Augusta competition has the better bottle for the price given their case discount . Iprefer the Augusta label, with Montelle 2d
6 Rhodies // Dec 27, 2008 at 6:39 am

Curiously, I was introduced to a Norton wine nine years ago by a close friend whose relative had helped in establishing Robller Vineyard (www.robllerwines.com). From that wine introduction I have made pilgrimages with my wife recently to twelve Virginia and twenty-five Missouri Norton vineyards! Before continuing, please understand that I have no great knowledge about wines, but only relate to you what I personally enjoyed tasting in dry red wines.

The two Virginia heavies in Norton wine production would be Horton (www.hvwine.com) and Chrysalis Vineyard (www.chrysaliswine.com). I would say that Horton’s mission is to introduce to the general public good wines at fair prices and to this they unquestionably succeed. Chrysalis, on the other hand, obviously wants to produce the very best Norton’s on the east coast regardless of price. And to that I would state, they do this quite successfully. Both are wonderful examples of the east coast Norton varietal. But I would like to add that our two favorite Norton wines on this exploration on the east coast turned out to be from two small farm-like venues: Cooper Winery (www.coopervineyards.com) and from Pennsylvania’s Stone Mountain Wine Cellars (www.stonemountainwinecellars.com). Both were wonderful variations on a theme of Norton grapes. As for a soft and easy tasting table-wine Norton, don’t pass up Abingdon Vineyard’s Norton (www.abingdonwinery.com).

On to Missouri where the choices becomes harder. Whereas Virginia has only 12 out of 133 wineries producing Norton wines, Missouri has 53 out of 77 wineries producing Norton wines! One statement made from a Norton web wine page was not to compare a Norton wine to any similar wine from Europe or from California. Likewise, I would say not to compare Virginia Norton wines to Missouri Norton wines since they are produced under different climatic and soil situations. The same grape, but two different scenarios.

Missouri has several large producers of Norton wines; as, Crown Valley (www.crownvalleywinery.com), St. James (www.stjameswinery.com), Stone Hill (www.stonehillwinery.com), etc. Crown Valley has an enormous wine production program which makes a nice Norton in tremendous volume. St. James Winery has a similar mission as the Horton’s Winery of Virginia in that they want to educate and introduce to its public good affordable wines. Don’t let these affordable prices dissuade you into thinking that these are only “cheaper” wines. On the contrary, they are bargain wines and stand up well to the best-that-Missouri has to offer. St. James goes the next step in offering “reserve” wines that are markedly finer, but still at wonderful prices. But to tell you our favorite Norton wine becomes a hard chore. Let me list a few with comments:

Chandler Hill Vineyards (http://chandlerhillvineyards.com/) may be the new kid on the block, but what a taste explosion they laid introducing their Norton “Savage” wine. After participating in a tasting of six of Missouri’s Nortons at St. Louis’ Norton Wine Festival 2008, this came out second only to a Stone Hill’s Norton selection that was not publicly available. An interesting winery that is proud of its historic surroundings and goes to great lengths to preserve this history.

Blumenhof Winery (www.blumenhof.com) produces a Norton which they have cleverly named “Original CYN” which won the 2008 Tasters Guild International Wine Judging and the 2008 Missouri Wine Competition gold medals. Unfortunately they ship directly only to MO & CA and at this time have depleted their 2006 Norton wine holdings. This is a vineyard that works hand-in-hand with nature providing a vineyard tree edge which accepts a 10% loss of grapes to it’s fine fed feathered friends. I think it maybe possible to have their wines shipped by larger Missouri distributors, but more inquiry is needed here.

Montelle Winery (www.montelle.com) is a sister winery to Augusta Winery. Simply put, a fine Norton at great case prices after discounts added.

I throw in at this point another Norton wine producer for different reasons. And that would be River Ridge Winery (www.riverridgewinery.com). Friendly atmosphere with a Norton offering that is unique in that you get to contrast two barreled Norton wines. The same grapes from the same location, from the same year, but one called Norton (aged in American Oak) and the other named Cynthianna (aged in French Oak).

Röbller Vineyard Winery (www.robllerwines.com) makes a Norton that sits right in the middle offering a great value wine that successfully caters to tastes that go the gamete north-to-south / east-to-west. Need a picnic or dinner wine? This one can go either way.

And to conclude my Missouri tasting treats, let me add Heinrichshaus Winery (www.heinrichshaus.com). I include this small winery because its proprietor insists that Cynthianna grapes were a sport of Norton grapes and his wines are “true” Cynthianna. He’ll even show you the picture difference between the growing habits of the grape clusters. Supposedly there is not any controversy about the Cynthianna/Norton grape any more, . . . . . . . . . ., or is it?
7 wineguide // Dec 30, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Rhodies,…nice…sounds like you really know your Nortons! Fill us in anytime. I’ll check out the wineries you mentioned. Thanks for the tips! Happy New Year.