Missouri Wines Take Home the Gold and Silver in 2009

Being born and residing in Missouri most of my life, I couldn't resist sharing our winery news! Yes, I am going to reiterate a list of our winery honors recently, however, I will also be sharing with you my own view of the wines as I have tasted them! I have even visited and lived near most of them at some point in my life.

Let's start with a look at the St James winery. It is located off the interstate between St Louis and Rolla or accessible via the highway that runs from Jefferson City to Rolla. In addition to great wines, they host great annual events! One of the things I regret never doing while I lived thirty minutes from this winery is participating in their Stomp Grapes festival. It always seemed so "A Walk in the Clouds" to me and sounded like great fun. They offer a variety of wines, I tend to drink fruity flavors. I avoid dry or harsh tastes. Nobody does sweet wine like the St James Winery! Their wine will satisfy your sweet palate and having you pour another glass before you realize it. They recently won three double gold medals at the Annual Monterey Wine competition in California. The winners were: Chardonel, Concord Dessert Wine, Strawberry Wine, and country red wine. The Strawberry wine is the one I recommend if you enjoy a fruity, sweet drink. St James won medals again at the Jerry Mead New World International Competition.

Another popular wine if you live in Missouri is Stone Hill Wine. They have two branches of operation in Branson and Hermann. I am not familiar with events or activities at the Branson location as I lived closer to the Hermann winery. Stone Hill participates in the city of Hermann's October fest each year. Celebrated traditionally with roots in the German wine festival. This event is great fun! It lasts the entire weekend and it is best to make your reservations well in advance. This event is highly popular and draws crowds from all over the Missouri and surrounding states. You can sample a variety of wines and enjoy night life in Missouri like no other time of the year. Live music will play at some venues and the bars are happy to keep you happy and in good spirits throughout the event.

Stone Hill is not only a delicious wine treat, but it also offers prestigious bottling and labeling to make it ideal for corporate gift giving occasions. In fact, my tasting experience with Stone Hill was because of a corporate Christmas gift we received. The wine we had was a bit dry, however, it had enough sweet to satisfy my craving and I really did enjoy this wine. We had their Norton special and it was certainly a delicious treat! They also offer some bubbly for those that prefer this type of drink. Recently, Stone Hill a double and two golds for their vignole wines at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. This is an outstanding award that is very prestigious.

There are a few other awards and wineries worth mentioning in Missouri, however, I am unable to personally attest to the products as I cannot recall having tried these particular wineries. At the Jerry Mead New World International Competition four Missouri wineries received accolades. Blumenhoff, Les Bourgeis, and Wyldewood Cellars all received medals in this showing. All in all, this was a good year for Missouri wineries in competitions. If you haven't had the chance to sample Missouri's wine offerings, do yourself a favor and check into their websites!

Sources: http://blogs.pitch.com/fatcity/2009/04/missouri_wines_bring_home_th.php