Missouri is the New Napa
(page 1 of 5)
If visiting California’s vineyard-rich Napa Valley is on your bucket list, forget about shelling out big bucks for plane tickets. The people at Missouri’s vineyards and wineries have been cultivating grapes and churning out wine for almost 150 years, and we’ll show you how to create your own little wine-tasting road trip across your home state. There’s plenty to see, do and eat along the way.
What does Napa Valley, the wine enthusiast’s dream vacation spot, have that Missouri doesn’t have? Hills and valleys? We have them. Long summers for optimal grape growing? We have those, too. Pretty scenery that’s worthy of a long drive with the top down? C’mon, you know we have that.
Missouri’s wineries have been churning out the yummy red and white (and pink) stuff for nearly a century and a half. While some of our state’s wineries specialize in fruit and berry wines, this state is not a one-trick pony. Enter: The Norton grape, one of our local varietals. This dark grape that thrives in Missouri yields robust, dry red wines that are anything but sweet. In fact, they are award-winning in some cases.
As the hot summer winds to a close and we start to head toward comfortable autumn days, it might be time to give your local grapes a chance and take a tour of Missouri’s wineries. According to the Missouri Wine & Grape Board, there are more than 80 wineries in the state, and several of them are clustered together in a few specific regions. Those regions are the focus of this story. We’ll tell you what wineries to visit there (a few of many), as well as where to eat and where to stay nearby.
