Le Bourgeois Winery and Vineyards Rochport, Missouri

 Le Bourgeois Winery and Vineyards, Blufftop Restaurant, Rochport, Missouri 

Heading back to Chicago from Kansas City, we took the 'normal' interstate highway route along I70. Halfway across the state, where I70 crosses the Missouri River at the exit for Rocheport, MO, is the Le Bourgeois Winery and Vineyards, arguably one of the more extensive and prolific producers in the state. 

Les Bourgeois Vineyards is family owned and operated by Curtis and Martha Bourgeois, in historic Rocheport, just one mile north of I-70, at the crossing of the Missouri River, midway between Kansas City and St. Louis.

They operate three facilities comprising Les Bourgeois Vineyards, the Tasting Room & Gift Shop at the interstate Rocheport exit, adjacent to the winery production facility, The Bistro Restaurant, a blufftop restaurant overlooking the Missouri River, and the A-Frame Winegarden.

The Winegarden is a rustic A-Frame structure overlooking the Missouri River near Rocheport, site of the original Les Bourgeois Winery, serves American 'picnic fare' with the line-up of Le Bourgeois wines.

Cory Bomgaars, head of Winery Operations and Partner at Les Bourgeois Vineyards, studied at the University of Missouri, then viticulture and enology at the notable U of Cal, Davis, is currently President of the Missouri Vintners Association.

The highlight destination worthy site is the Bistro Restaurant sitting high atop the bluff with spectacular views overlooking the Missouri River with a view downriver of the Interstate 70 bridge crossing the river.

Le Bourgeois produce two dozen different wines - dry, semi-sweet and sweet, a dozen reds, eleven whites, a blush and a dessert wine. They source from fruit they grow on over a hundred acres of vineyards along the Missouri River and other regional growers. 

They grow on their 120 acres of vineyards, the Missouri state grape Norton, Missouri St. Vincent, Chardonnel, Vidal, Catawba and Aromella, a hybrid white varietal, developed at Cornell, that is new to Les Bourgeois Vineyards. 

They produce and market a Collector's Series of 'premium' labels of select wines.  

Beyond the Le Bourgeois Collector's Series, since 1985, they have also produced a premium line of wines branded Blufftop Cellars, commemorating the blufftop restaurant overlooking the Missouri River, that they note "is the expression of decades of experience and a lifetime of collaboration with fellow vintners across the country." 

This line of 'premium' labels consists of four labels, a premium priced Cabernet Franc/Merot, a Cabernet Franc and a Cabernet Sauvignon, priced at $45, $60 and $75, double and treble the prices of the Le Bourgeois standard labels. These wines are designated "American" denoting the fruit is sourced from somewhere in the US, with no further specificity.

The Blufftop Cellars labels feature a rendering of the blufftop restaurant on the wine labels, an original work from artist Joel Sager.

They just released a twenty year old fortified dessert wine, Le Bourgeois Rocheport Reserve, bottled to commemorate the Missouri State bi-centennial, also twenty years of service of the Le Bourgeois winemaker.

They also produce several wines from fruit they source from California suppliers in Lodi and Clarksburg in the Central Valley. They produce an American Red Blend from traditionally Spanish varieties – Alvarelhão, Tinto Cao, and Souzao – all grown in Lodi, California, and a Syrah that they produce, also from fruit imported from Lodi. 

While we were there, they were unloading and 'crushing' Petit Sirah grapes trucked in from Lodi, California.  

We started at the tasting room hospitality center tasting a flight of wines outside on the patio watching the crew unload and crush grapes just arrived from California. 

We then drove a mile up the road to the Bistro Restaurant for lunch on the patio with magnificent vista views overlooking the Missouri River. 

One mile up the road towards the town of Rocheport are their Restaurant and Winegarden sites. There at that location is a six acre vineyard of Missouri Norton grapes adjacent an entertainment venue where they were holding their annual crush party. 

Our tasting flight included the following wines, tasting notes are all from the winemaker/producer unless otherwise noted: 

The Whites - 

Le Bourgeois Estate Chardonel 2019 - Estate Bottled Chardonel combines crisp pear and apple aromas with light oak to create an exquisite, full-bodied, dry white wine with a steely finish.  

This was our favorite of the whites with nice pear fruits and hints of green apple - RM 87/88.

Le Bourgeois Solay - The 2020 vintage release of a blend of Chardonel, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, with no oak aging to mask the intense tropical fruit overtones, this wine is blended with 100% of the best white grape varietals grown in Missouri. RM - Excessive acids overpower the tropical fruits - 86.

This was our least favorite of the whites coming across a bit tart with excessive acidity.

Le Bourgeois Vignobles - 2019 vintage release of this 100% Missouri Vignobles, a rich floral nose, this fresh white wine delivers a hint of sweetness and a crisp subtle finish.

The Reds -

Le Bourgeois Norton - A  full-bodied, dry red wine showcases the unique characteristics of Norton, the state grape of Missouri. A bouquet of violet and spicy earth tones with rich fruit flavors linger through a light tannin finish. RM - Think forest floor with hint of mint.

Le Bourgeois Fleur Du Vin - A non-vintage blend of the St. Vincent and Chambourcin grapes, semi-dry red wine with soft character and a light and fruity aroma is broadly appealing and reveals the uniqueness of the Missouri St. Vincent grape.

Le Bourgeois Collector's Series Syrah - This is produced from Syrah grapes grown in Lodi, California, processed in Rocheport, aged in American Oak barrels for 24 months. Blackberry, black currants, and tar are the dominant aromas, fruit forward Syrah with warm and lingering notes of candied ginger and a perfectly ripened fruit finish. RM - Black fruits with notes of tar. 

Each year, Le Bourgeois invite Missouri artists to submit artworks to be selected for use on their artist series labels - Aromella and Syrah shown left.

Le Bourgeois Collector's Series Chambourcin 2018 - Aroma of Ranier cherries bursts through in this dark, garnet red wine followed by balanced tannin structure on the pallet, acid profile is bracing and will assuage as this wine ages. RM - Tannins with fruits overtaken by excessive acids.

American Red - A blend of traditionally Spanish varieties – Alvarelhão, Tinto Cao, and Souzao – all grown in Lodi, California, an easy-to-drink, balanced dry red wine. The grapes underwent fermentation and maceration all together in a single tank, allowing their sensory qualities to intermingle from the earliest possible moment. Post fermentation, this unique wine was aged in 2 year old American oak barrels for 14 months. Black raspberry is the dominant fruit character both in the nose and on the palate.

We also tasted:

Le Bourgeois Rochport Reserve 20 Year Dessert Wine - interesting by not sufficiently inspiring to justify the $95 release price. This was nostalgic for the producer as it was produced in his first year, then aged and held for twenty years until release. 

Following our tasting at the hospitality center, we drove a mile up the road towards the town of Rocheport where they have a six acre vineyard, a recreation area and the Blufftop Restaurant. The restaurant has three levels, two for special event space with the main dining room on the middle 'ground' entry level. There we had lunch on the patio with a spectacular view looking over the Missouri River basin from the high viewpoint. 

Video of Blufftop Restaurant overlook of the Missouri River 

 We had a delightful lunch where we tasted their premium Blufftop Cellars wines with a delectable burgers, fries and a salad with the starter Warm Brie on Pastry with apples, poached cranberries, fresh berries, pecans and Jeaunette Rouge gastriche (shown below).

Le Bourgeois Blufftop Cellars
American Cabernet Franc Merlot 2018

https://missouriwine.com/wines/

https://twitter.com/lbvwinery

@lbvwinery

Fox Valley Winery and Vineyard

Illinois Wineries and Wine Production Progressing - Fox Valley Winery and Vineyard

Touring the Fox Valley river communities recently, we happened upon Fox Valley Winery tasting room. Illinois is not known for or thought of as a wine producing state, yet it is one of the leading agriculture producing states, mostly known for corn and beans. It has rich fertile soils that lend themselves well to specialty crops such as pumpkins, fruit trees and grapes. This is actually somewhat detrimental since wine grapes often thrive in poor rocky soils unsuitable for more rigorous crops.

The dichotomy of wine grape growing is that some of the most famous or best known wine regions actually are known for arid regions with minimal rainfall, rocky soils, and or steep mountainous or valley overlook hillsides where the little rainfalls drain well or run off.

Indeed, some of the most storied wines are named for or associated with rocky, even volcanic soils. Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou,  premier grand cru producer in Bordeaux actually translates to 'tiny pebbles', a tribute to the rock filled terrain which drains exceedingly well. Diamond Creek Vineyards, one of the premier wine producers in Napa Valley are known for vineyard designated wines with distinctly different vineyards that yield premier Cabernet Sauvignons. The famous legendary vineyards of Diamond Creek are Gravelly Meadow, Red Rock Terrace and Volcanic Hill.

Rocky vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape

The most concentrated richest grapes are those that are starved for nutrients, especially in years starved for rainfall during the latter part of the grape growing season.

Shown left is the vineyard of Chateau Beaucastel in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape appellation of the Southern Rhone River Valley. The soil is almost completely rocky pebbles down to twelve feet deep.

Hence Illinois is challenged with it agricultural friendly climate of seasons, rainfall and rich quality soil as a wine grape producing State. Never-the-less, wine production in Illinois is growing albeit from small empirical numbers, especially in the last five years. Last year, 80 wineries farmed 200 vineyards and produced about 500,000 gallons of wine generating about $21m in revenue. The average vineyard is relatively small, about 4.6 acres on average.

Most major popular wine regions around the world are known for specific varietals of grapes that are synonymous with those regions, such as the Bordeaux varietals associated with the famous Bordeaux wine growing region - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The legendary Burgundy wine growing region in central France is known for or associated with Burgundy varietals Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Italy is famously known for growing over 500 varietals of grapes. Sangiovese is Italy's most planted red varietal, grown in the central Italian regions of Tuscany and Umbria, and others, it is the major grape of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and the only variety in Brunello di Montalcino.

Nebbiolo grapes are grown in the Italian Piedmont region and is the primary grape in two of Italy’s  greatest red wines, Barolo and Barbaresco.

The old wine regions of the world are known for specific grapes as a result of decades or even centuries of learning, experimenting and fine-tuning grape production to their specific terroir - that specific essence of 'place' - terrain, climate and soil.

So it should not be a surprise the the selection of grapes in Illinois is still evolving and being refined, as producers learn what grapes grow best in their specific locales. At this time, the grapes mostly grown in Ilinois are Chardonnel, Chambourcin, Norton, Traminette and Vignobles.

Such is the backdrop of our recent visit to Fox Valley Winery in nearby Oswego, Illinois. We live near the Fox River that winds through the far western exburbs west of Chicago down to where it meets the Illinois River in north, west, central Illinois. The Fox River winds through river towns such as Elgin, St Charles, Geneva, adjacent Aurora, and Oswego, down to where it meets the Illinois River in Ottawa.

Fox Valley Winery sources grapes from 25 acres of vineyards farmed by the Faltz Family Vineyard and farm near Sheridan, IL. Their vines were first planted in March of 2000, along the south-facing rocky ledges of the Fox River Valley. They also source grapes from growers from various regions of the midwest including Southern Illinois and Southwestern Michigan - two more established and growing wine producing areas.

We had a chance to taste several Fox Valley wines in their tasting room at the winery on the western outskirts of Oswego, where they offer about thirty different wines. Their range of wines is broad, from dry whites and dry reds, off-dry to sweet whites and reds, to sweet wines and ultra sweet or fortified dessert wines.

We focused on their flagship Reserve and their Estate wines - those sourced from grapes grown in their own vineyards. I must admit, their wines exceeded my expectations which here-to-fore, have been set by Midwestern wines (with grapes sourced) from Michigan, Missouri and Indiana. These were more balanced, complex and sophisticated wines that did not succumb to the detrimental non-fruit flavors such as grass, wet wood and mustiness that too often predominate or infiltrate Midwestern wines.

Fox Valley Estate Grown Unoaked Chardonnay 2013

Light straw colored, medium light bodied, modest green apple fruit with hints of pear and wet stone with a crisp clean finish.

RM 85 points. 

Fox Valley Estate Grown Barrel Aged Chardonnay 2013

Almost indiscernible from the unoaked label, a slight oak tone may differentiate the two, but it is oh so subtle. In a blind tasting, only the most discriminating might pick up the difference.

RM 85 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2471799


R. A. Faltz Vintner Reserve 2011

Their flagship or signature wine, as it is named for the proprietor / winemaker. Like expensive premium wines from around the world, this wine is aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels for fourteen months. Other recent vintages were aged for ten and eighteen months respectively.

Garnet colored, medium bodied, as one might expect from red wines from this part of the country, the fruits were modest and rather subdued, especially when compared to big forward fruit bombs from some of the world's leading wine regions. However, it was surprisingly approachable, reasonably balanced, and almost bordering on sophisticated drinking, with earthy leather, tones of tobacco and hints of cedar, with impressive moderate tannins on a lingering finish.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2471781
 

Fox Valley Illinois Cabernet Franc 2011

Perhaps reflecting the cost of the fruit for this is sourced from 100% Illinois grown Cabernet Franc, which is one of the Bordeaux varietals, this was the most expensive wine on the list at $45.

Like the Faltz VR above, dark garnet colored, medium bodied, the fruits again were rather modest and subdued with a slight astringency turning to earthy leather, slight spice and black pepper, with moderate firm tannins on the finish.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2471788


Fox Valley Heritage Collection 2008

A blend of Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin and Corot Noir. Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, nicely balanced, modest black cherry fruit turning to earthy leather with hint of creosote on a moderate lingering tannin finish.

At around half the price of the flagship wine, and almost a third of the Cabernet Franc, this represents a more appropriate price-point and reflects reasonable value in this approachable easy drinking red sipper.

RM 84 points.


https://www.foxvalleywinery.com/