Missouri Wine Experience

Missouri Wine Experience 

Last week, we took an extended getaway weekend to travel to neighboring Missouri to explore Missouri Wine. From Illinois, we traveled across the northern tier of the state from Hannibal to Kansas City, then back across the middle of the state with the focal point being the Missouri River. Our intent was to experience Missouri wine, learn the terroir that is distinctive to the Missouri wine producing areas, learn what grapes make up Missouri wine, and other factors about our neighbor and their industry.

Rather than an immersion in one appellation (AVA), which is our approach to visiting Napa or Bordeaux, after dozens of trips there, as an initial learning and discovery, we did a broad brush tour to get a high level understanding of the Missouri wine trade and its products. 

Our visits during our getaway weekend to Missouri were:

• Stone Hill Winery, Hermann, Missouri
• Hermannhof Wines, Hermann MO - Dierberg Vineyards,...
• Le Bourgeois Winery and Vineyards Rochport, Missouri
• Farmhouse Restaurant KC 
• Baltimore Bend Vineyard
• Becketts Winery Glasgow Missouri
• Cooper's Oak Winery 
• Silver Oak OAK Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri

We learned the following about Missouri and wine:

Missouri producers craft all types of wines, red, white, blush, rose, sparkling, dessert, and fortified. 

We discovered and tasted wines from Missouri producers' vineyards sourced from the Missouri state grape Norton, and the Missouri St. Vincent grape. Other than those, they are not known for any specific varietal or suited to producing one specific variety of grapes such as Burgundy with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Bordeaux with its select varietals. Furthermore, there are no appellation specified or directed grapes that need to be included in the bottle or the blend as in France, and sometimes in Italy. 

Le Bourgeois Richeport
Reserve offered
at $98 per bottle

Indeed, we tasted wines produced from a wide range of varietals: Chardonel, Cayuga, Chambourcin, Concord, Catawba, Muscat, Norton, Seyval, Syrah, Traminette, Valvin, Vidal, Vignoles, St. Vincent, Vivant, and traditional French varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. One producer Le Bourgeois produces an Aromella grape wine, from a hybrid white varietal, developed at Cornell University.

Lastly, we tasted wines that are 'estate', sourced from grapes grown on the property, 'Missouri' designated, crafted from others', or multiple growers across the state, and 'American', sourced from grapes outside the state of Missouri. 

We also tasted wines produced by Missouri producers, sourced from California grapes while at Le Bourgeois Winery. 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.

We had Missouri wine aged twenty years, and wine with fruit from old aged vines as old as forty years, and Stone Hill Winery produces a limited release label with fruit from vines dating back to the Civil War. 

Missouri takes its wine and wine industry very seriously. They have formed the Missouri Vintners Association made up of winery owners throughout the state. MVA works with professional lobbyists in the state capital, Jefferson City to stay abreast of and address legislative issues facing commercial Missouri wineries. MVA communicates the needs of commercial Missouri wineries to the Missouri Wine and Grape Board, and is a state association member of Wine America. MVA keeps close ties with the Missouri Grape Growers Association and the Missouri Wine Technical Group to continually improve Missouri produced wines.

Missouri has more than 130 wineries spread across the state in eleven different regions, and is recognized by the government with four official AVAs - American Viticultural Areas. 

Many of the Missouri producers have grouped together in their areas to form 11 unique wine trails. 

Missouri has a long history of viticulture and winemaking dating back almost two centuries with some of the oldest wineries in the US, and some of the historic largest wineries and highest producing wine areas in the US. As early as 1850, there were nearly sixty wineries in the Hermann area producing more than 10,000 gallons of wine per year.

By 1904, there were more than 100 Missouri wineries, the Hermann area alone produced 3 million gallons of wine, mostly by small wine grower/producers.When France’s vineyards were plagued by the phylloxera louse that threatened their entire wine industry, it was Missouri that came to the rescue. When nearly all France's grape vines were destroyed, Missouri’s state entomologist, C.V. Riley, was among the first to discover that Native American grapes were resistant to the pest. Missouri winemakers shipped millions of phylloxera-resistant rootstocks across the Atlantic, ultimately saving the French wine industry.

Missouri is home to the first designated AVA, American Viticulture Area in the US. 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).

The Augusta AVA was the first AVA in the United States, accorded to Augusta, Missouri in 1980. While seven California districts and one in Oregon had filed applications with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the honor went to the 15 square mile area surrounding Augusta. The bureau cited the unique soil, climate and wines, as well as Augusta’s long history as one of America’s oldest and foremost grape and wine districts. In the mid-1800s German immigrants found the Missouri River area just west of St. Louis to be well suited for growing grapes. Napa Valley was granted the second AVA designation named after Augusta in February, 1981.

The other Missouri AVAs are 

• The Ozark Mountain AVA, established in 1986, covering a vast 3,500,000 acres in southern Missouri, extending into northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma. The Ozark Mountain AVA is so large, several smaller AVA’s lay within its borders, including Augusta, Hermann and Ozark Highlands. It is the sixth largest AVA in the United States.
• The Hermann AVA, recognized in1987 and consists of 51,200 acres in the Hermann area between St. Louis and Jefferson City, Missouri. German immigrants settled the Missouri River Valley area in the 1830s and began planting vineyards in what is today one of the most historic wine regions.
• The Ozark Highlands AVA, designated in 1987; although the grape growing tradition goes back to the 1870s. The fourth accorded AVA in Missouri encompasses 1,280,000 acres in south-central Missouri, covering portions of eleven Missouri counties including the town of St. James, Missouri.
• The Loess Hills District AVA, established in 2016, encompassing 12,897 square miles of loess-based hills comprising a long, narrow region along the western banks of the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers in western Iowa and northwestern Missouri. The topography is characterized by rolling to steep hills. The deep loess enables grape vine roots to reach deeply into the soil and allows water to drain quickly.
  

The eleven Missouri wine regions that have established wine trails for marketing promotion and travel assistance (with compliments and sourced from MissouriWines.org):

1) The Augusta Winegrowers Association

2) The Hermann Wine Trail

3) The Kansas City Wine Trail

4) The Lake of the Ozarks Wine Trail

5) Meramec River Wine Trail

6) The Mississippi River Hills Wine Trail

7) The Missouri River Wine Trail

8) The Northwest Missouri Wine Trail

9) The Ozark Mountain Wine Trail

10) The Route du Vin

11) WineStein Trail

Any visit to and tour of a fine wine producer, whether it be California, Bordeaux or elsewhere, will entail a discussion about them aging their wines in oak barrels. Invariably, they will mention French Oak of which there are several varieties from several forests, and American Oak. American Oak will come primarily from Missouri Oak, with some coming from Minnesota.

Missouri is the leading producer of American oak barrels for the global fine wine industry, sourced from sustainably managed forests across Central and Northern Missouri. It takes 80 years to grow an American white oak tree to maturity and another two years to properly age stave wood. From there, stave wood is then air-dried for 24 months before fire bending, a technique that makes the wood more pliable for a Master Cooper. There are only fifty coopers in the US, several of whom are in the small town of Higbee, Missouri, where they work at the Oak Cooperage.

 

We had the privilege of visiting and touring the Silver Oak OAK Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri during our Missouri Wine Experience.

One of the finest and most popular leading American wine producers, whose name is synonymous with oak, Silver Oak winery in Napa, sources their barrels from Oak in Higbee and age their wine exclusively in American oak. They acquired partial interest in the Oak cooperage, to ensure their supply of finest quality barrels into the future, then acquired the remainder, so they now own and operate the business. Beyond consuming about half the production, they source barrels to leading wine producers around the globe.  

We learned from our visit to Hermannhof Wines, and Dierberg Vineyards in Hermann MO, that Missourians have ventured beyond their home state to influence wine production in California and beyond. Jim and Mary Dierberg of St Louis purchased the historic winery in Herman, then in 1996, after a long search throughout France and California, purchased a 4,000-acre property in Santa Barbara County, CA. There, they now own and operate two thousand acres of vineyards in Santa Ynez, Santa Maria and Saint Rita Hills wine region AVA's where they produce 15000 cases of premium wine annually under three different brands. 

In conclusion, while we did not find any Missouri sourced 'fine premium or ultra-premium' wines for collecting and aging for special occasions or once a month or beyond, Missouri produces many respectable wines for every day drinking, many at great QPR - Quality Price Ratio, value. We did not find any one area that is concentrated with distinctive terroir - soil, micro-climate, proximity, overall 'sense of place' to produce extraordinary wine. There are many regions worth exploring and many venues worthy of visiting as destinations for scenery, history, fine dining and other entertainment, and fun with wine.  

Cooper's Oak Winery and OAK Cooperage

Cooper's Oak Winery and OAK Cooperage, Duncan Family of Silver Oak, Visit and Tour

Heading to Kansas City for a family wedding, we decided to take a couple of extra days to drive and tour the backroads and byways traversing the state of Missouri. Our intent was to experience Missouri wine, visit several Missouri wine producers, tour the estates and vineyards, and see the wine regions to learn and understand their terroir, all things that exemplify Missouri wines. 

What we did not plan or anticipate, but what was one of the highlights of our entire trip, was a visit to, and tour of The Oak Cooperage in Higbee, Missouri. 

In retrospect, when one thinks of fine wines and the state of Missouri, what comes to mind, or should, is Missouri Oak, and its use in producing some of finest wine barrels for crafting and aging some of the finest wine labels from the world's best wine regions. 

We happened upon The Oak Cooperage (formerly known as A&K) passing through Higbee, Missouri. There, we met founder and artisan cooper Dale Kirby, who has produced handcrafted, American oak barrels for the wine, whiskey and bourbon industries since 1972. 

One of their largest and most prestigious customers, the well known Silver Oak, a leading Napa Valley producer of California Cabernet Sauvignon, purchased a 50 percent interest in the cooperage in 2000, after sourcing barrels from them for nearly 30 years. 

Silver Oak eventually acquired full ownership of the business in 2015, ensuring a continuous supply, based upon the philosophy of quality, excellence and continuous improvement in the time-honored craft of artisanal barrelmaking. The business was renamed OAK Cooperage, the confluence of the names, adding 'O' from Silver Oak, to the A and K of the original founders of the business.

Originally established as a keg business, the focus soon shifted to the production of 59-gallon American white oak wine barrels, sourced from the nearby forests of Central and Northern Missouri.

Building on the partnership with Silver Oak, they invested in sustainably forested Missouri timberland to maintain long-term barrel production. 

Silver Oak acquired full ownership, recognizing “an opportunity to maintain exacting barrel-making standards and secure a consistent supply of aged stave wood,” according to Tony LeBlanc, Silver Oak General Manager. “The flavors and textural components of American white oak from Central and Northern Missouri are the perfect balance of spice and vanilla flavors to complement the black fruit character of our wines.”

Silver Oak mural in the shop, handsigned by
Silver Oak founder, patriarch, Ray Duncan

OAK focuses on producing the highest quality classic 59-gallon American oak wine barrels for Silver Oak and other select producers. They also produce a small number of American and French Oak barrels for the whiskey and bourbon industries. Each barrel is handcrafted by a team of highly skilled, hard-working men and women who preserve and advance the time-honored craft of artisanal barrelmaking. The Higbee plant has several of the only fifty skilled coopers in the United States.

Finished barrels, the orderliness and conformity
of the bands an indication of quality
craftsmanship.

 

 

Dale now focuses on his other businesses, producing local sourced wines under the aptly named Cooper's Oak Winery label, Skullsplitter Distillery spirits, local philanthropies, and serving on the board of the regional electric cooperative. 

Dale Kirby's toolshop with extraordinary
extensive collection of handtools.

He was gracious with his time and took us on an extensive tour of the cooperage plant. Before we toured the plant he took us in his toolshop showing an amazing collection of hand tools used to produce barrels for decades (and centuries) before the mechanization with sophisticated automated power equipment. 

We then toured the plant and saw barrel assembly at each stage: a shipment of new oak arriving from a forestry/grower, the oak staves aging for three years outside so the rain can wash away the excess acids from the wood, the staves being cut and formed for barrel assembly, the initial stage assembled barrels being 'toasted' over an open flame for a precise amount of time according to the prescribed toast level (or char level in the case of whiskey/bourbon barrels), then the barrel being assembled and banded, then trimmed, finished and inspected.  

At each step, Dale had endless stories to tell and a joke or quip from a vast repertoire. 

 

The oak is aged for up to three years, ideally in the open to allow the elements
to wash away the acids in the wood. 

 

Founder and cooper, Dale Kirby, inspecting
the oak staves.

 

Partially assembled barrels staged to be 'toasted'. 

 

 

Toasting the wine barrels, charring in the case of whiskey
barrels, to exacting specifications, over open flames.

 

Rick and artisan cooper toasting the barrels.

 

See the video below of these processes ... 

Banding the barrel.

Trimming the barrel.

 

Finishing the barrels, testing and inspection.

Linda with Dale Kirby in barrel warehouse
and distribution center.

 
We then went back to the winery and distillery building and tasted the current offerings of Cooper's Oak wines, and Skullsplitter spirits and fruit drinks.

 Cooper's Oak wines and Skullsplitter spirits are packaged in re-usable Ball canning jars for utility and sustainability. 

What a fascinating and extraordinary opportunity to meet Dale Kirby, and see the Oak Cooperage, and to learn its history and place in putting Missouri Oak on the map, and in the ecco-system of notable fine wines.  

Watch this video ... barrel production in process ....