Articles > Missouri Wines

Pairing the possibilities

6 Missouri wine trails blend wine, food, and fun By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

One of the most popular ways to visit wine country is via a wine trail, and Missouri has several. The trails offer a user-friendly way to explore wine areas, with tips on top sights and attractions in each area. Most wine trails sponsor special themed events throughout the year.

Patty Held-Uthlaut of Stone Hill Winery at Hermann is the state’s wine trail div…... Read more >

Port Wine for Stormy Winter Nights

By Doug Frost

“Any port in a storm” goes the old saw, and it’s not hard to understand. Sailor or not, a stormy evening seems far friendlier when your hands are wrapped around a glass of rich port.

Port is a fortified wine. Port and its brethren sherry and Madeira are called “fortified” because they are bolstered with distilled spirit. In the old days, a dose of spirit was added to fortify the wines for a voyage to England or farther sh…... Read more >

Native Norton

By Doug Frost

Norton is the bomb. It’s explosive, powerful, and messy. Specifically, Norton stains wine glasses. It can stain your teeth, too. That’s one of the more aggressive characteristics of this American grape.

Norton was first domesticated in Virginia as a wild grape, hence its former name, Virginia Seedling. It was embraced one hundred years ago because European varieties, like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, couldn’t withst…... Read more >

Think Pink

By Doug Frost

Is pink the new gray? My daughters certainly think so, and their fashionista abilities outstrip mine. For me, pink, at least in wine, never went out of style; it simply got lost amongst more conservative colors. If you blend reds and whites in the right proportions, you get pink, right? So what’s wrong with that?

Nothing. While many people assume pink means sweet, it doesn’t have to, and most European pink wines are nearl…... Read more >