P lan a Missouri WINE COUNTRY GETAWAY

If you love wine, the Show-Me state is ready to show you a good time. Here are some highlights

from the state’s full-bodied history.

1850s: SOW VINE

German immigrant settlers began to plant vineyards and launch wineries around Hermann, Missouri. The climate and topography of the region reminded them of the Rhine Valley. Towns in the Missouri River Valley still hold Wurstfest and Oktoberfest, complete with German-style Rieslings.

1870s: MISSOURI TO THE RESCUE The phylloxera louse destroyed nearly all the grapevines in France, driving French wine into near extinction. But Missouri entomologist C.V. Riley was among the first to discover that the pest didn’t affect American grapes, and Missouri winemakers shipped millions of rootstocks to France and saved the wine industry there.

LATE 1800s: “CIN”

Italian immigrants planted vineyards and launched wineries south of Missouri’s German wine region.

1920: LAST CALL

Prohibition put a pause on Missouri wine. Wineries closed and vineyards were destroyed.

CHEERS TO THE HERE & NOW Missouri’s wine revival began in the 1960s and ’70s. Today there are more than 100 wineries in Missouri and almost a million wine-loving tourists visit the region every year. Charming towns, the Katy Bike Trail and the beauty of the Ozarks are other pleasures to savor.

To plan your own tour of Missouri’s wine country, visit missouriwine.org.

Patricia aspired to list her winery on the National Register of Historic Places. She hired Carol Duenke of Lauren Strutman Architects, a St. Louis firm that specializes in historical, research-based restorations. During their research, the architects found a photo of the original farmhouse taken in 1898. It showed a 19th-century portico surrounding the front door, which had been torn down during subsequent renovations. Using the 1898 photograph as a guide, they recreated the old front porch, complete with Carpenter Gothic ornamentation that was in vogue at the time.

A VINTAGE PAST

When Patricia first bought the property, she had thought the vineyard and winery would be something brand new to it. But her historical research also revealed that the property had had wine in its past.