On the Road, Continued.......

Once we’d seen what remained of what was once an ocean of vines beyond what the eyes could see, we headed east to Missouri with a stop at the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa and the Elephant Rocks State Park in Missouri.

Every time we drive to or from Arizona or other points west, we come around a curve going into Tulsa and see the sprawling Hard Rock Casino and Hotel. Alice likes slot machines and as long as we win, I love ‘em too. Maybe it’s the Casino Gods payback for 50 years of mostly losing that over the past couple of years we’ve actually won more than we’ve lost which is so much more fun. So with overnights in Flagstaff AZ, Santa Rosa NM and Amarillo TX we pulled into the Casino. Though the layout for hotel guests couldn’t have been worse, the casino was fun and we had a wonderful meal at Carvers on 19 at the casino. From there we finally got to see the Elephant Rocks. Though not in a mountainous region, it reminds us of the Pinnacles National Monument near Soledad California. Basically, it is a gigantic pile of smooth brown rocks with enough grey lichens growing on them to look like elephant skin. The park is very nicely laid out for a pretty easy walk even on a 100 degree day with 99% humidity. Fortunately, a young entrepreneur was selling what we used to call “push pops” (a popsicle in a plastic tube) that turn your tongue red.

So we arrived at our hotel in Washington MO that was so hot we had to haul all of our wines up to our room because even a shady parking spot was still 100 degrees. We’d never been to Missouri in the summer but had heard that with the humidity it was more uncomfortable than Arizona in June. True! On a positive note, we finally got to see the oldest Norton vineyard in the world planted in 1847 owned by the historic Stone Hill Winery and had an opportunity to meet the refreshingly candid Nathan Held who is the great grandson of the founder. Like Cucamonga and Tehapachi, just about everywhere we went, we met either the owner, winemaker or progeny in the tasting room. Although the oldest AVA in the nation, Hermann MO still feels like the owners are mostly unpretentious regular people farming and making wine for a living. At Stone Hill, Norton is king. Not only do they still farm the aforementioned 1847 Vineyard but the Cross J vineyard and even their “regular” Norton vineyard are without pier. Great wine originates in great vineyards and nothing could be more true when you taste these wines. Unlike most well established wine regions, Missouri wine is predominantly based on Native and Hybrid grape varieties. A few wineries grow Cabernet Franc but that is not widespread. At Adam Puchta we met with Spencer Puchta who was just a small child the last time we visited. He showed us several of their award winning wines including the regions top Chambourcin. We grow this variety in Michigan too with the best coming from the very warm vineyard at the top of the Lawton Ridge near Kalamazoo. While in Missouri, we also visited several wineries in the Augusta AVA on the north side of the Missouri River between the Washington bridge and St. Louis. We started at Defiance Ridge where we enjoyed a remarkable Rayon d’Or, another variety I fondly remember from the early days of buying grapes from Lawton Ridge. At Blumenhof Winery we renewed acquaintance with one of the freshest, brightest, purest, pleasingly aromatic Valvin Muscat’s made. At Augusta Winery, we experienced wines which offered some of the best value for dollar in the region. I’m glad to see the new owners haven’t significantly changed our go-to Chambourcin. It continues to deliver fine balance, ripe Hybrid aromas and a rich soft tannic finish which is almost impossible to achieve in Michigan and not easy in Missouri. They seem to be on the right track with Cabernet Franc. Time will tell whether this becomes a feature for Missouri’s future. Finally, we met our old friend Bill Sadler who grows mostly Chambourcin for a winery we had not visited previously. We met him at Noboleis Vineyards where we tasted a wide range of white and red wines, all excellent. Our host Darryl Tyler was especially proud of a flight of Norton’s he poured which included their “regular” Norton, an unoaked Norton, a Reserve Norton, as well as a Bourbon barrel Norton. The Reserve Norton in particular, embodied what I like about Norton plus offered a finesse in the finish not usually associated with wines this young.

We look forward to tasting these wines with our friends and family when time permits. So, like the piece about wines from Tehachapi and Cucamonga, I’ll be adding many tasting notes to this column in the near future.

Enjoy in Good Health,

A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner