Traver Home Winery: Dog’s Breath, Bear’s Den and actual cats and dogs

 

Friendly critters stand ready to spread good will. Photo credit: Jennifer Peaco

Jim Traver makes wine to suit customers' tastes as well as his own. Photo credit: Jennifer Peaco

Smaller projects.
Photo credit: Jennifer Peaco

From a big slate of wines by Jim Traver, one selection was made with advice from customers. With this sweet red, made by committee as his website suggests, he intends to please crowds.

“Curl up on a winter’s night with a glass of Bear’s Den Red,” Traver says with a warm and persuasive tone.His top-selling wine also has an animal-inspired name. Dog’s Breath Red is lighter and sweeter than Bear’s Den Red.

Dogs and cats populate the winery and environs (no actual bears).

However, Traver’s work area, filled with big tanks and smaller projects in bulbous glass containers, produces wines across the spectrum of dry and sweet, often with uncompromising varietal flavors and earthy essence.

Missouri Wine Snob notes

Chardonel: Highly spicy with a touch of oak.

Eleven Point White: This blend of 70 percent Vidal and 30 percent Vignoles is assertively dry and fruity.

Vignoles choices: The semi-dry has some of the boldness of Eleven Point White. With the semi-sweet Vignoles, that edge is smoothed out.

Peach: Not too sweet, with a strong peach nose but lighter peach flavor, with an overall experience that sometimes suggests a semi-sweet grape wine.

UPDATE! Marechal Foch: Somehow I forgot to mention this lighter wine with the deep red color — one of the pleasant surprises of the trip. It's not as light as most St. Vincents, and it has darker fruit notes such as blackberry, while St. Vincent often has cherry. This is another great example of a successful wine made with a nonstandard grape variety. Cheers!

Down a gravel road through thick woods, you will find Traver Home Winery.