Belmont: Views, food paired with wine

Belmont has great views from comfortable indoor and outdoor settings. Photo credit: Jennifer Peaco

A wood-fired over for pizzas.

The big covered patio overlooks rolling hills of vines and livestock, and the bistro features wood-fired pizzas among other fare. Belmont Vineyards and Winery has a stylish yet casual feel, and the wines are appealing as well.



Missouri Wine Snob notes

Norton: Smooth and tempered, similar to Heinrich’s.

Bella Rosso: A lighter, fruity red with a raspberry finish.

Chardonel: Subtle with flavor that veers more toward Chardonnay.

Rommelman Red: A semi-dry wine that looks almost like a blush, but it’s much bolder than a blush.

Cayuga: Every good winery seems to have a pleasant surprise waiting to be sampled. For Belmont, it’s the Cayuga. This one really stands out for its licorice finish.

Travel hints

When you are getting near the winery, disregard your GPS. Use a paper map or your noggin; its not hard to find.

Restaurants on this leg of the trip that we heard are good: Sybil’s in St. James. In Rolla, Gordoz (we ate there and can give it a thumbs up), Matt’s Steakhouse, Benton’s Square.

Restaurants in Cuba that we saw but lack knowledge of: Missouri Hick BBQ and Shelley’s Café. [Just saying there are places to eat there.]

One winery in the Steeleville area that we missed due to scheduling misfortune: Edg-Clif Winery. Nice setting.

In addition to grapes, livestock also are raised at Belmont.

Sweet sells, but there's more

Wine trip to Rolla area and US 60 corridor

We have followed the wineries of the Missouri River from Rocheport to St. Louis. We have headed northwest and southeast and have explored Mid-Missouri. This year, we explored new and old places in the Rolla-St. James-Steeleville area, then we went south to wineries of along US 60.

Last year among wineries north of Kansas City, we noticed a strong trend toward sweet wines, which prevailed on our route this year. However, we also found winemakers who want to make classic dry wines often with oak, even though they recognize that sweet sells.

In the Ozark Highlands part of this year's trip, we ran into a lot of bold and earthy wines.
 

Heinrich Grohe's tastings are full of facts, lore and laughs. Photo credit: Jennifer Peaco

Heinrichshaus

We stopped first near St. James at Heinrichshaus, an iconic place helmed by one of the elder statesmen of Missouri wines of the German tradition, Heinrich Grohe.

It was such a pleasure to get back in touch with his great wines. The last time we visited him, we made a video of our tasting with him. Heinrichshaus wines aren’t all made the same way. Results stretch from subtle (Traminette, Vidal) to bold (Chambourcin). 

Missouri Wine Snob notes

Chardonel: A little sweet, but the full body of the grape provides balance.

Chambourcin: Spicy in a zesty way, and dry.

Prairie Rouge: Earthy, lighter than most of his wines, and mysterious. Heinrich declined to disclose the grape varieties. Steve’s guess: Cabernet Franc, Concord and a white wine. To that combination, Heinrich had no comment …

Cynthiana: After being spoiled by the robust Nortons of Tyler Ridge Vineyard Winery, I had to adjust my taste standards to appreciate Heinrich’s approach. It was actually delicate, serene, refined in a way that I didn’t expect.

Heinrich entered the debate about Norton/Cynthiana on the side that declares that they’re separate varieties. Cynthiana is an outgrowth of Norton, he said, referencing research at Missouri State University-Mountain Grove.

I’m not all that concerned about the botany. They might as well be the same; its what the winemaker does with the grapes.

I am a wine snob ...

… but a specific type of wine snob

Jen and I have been doing an annual Missouri wine tour with our longtime friends Steve and Donna Koehler for at least 12 years with just one interruption.

These trips, along with our tippling of wines of the Ozarks, have made me a wine snob. Not the typical coastal or international wine snob who refuses to acknowledge the value of Missouri wines. I am a wine snob who favors only Missouri wines.

My feeling, more or less, is:

If it’s not Missouri wine, why bother?

I’m not saying that wines of the rest of the world do not have value. I just don’t bother with them. The only exception is dining out, because restaurants rarely carry Missouri wines. I can usually find something I like even if it’s not from Missouri — Tempranillo, Shiraz, Cab, an unoaked Chardonnay or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

There’s another exception: routine wine for routine weekday dinners. I go for beneath-the-bargain-basement swill that helps keep overall costs manageable. That wine comes from California.

My snobbery is not based on received wisdom (how could it be?) or because I hate all other wines and/or like only Missouri wines. It’s just something that has built up over the years.

So, there you have it — my opening post in a series that will document this year’s tour. I thought I needed a strong beginning to get people’s attention and set this series apart from the usual travelogue.

Upcoming posts:
Heinrichshaus
Belmont Vineyards
Peaceful Bend
Horst Vineyards
Viandel Vineyard
Traver Home Winery
Whispering Oaks Vineyard and Winery

Freeze protection may have worked

In my previous post, I said I would not disclose how I covered my backyard St. Vincent vines. I will say that I used plastic and leave it at that. The temperature at 6 this morning was 30, suggesting that the freeze was not hard enough to do serious damage to the buds. However, when I removed the plastic at 8 a.m., I found mixed results. Some buds that were pressed against the plastic were damaged or killed, and others that did not come into contact with the plastic looked bad but not dead. Still others survived.

I hope that my commercial-vineyard friends, who have so much more at stake than I, are facing conditions no worse, and hopefully much better.

Possible conclusions for the urban vineyard:

• The plastic covering might have harmed some of the buds.
• The covering might have saved many buds.
• It had no effect because the freeze was mild, not hard, causing spotty damage.

Evidence —

Not so good:

Very bad:

In fine shape:

Bad timing for a cold snap

One rule of thumb for the onset of frost damage is four hours at 28 degrees. According to KYTV's weather app, temperatures will be in the 27-28 range from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. tonight. 

I covered my vines, which I can do because I have just eight vines. I will not disclose how I did the covering because the materials and the process are absurd. The protective measures probably will do as much harm as the hazard (if it happens).

We'll see.

MOJO returns to Cartoons

 

On Tuesday, March 18, the
Missouri Jazz Orchestra
performed for the first time
in four months, at the venue
where they began four years
ago. Cartoons proved to be
a great place to hear the
band — rich, deep and loud.
Brent Vaughan contributed
two new transcriptions
and an original composition. 

Sweet home: Downstairs from disco

1974 photo of the Happy Medium, 900 Rush St., Chicago.
Retrieved from whatwasthere.com

I have fond memories of Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in the mid-1970s when it was located downstairs from the Happy Medium at Delaware and Rush in Chicago. On one of my visits, the Happy Medium was doing a disco night (or, for all I knew, it was a dedicated disco club at the time). In any case, I recall entering on the first floor and looking into the club, where I saw the sparkling glitter ball and dancers all in white, with canned disco tunes of high-hat and breezy backbeat. I was hating all of that, of course, but a wonderful transformation took place as I descended to the basement where jazz had commenced. Halfway down the stairs, the mindless high-hat faded away, overtaken by the driving ride cymbal and the rest of the robust propulsion of the jazz band. I don't remember who was playing, but I clearly recall the feeling of arriving home.