Photo by Chris Kelley

It’s Saturday.  For once this summer, the sun’s not set to broil, but at any moment you feel like the clouds may be white charcoal in disguise just waiting for a match.  It’s an empty Saturday, the kind of Saturday that can trick you into mowing the lawn or applying that second coat of paint to (insert household appendage) and watch it dry.  What do you do?

If you’re Chris & Victoria, you fight the power, get in the car, and drive.

The road took us into Missouri first, to a little winery in Monroe City called Indian Creek.  You may be familiar with their wine jellies from Domestics Etc. in Downtown Quincy.  Just mentioning it takes me to a fond breakfast memory of spreading Indian Creek Riesling over a toasted English muffin while an extra dry mimosa whispered my name from the end of the table.

Kelley

The winery is just outside of town in a newly purchased (and in-the-process-of-remodeling) farmhouse which caught us off guard at first.  Where do you enter?  Where do you taste?  There were no markings of any kind save for a miniscule sign that read “winery open” and there was only one other car in the gravel, looped driveway.  We called the winery and a kind voice on the other end of the phone invited us to go ahead and “Come in, come in.”  Victoria waited in the car as I slowly approached the house to check it out.  This is how horror films begin.

“If I’m not back in five minutes, well, you know the drill.”

Gentle Readers, I must confess my guilt in judging a book by its cover; it‘s worth the trip.  Due to the ongoing remodel, winemaker Sheila Osbourne had us tasting in the kitchen of the farmhouse with a couple of bubbly ladies who were camping at Mark Twain Lake with their husbands.  As we toured the remainder of the house, we got a proper look at what will soon become quaint, cool tasting room and gift shop.  The wines were predominantly sweet, which normally causes me to hover near the dump bucket since I’m a dry wine guy, but these were very tasty AND paired well with the summer heat.

My Indian Creek Favorites:
1) Ralls Red
2) Salt River Gold
3) Rose (not to be confused with rose-AY!)
4) The moon-shaped bottle of semi-sweet white – no official name.

Seeing that we were primed for adventure, those bubbly ladies on the camping trip informed us of two more wineries in the area.  Cooper’s Oak Winery in Higbee, MO – which is just outside of Moberly – and West Winery in Macon, MO.  The day was still young and our car was full of gas, so we took to the open road, due South to Higbee.

Cooper’s is next to A&K Cooperage, producers of “fine American and French Oak barrels” for wine-making.  It was exciting in an educational kinda way because I’ve never witnessed a barrel’s creation (perhaps as a disinterested youth at Silver Dollar City or some frontier/pioneer school field trip, or something, but no memories are popping up).  Sadly, the Cooperage was closed and touring is only possible on weekdays, so we stuck to the winery and tasted.

There were two other couples in the tasting room, that day, also on tour of area wineries.  A few locals also popped in during the course of our visit, looking for six packs of Cooper’s Deer Beer.  This was baffling to the nice, young gentleman behind the bar.  “It’s so BUSY today.”

“What, you don’t get a lot of people coming in to try your wines?” I asked.

“Not THIS many,” he replied, prompting me to pan around the room once to check for possible camouflaged tasters I might have missed in my initial count.

Cooper’s offerings were much drier compared to Indian Creek.  But most were VERY earthy with aromas of heavy fertilizer.  Still, some choice selections.

My Cooper’s Oak Favorites:
1) Cabernet Franc Icewine – a MUST!
2) Cooper’s Deer Beer (more of a light beer than a lager, but very good)

Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more…

Victoria and I accelerated to the North past half a dozen flea markets and a gargantuan machinery auction, hitting downtown Macon where an old building was bought and renovated into a town hot spot: West Winery.  It was quiet in the winery that day, which meant more face-time with the owners, Chris and Jen West of Columbia, MO.  Plus Victoria & I didn’t have to squabble with other pushy wine-tasters.  The night before, the room was jam-packed.  That because, on most Fridays, West is a venue for open mic jam sessions and featured musicians.  The Wests are boosters of anything local, plugging several downtown Macon establishments & events, as well as showcasing local artists on the walls of their tasting room.

We asked Chris what got him into winemaking, to which he replied, “We didn’t have a lot of money when we first got married, so we couldn’t really go out that much.  And I like a challenge, so I just started doing it.”  Today, he has several barrels of wine at the rear of the winery, fermenting and aging (in barrels made by A&K Cooperage from Higbee).  What was already bottled and ready to drink were some of the best wines of our adventure.

My West Favorites:
1) Roundhouse Red
2) Smokestack White
3) Apricot Sunset (the most unusual, delicious wine of the day)
4) Spiced Apple (Think warmed in a crock pot for Thanksgiving)

On our way home from West in Macon, we called and made a reservation for the Lake Room at Tony’s Too.  Chef Kevin prepared an excellent six-course tasting on the fly that put Victoria and I in a state of food euphoria.  Several minutes of time were lost.

Our next stop was Martinis at 515 where we met a friend of ours, Dr. Doug, for an after-dinner cocktail & a discussion about all things that matter in life.  In need of a digestif, I asked Mixologist Chad for advice.  The cocktail consigliere recommended Drambuie, which I knew nothing about save for the short film my friend, fellow filmmaker, & Emmy-winning, Travis Yates, made about the liquor – “A Complete Mystery.”  I ended up liking the bevvy as a slow sipper, but not as much as I enjoy Pyrat Rum or Roberto’s grappa at Tiramisu.

From there, we ordered a Sochi Russian preparation of Absinthe.

YES, Absinthe is legal in the US.

NO, it will not make you go mad (unless you’re drinking it straight…don‘t do that…straight Absinthe is yucky).

Usually, Absinthe is served by melting a sugar cube over the glass and then pouring a dash of water over top.  We first learned of the Sochi Russian preparation at Chef Hubert Keller’s restaurant Fleur De Lys in Las Vegas.  To my knowledge, Martinis is the only place you can get Absinthe in Quincy, outside of the liquor store (to MY KNOWLEDGE, I said) and to see Chad prepare a Sochi Russian Absinthe is a delight.  Be easy on inhaling the vapors the first time…it can take you off guard.

Dr. Doug, being the responsible Doc he is, tasted the Absinthe, then left the rest to Victoria and I.  It was loud that night at Martinis and I ended up misinterpreting a conversation that led to giggles and double entendres the rest of the evening.

It was a Saturday that left us buzzing with good feelings for the next two days.