Did you know that before Prohibition most of the wine produced in the U.S. came from Missouri and eastern Kansas? The Noble Experiment didn’t work out for many wineries in the Sunflower State, but in the past two decades, the region has reasserted itself. There are now 25 wineries in Kansas, with 12 licensed in Kansas in the last five years alone. One winery in particular, Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery, located across the Missouri border in Somerset, Kan., has caught our attention as it makes its debut in St. Louis this week.
Somerset owners Cindy and Dennis Reynolds planted their vineyard in 1998, with 2001 marking the year of their first vintage. Since then, the plantings have grown to more than 8,000 grape vines, 14 varieties and 18 labels. The family-run winery recently took honors at wine expert Doug Frost’s Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition, winning the Best Non-Vinifera White category and walking home with gold or silver for five of its other wines.
Now available locally at The Wine Barrel, located in Sunset Hills at 3828 S. Lindbergh Blvd., are Somerset’s Chardonel, Traminette and Flyboy Red. The Traminette is a tart, dry white, while the Chardonel is a lovely, floral, dry white in which you’ll taste tropical fruit flavors upfront and a crisp finish of pears and green apples. The Flyboy Red, one of the winery’s most popular wines, is a soft, fruit-forward, dry red made from a blend of Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin. All three are finished in stainless steel, lending a smooth finish. The Chardonel and Flyboy Red, noted Cindy Reynolds, have each gained a strong following in the Kansas City area, with several restaurants using these affordable labels as their house red and white.
This article appears in February 2011.