Our Trip to Missouri Wine Country

32. Sit on the bluff at Mount Pleasant Winery with a charter-busload of friends, drinking the surprisingly fine port and basking in the colors of a Missouri fall.

Now, most people who know me do know that I love me some wine. So I was very excited to take a trip out to Augusta, Missouri to sample some of the local wineries. Jen, Matt, Amanda, Brandon, and I ventured out last weekend amidst glorious weather to enjoy nature and its spoils. Our first stop was Brandon’s favorite, Blumenhoff. (Note to Blumenhoff — I’m a web designer. Let me help you!)

The place was gorgeous:

And the wine was ripe for a sniffy sniff:

Brandon and Matt did some tasting:

And we bought 3 bottles (I had the Devil’s Den Red — and recommend it highly) and went down to the patio to grab a seat and eat some cheese. Big ups to Brandon for bringing a variety of cheeses and summer sausage. My favorite was the goat cheese, but that’s just how I roll. We spent a good while there, drinking, eating, talking, and enjoying the gorgeous weather and scenery. I agree with Brandon, that one was my favorite of the three we visited. Next, we headed out to Balducci’s, but don’t worry, Brandon and I were planning on putting down some serious vino, so we tapped Jen to chauffeur us around:

Our next stop was Balducci’s (seriously, I can help you!), on top of a hill overlooking a picturesque valley. I can only imagine how awesome this picture is going to look in 2 weeks or so:

Now, while they didn’t have any shade, they did have a big ass tent, so that helped. Here’s a picture of the three guys with the tent in the background. That’s an impressive tent.

Just to even it out, here’s a picture of the laydeez with the gorgeous valley in the background:

After tasting all of their varieties (except the Port — they were running low), we settled on a couple bottles of Sonata, and that was really nice. There was a cover band playing and a festival-like atmosphere with kids running around and people enjoying themselves. We didn’t quite have enough wine in us to play with the badminton set they had at the top of the hill though.

Finally, we were on to our last stop of the day: Montelle (seriously, what is up with the Front Page, people?). Now, Montelle is on the top of a shady hill, overlooking the valley and is one of the nicest views in all of Missouri. That becomes a little bit of a problem though, when the top parking lot is full, and you have to walk up from the overflow lot.

Especially when it’s your third winery of the day:

But once you get to the top, it’s all worth it:

Brandon and I decided on the Himmelswein, and it was really great. See?

Although, some of us loved it more than others:

Anyway, this concludes our trip to the wineries. Thanks to Brandon for suggesting it, everyone for coming, Jen for driving, and for all the Missouri wineries for being so awesome. Make sure to view all the pictures, especially so you can see the ones where we try and determine who looks like the biggest doofus wearing Amanda’s sunglasses.