wineries

Even though I worked on a couple of big projects this past weekend (the planter box/trellis, and the walkway), I still had some time for some non-laborious fun.

My wife and I took a trip to rural Missouri to visit some wineries and just enjoy the countryside.

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This was down in St. Genevieve, which is about an hour and a half drive south of our house. My wife had been there a few weeks ago with friends and wanted me to see it, and I was eager for a road trip.

Missouri has quite a few wineries now and many of them brew their own beer too, but it's a bit difficult at 11:00 AM (the time the first one we went to opened) to choose which you want to sample. I guess if I had to choose I'd say I'm more of a morning wine person than a morning beer person.

The weather was overcast and a bit chilly, but otherwise it was a nice day. Windy too up on the hills. Okay, maybe it wasn't perfect weather, but as we walked around the vineyard closest to the tasting house, we both enjoyed the solitude and quiet.

I'm not sure if these hops were experimental, or if they can actually use these in brewing:

I'm guessing experimental.

I love textures, and saw plenty among the vines:

I have no idea what this little wildflower is, but it was lovely, growing where nothing else was:

There were nice views everywhere on this trip:

Charleville winery (our first stop) is a small-scale operation, and seemed quite "friendly".

Our second stop was Chaumette winery a few miles away, which was a much larger business. They have a restaurant, a wedding chapel, villas with a swimming pool, and lots available for building your own villa (or so it seemed). It was exceptionally busy despite the weather, and there was a wedding going on.

We stopped just for lunch, and didn't really feel like walking around -- although I suspect exploring might not have been allowed here.

They did have some nice gardens though, and this planting of grasses really caught my eye:

I have to find out what these are, as they're stunning!

The reddish seed heads are so wonderful. I have a feeling this is Muhly grass, which I didn't think was cold-hardy enough for this area. It's possible that the mild winter is the reason these survived, or maybe it's just a few degrees warmer down here than at my house. I'm definitely going to give this grass a try sometime!

Overall a very nice day in hilly southeastern Missouri.

And no digging or heavy lifting was involved.

(All photos taken with iPhone camera with scratched lens cover, so not highest quality. Sorry!)

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