Stoddard County's only winery holds first annual grape harvest

Sunday, September 28, 2008
By COREY NOLES, Statesman Staffwriter

Corey Noles photo This beautiful view as seen from the vineyard takes in the vines across the field and the small pond that runs along the side of the vines.
[Click to enlarge]

Stoddard County's first winery took another major step towards opening day last week.

Indian Hills Wines and Vines, owned and operated by Martie and Nicole Sifford, is nestled in the hills north of Puxico and at first sight is clearly the culmination of years of hard work and research.

The vineyard and winery sit atop the family farm right around their home.

Corey Noles photo Martie Sifford walks through the vineyard plucking grapes from the vine to take them back to the fermentation room to begin their journey into becoming wine.
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Some 44 people ranging from friends and family to people from other wineries came out to aid in their first harvest and aid in the winemaking process. Ron Durso and Clint VanMetre representing Durso Hills Winery from Marquand and Les & Holly Kingery representing Bonanza Springs Winery from Poplar Bluff came out to share their expertise and help give the winery a grand send-off.

"In 2005 we made the decision to do this," Marty said. "By 2006 we were planting."

The couple said that more than anything, they were thankful that the weather held out and that Hurricane Ike didn't make it through until the next morning.

Corey Noles photo Nicole takes a break from emptying grapes into the wine press Saturday morning.
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"I'm sure we would have lost some grapes," Nicole said. "Martie spent a lot of Sunday tying back up some of our younger vines that were blown over."

They started picking at 7 a.m. Saturday and finished picking around 2 p.m. with an hour break for lunch. All in all, they picked a total of 7340 lbs (3.7 tons) of Chambourcin grapes. Approximately 1500 lbs. of these went to Les & Holly Kingery from Poplar Bluff.

"We had helped them pick earlier in August and brought home about 1500 lbs of Vignole from them to give us a white variety," Nicole said. "From the Chambourcin that we harvested we pressed approximately 220 gallons of juice to make a blush wine."

The other 300 gallons of must, skins & juice, will be pressed this weekend to make both a dry and sweet red wine.

While the couple has not set an opening date as of yet, Nicole said that it will be no later than next spring. The majority of the wine started last weekend will be ready to bottle by spring.

"Even though we may not be open, we welcome any curious people that just want to come out and look at the place in anticipation of opening," Nicole said. "We are always happy to give tours and visit with anyone that has an interest."

To get to Indian Hills, drivers should take Hwy. 51 approximately 2.6 miles North of Puxico to blacktopped County Road 254. Turn right on CR 254 and drive approximately two miles until it ends (The road changes to gravel after 1.7 miles). Turn right on CR 250 and go approximately .9 miles to winery and vineyard on the left up on the hill. The lane up to the winery is located on a big curve in the county road.

To reach Martie or Nicole call 573-222-3709 or 573-718-4913 or you can email them at indianhills@dishmail.net

Comments

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When do the Siffords expect the first year of wine sales to begin? Will we be able to buy their finished liquid product only at their vineyard or are there plans for it to be marketed in other locations?

This is a very exciting opportunity for agri-tourism!

Will they offer free samples of the finished products at the vineyard?

-- Posted by AlwaysABearcat on Sun, Sep 28, 2008, at 1:18 PM

Nicole was my college math instructor, she is the best! I took her algebra class in the fall of '07 and she told us about her winery and invited all of us to come take a tour. She is an incredibly talented lady and the best math teacher I have ever had. I am very excited for her and Martie and wish them well.

-- Posted by mizzou_mom on Mon, Sep 29, 2008, at 8:23 AM

The wine produced with this year's harvest should be ready to bottle no later than next spring. We will be ready to open and sell wine at that time or earlier if the wine is ready. We will have a grand opening of the winery with free tasting room, outdoor/indoor seating, live entertainment, etc. no later than spring of 2009 but would like to be ready for a soft opening later this fall.

Watch your local paper for further details.

Initially our wine will only be available on-site, but as the business grows we will look into other marketing venues.

-- Posted by nsifford on Fri, Oct 3, 2008, at 9:46 PM