For Immediate Release Media Contact: Pam Jones or Marjorie Beenders
July 20, 2010 Phone: 573-636-8282 « Email: pam@tbwgroup.net
Missouri Wine Festival Moves to Country Club Hotel
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO - Where can you taste and purchase fine Missouri wines, talk to vintners and wine experts, and enjoy great live music, delectable food and wonderful ambiance? It’s all happening at the 17th Annual Missouri Wine Festival, at its new location at the beautiful Country Club Hotel & Spa in Lake Ozark, 2-6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 7. Many award-winning Missouri wineries will participate in this popular event that typically attracts wine enthusiasts from around the country.
“The festival grew throughout its years at Stone Crest Mall, but now holding it at the Country Club Hotel will allow us to accommodate even more vendors and visitors,” says Michelle Cook, marketing manager for the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the sponsors of the event. “In addition to wineries, we also have been able to invite many more restaurants and other wonderful vendors to join us. Everyone will benefit—especially visitors.” Those visitors will include people who want to learn more about wine, as well as those who like to keep up with their favorite wineries and try what’s new, Cook adds. The event also attracts vacationers, ladies on girlfriend getaway weekends, as well as area residents. “They all appreciate the chance to taste a wide range of wines and learn more about what they are tasting,” she says.
The admission fee of $15 will include unlimited wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and a souvenir wine glass (a $30 value). A new glass is commissioned every year. “Many people come back year after year just to get the latest glass for their collection,” Cook says. “Wine-makers say tasting from a real wine glass makes a difference, too.”
Among the participating wineries will be Peaceful Bend Vineyard, Steelville; Summit Lake Winery, Holts Summit; Adam Puchta Winery, Hermann; Wenwood Farm Winery, Bland; St. James Winery, St. James; Indian Creek Winery, Monroe City; Cooper’s Oak Vineyard, Higbee; and Bommarito Estate Almond Tree Winery, New Haven.
Also on hand will be Seven Springs Winery, Lake of the Ozarks, participating in the festival for the third time. Seven Springs Winery and Vineyards sits atop 160 acres of rolling Missouri foothills between Camdenton and Osage Beach, less than a 10-minute drive from either location. The covered porch and patio area are ideal for enjoying a glass of wine and admiring the beautiful views. Seven Springs serves Missouri wines, sangrias, and a few micro-brews for those with an alternative pallet. Visitors can enjoy wine tastings and a light menu consisting of soups, sandwiches, cheese trays, and bread with various dipping oils.
Owner Mike Bleile notes, “The Missouri Wine Festival is a good opportunity to present our wines, such as our award-winning Norton, to people who may not necessarily know about us - especially newer wine drinkers.” He adds, “I hear visitors say they’re glad so many different wineries take part in the festival. A lot of us may have the same varietal, such as a Norton, but at the festival people can discover how each vintner makes his wine a little different from the others. Also, the new location at the Country Club Hotel will give everyone the opportunity to focus more on wine and wine tasting.”
Every winery will offer four or five of their wines for tasting. Wines will be available for purchase by the bottle or case.
Cook notes several Lake-area restaurants and gourmet food retailers also will have booths offering some of their specialties, including Michael’s Steak Chalet, Pickled Pete’s, Harry & David, the Country Club Restaurant and others.
“Visitors also will be able to shop for jewelry, candles, upscale kitchen ware and original art,” Cook says. “We’re so excited because the Missouri Wine Festival has grown and we will be able to bring all of these remarkable wineries together in one central location,” Cook says. “The festival truly is a one-stop shop for wine lovers, and offers a great afternoon for visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks.”
In addition to a wonderful afternoon of wine…why not make it a Wine Lovers’ Weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks? The Country Club Hotel & Spa will offer a special Missouri Wine Fest rate of $89 per night for a deluxe king room with a walkout patio (regularly $139); a luxurious suite will be $99 per night. For details contact the hotel at (800) 964-6698 or visit www.countryclubhotel.com. In addition, a wide range of lodging - hotels and motels, vacation homes and condos, full-service and family-owned resorts and RV parks - will be available throughout the Lake area…where visitors can base while enjoying the Missouri Wine Fest and other Lake-area wineries:
Casa de Loco Winery, a former 1920s hunting lodge nominated for the National Register of Historic Sites, set on a scenic bluff overlooking the Niangua River in Camdenton…briefly used as a facility for patients with mental disorders, inspiring wine names including Schizo Blanco, Labottleme Zinfandel and Rojo Loco.
Eichenberg Winery, located in a cozy cottage in the quaint village of Cole Camp, offering wines in the German tradition such as Weiswein and Liebersaft, plus a lovely gift shop and gardens.
Grey Bear Winery Vineyards and Winery, set in an environmentally friendly Deltec building next to a scenic vineyard, offering customer favorites Deer Trail (sweet apple), Bear Claw (chocolate cabernet) and the popular Chicks & Tiggers (cherry blush).
For more information about the Missouri Wine Festival, please call the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce at (800) 451-4117. In addition, you can find out more about Lake-area lodging, dining, attractions and shopping by calling the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253) or online at www.funlake.com.
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