Our Vineyards

Yellow Farmhouse Vineyard & winery began as an idea in the late 1990's. Dale Rollings, an avid "basement winemaker", having lived and worked in nearby St Charles for over thirty-five years, had visited the wineries of the Missouri River Valley many times and recognized that the wines made there were improving with each passing harvest. It was well known that vineyards were flourishing along the Missouri river from Defiance to Hermann, and that Highway 94 was becoming a veritable "route du vin". Each weekend, more and more visitors made the journey to the vineyards and wineries that dotted the hills along the river.

In 2003, Dale acquired the first tract of what would become Yellow Farmhouse Vineyard & Winery. It was then a dilapidated bed-and-breakfast, but the hillside was perfect for growing grapes. In the spring of 2005 the first Norton vines were planted. The site proved to be just right. Despite the worst drought in twenty-three years, by early summer the vines were out of their grow tubes and reaching for the trellis wires, and by Fall most had reached over six feet. The vines, pruned and tied, were now training themselves to the wires of the trellis. By Spring of 2006 the plants were poised for second-year growth. Bud-burst in Missouri occurs in late April or early May, and by early June the abundance of the first year crop was obvious. Good viticulture practice says that you prune off the first year grapes to force the plants to spend their energies on developing root and vine support systems. It was tough to cut off all those young buds and forming bunches, but we did it, and the results were obvious. By the end of the second year growing season the vines were vigorous, deep-rooted and had significantly increased their trunk size. The third year would produce our first "estate grown" vintage.

In the meantime we learned of growers up and down the valley, and in other parts of Missouri, that had abundant crops of quality grapes that they were willing to sell for winemaking. Many Missouri growers take great pride in the quality of their fruit, and sources of good grapes were abundant. Most successful vintners are unable to grow enough grapes to supply their own wineries, so with that in mind, we began to talk to area growers about their 2006 crop.

In the fall of 2005 we acquired a small piece of high ground just west of the Yellow Farmhouse that would be planted the followings spring. We wanted a unique white wine, that was suited to Missouri soil, and Traminette seemed to fit the bill. There is lots of Chardonel and Vignoles in the valley, but Traminette was a relative newcomer. It was only introduced in Missouri in the late 1990s. The vines were hybridized by Cornell University and we purchased grafted rootstock from a propagator in upstate New York for planting in April of 2006. Blessed by adequate rainfall and an abundance of sunshine that spring, the Traminette has taken off and by early summer some of the vines had already attained six feet. The final product is a light off-dry wine not unlike its famous German parent Gwertztraminer.

Over sixty inches of rain annually, coupled with an average 219 days of sunshine make Missouri a near perfect climate for abundant vine growth. Now and then a drought will set in and Mother Nature will need a helping hand. Irrigation was necessary shortly after planting our Norton vineyard in 2005, but generally when the roots get set into the earth natural rainfall is all that is needed for good vine growth.

Harvest in Missouri begins in late August with grapes continuing to ripen through September into early October. With constant testing we can tell when the sugar content of the grape reaches the desired level and therefore control the harvest. This is a busy time for us, because the grapes must be crushed the same day they are picked.

Our Philosophy

Making wine is not rocket science. If it were man would not have been doing it for eight thousand years. But making good wine is another story. We are convinced that some of the wine made by our ancestors was pretty bad swill, and some of the stuff that reaches our table can be awfully bad stuff. Today, given the science of viticulture and enology, we should be able to produce a pretty good product, better than just drinkable, and sometimes approaching excellence.

We've found that a major ingredient in making good wine is patience. It's easy to get in a hurry, or to try to speed up a process. Fermentation, aging, testing and sanitation take time; unfortunately, some of our winemaking colleagues rush the process, or need to release product before it is time. We are a small boutique winery. We have no need to rush. Our wine is our product and we might as well take our time and do it well. We strive for excellence, but like a baker or a chef, we make some dishes better than others. We strive for consistency at a high level, and we will not cut corners to achieve it.

We watch our small vineyards like a hawk, and ruminate over rainfall, diseases and pests. We do not claim to be organic, but try not to spray any more than we have to. If attacked with an infestation of some insidious beetle or worm we fight back. We prune and train our vines on Geneva Curtain trellises. These multi-wired trellises spread the vines to allow more sunshine to reach the fruit. The result is bigger, stronger berry clusters with a higher natural sugar content. The higher the brix, the better the wine.

Missouri Norton is our signature grape - with deep purple berries producing a rich red wine. Norton thrives in our summer climate, and when cultivated and pruned right the vines are laden with plump bunches, often ten or more per vine, by August. Production of ten pounds per vine is not unusual. It's then a game of testing for brix, chasing off the raccoons who know a good thing when the see it, and picking the fruit at the peak of freshness. Our hillside vineyard produces some of the best Norton around. It's in full sun by 6 a.m. on summer mornings burning off the night's dew and drying the fruit. The vineyard is in full sunshine until evening assuring a good sugar content by harvest time. Sometimes at night a fog comes up from the river and coats the fruit with a misting of dew giving the fruit character. You can taste the dew, the summer sun and the wind blown Loess soil in a deep red glass of Missouri Norton.

Harvest at Yellow Farmhouse is a special event. It is a day of friendship and camaraderie. Linda has coffee and rolls ready before the first of the harvest crew arrives. The aroma of fresh-brewed coffee hangs heavy over the deck as the early morning sun creeps over the river bluffs on the far side. Shadows disappear and the verdant vines show off their bounty in the bright September sun. Our pickers, mostly friends, relatives and neighbors, can pick the hillside vineyard in a morning, and by noon the fresh fruit is in the destemmer/crusher and ready for pressing. Our Director of Vineyard Operations, Paul Wilson, has an aire of satisfaction as the must is pumped to the big press. He has fought the Japanese beetles, drought, raccoons and pesky birds to bring the grapes from buds I early April to the product of which we are all so proud. Flowing juice from the crusher/destemmer to the press to the big stainless steel tanks in which the must is fermented into wine always brings a smile to Paul's face. "After all", he says "isn't that what we are all here for anyway?" He has probably got a point. Harvest day is the culmination of a labor of love that stretches from the planting of the vines years before to visible evidence of the result. The rewards of the harvest are vats of fresh pressed juice and a big lunch buffet for the harvester on the deck overlooking the valley.

We are constantly sipping and sampling throughout the fermentation process. After the fermentation has progressed for several days an amazing thing begins to happen. The raw juice, impregnated with the yeast begins to change from a sweet not-so-tasty concoction to wine. Each day shows some improvement, and by the end of the fermentation process it is definitely recognizable as wine. Notice I did not say "good" wine, but it's wine. It's a long time from the end of the primary fermentation to a good wine, and here is where the patience part comes in.

Our wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks. As the lees form and sink to the bottom, we transfer ("rack") the wine to another tank leaving the settled remnants of the fermentation in the bottom of the tank. As the wine clears from the top of the tank we perform several rackings from tank to tank each time leaving the sediment lees in the empty tank. Before long the wine has cleared to the natural color that it will assume. It is then transferred to oak barrels to "sleep" in oak for up to a year.

In Missouri we are blessed with an abundant supply of a special oak that makes wonderful barrels. Large cooperages supply Missouri Oak barrels to wineries and distilleries all over the world. We've never really engaged in the debate over whether Missouri or French Oak is a better wine barrel. The truth is that each have unique characteristics that the winemaker can exploit to get the result he or she wants. We use Missouri Oak. Ours comes from a little cooper in Higbee, Missouri. Their barrels impart a smoky caramel oak flavor that we like for our wines.We are not afraid of aging our wines in stainless steel. Some wines (and some people) do not like the toasted oak flavor imparted to wines, especially whites, by oak barrels. We can leave our wines in stainless to age and the results can be quite spectacular. The choice is up to us, and we exercise that choice liberally. That is what is so nice about operating a boutique winery; choices can be made with different wines with diverse results and infinite variety.

We invite you to sample our wines. The best way to do that is with a Six Bottle Sampler or a mixed case. If you find something you like we'd like to hear about it. Everyone's palate for wine is different, and we have come to respect the diversity of our customer's tastes. We offer discounts for both.

Don't miss our Store. It's not big, but it has some unique items you won't find anywhere else.

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