Although Brandon and I had our 10-year anniversary in August, we waited until this weekend to get away for awhile and celebrate. On Friday we began our weekend at the wineries in Missouri. We started out by stopping in Rocheport at Les Bourgeois Vineyard. We had dinner at the Blufftop Bistro. I had my favorite wine of the entire weekend - the vignoles-traminette. Brandon enjoyed the ambiance...the architecture, the stainless steel tables, the high wood beam ceilings, and the view overlooking the river.
Saturday morning we drove to Augusta, Missouri. We went to the Montelle Winery. We got there early and snagged a table overlooking the old river valley. Although the air was brisk, we had a table in a little spot of sun, and that, paired with the wine, made us feel just warm enough. We stayed there for a few hours and listened to a local band. We even made a few friends who chatted with us from a nearby table.
After Montelle, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast. Actually, we deemed it a Bed With Own Breakfast. Since the trip was planned at the last minute, all of the local B & B's were booked and since the town of Augusta only has 400 people in it, there was no Holiday Inn to be found. Brandon was fortunate enough to hear of a new place in town...that was open but had not been marketing itself yet. It was called Stone Ledge and was located above the antique shop. Pictures will not do this place justice. After you climb a few flights of steps, you arrive on a private back porch with a little bistro set. You enter into the kitchen, proceed into the living room, and then back to the bedroom. The windows let so much light in. The architecture was beautiful. The owners, "Ruthie" and "Annie" welcomed us whole-heartedly. They left fresh eggs, milk, cheese, orange juice and other goodies in the refridgerator. I just can't say enough about this place!
After we checked in, we went to the Balducci Winery and tasted some wine. It was crowded and not very welcoming, so we went up the street a ways to the Mount Pleasant Winery...one that we had visited a few years ago and one that my parents like to go to as well. There were several wedding parties at Mount Pleasant so the wine tasting room was packed. We still managed to grab a great spot on the hill overlooking the fields. We listened to the band and watched the sun set. We enjoyed one of our absolute favorite wines...the Appellation Augusta Port.
Then we drove back into town and had dinner outside under the heaters and twinkle lights at the Augusta Brewing Company.
This morning we got up early and went for a walk in Augusta. (doesn't take long!) Then Brandon made breakfast in our little kitchen, we packed our bags, and headed home. On the way home, we decided to drive to Hermann and check out the Stone Hill Winery. There, we learned about how wine is made and stored and got a tour of the world's largest underground cellars. Then we went down the street to the Hermannhoff Winery just to say that we'd been there!
We got back on 70 and headed home....but not before we stopped at Rocheport again to have our final glass of wine at the A-Frame...an outdoor multi-tiered deck at Les Bourgeois.
It was a fabulous weekend.
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