The winery experience

If the key to real estate is location, the key to a winery is atmosphere.

Anyone can buy a bottle of vino at the store, schlep home, pop it open and drink away. But the wineries in the area have built an atmosphere that enhances the wine and the way we experience it, like dark chocolate after deep reds.

Most wineries are set up so that the tasting bar is opposite the front door. The minute you walk in, you meet an owner or a manager or family member -- a sommelier who will introduce you to the winery's specialties and tell you the history of the vineyard.

Wineries like River Ridge in Commerce, Mo., Thousand Oaks in Patton, Mo., or Tower Rock in Altenburg, Mo., each has its own story and personality. The owners are passionate grape nuts who make their winery feel like an extension of their home.

With so many choices, wineries have stepped up their activities.

Tower Rock will have a New Moon party, marking the celestial path, not the vampire movie, with extended hours and specials and prizes starting at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Each winery has a music series or at least sporadic concerts, with the volume hovering at a low level so the music both enables and inspires conversation. Wine, after all, is a social spirit.

River Ridge has no events listed for the weekend, but routinely invites musicians to play under their pavilion. Thousand Oaks will have Casey Benefield on Sunday and Hunter Valley Winery has scheduled Jefferson Fox and Paul Sprawl for Saturday and Mark Gordon for Sunday.

Hunter Valley, off Route V in Cape Girardeau, has also partnered with Scott City artist and teacher Matt Miller to host sculptures in an empty piece of land at the winery. As if the typically picturesque hill of vines wasn't enough of a scenic experience, now sculptures by area artists dot the land.

Hunter Valley opened in 2009 and does not serve meals, but the owners offer a meat and cheese assortment and allow patrons to bring their own baskets.

The food, the people, the porches all feed into the winery atmosphere, one of relaxation and vacation just outside the city limits or across the county line.