REGION HAS WINE TIME

The River Ridge Winery is a welcome addition to Commerce, but vintners say just three wineries in this region is anything but a crowd.

River Ridge joins Alto Vineyards at Alto Pass, Ill., and Sainte Genevieve Winery in Ste. Genevieve.

"What we need is half a dozen wineries," said Jerry Smith of River Ridge. "People would come from St. Louis or Memphis to several wineries, do some tasting and comparing. When you have only one, it's quite a distance to travel."

Smith operates the winery with his wife Joannie. They also own River Ridge Christmas Tree Farm.

"We established the vineyards in 1981. We have approximately two acres of wine grapes and are planting more this year. We will put them in the ground in April."

They received their state and federal licenses designating them as a winery in August of 1992.

"Of course we had to have a harvest, produce the wine and let it go through the proper aging process," Smith said. "Our first release for retail sales will be in June or a little after."

Smith said the winery will be producing four varieties of wines, both white and red.

"We are doing it in the same sense of our European forefathers who blended various grapes to produce a wine," Smith said. "The red wine we bottle in 1993 will probably be released in 1997."

The winery and vineyards are located on an 80-acre farm with more than a quarter-mile frontage on the Mississippi River. The retail sales and winery are housed in a 100-year-old farmhouse.

"We have hiking trails up to the vineyard and to the bluffs overlooking the river," Smith said.

"This is strictly a family operation," he said. "We pick the grapes ourselves, crush them, ferment the wine, bottle and label it right here on our little farm."

He anticipates families will take trips to the winery to see the grapes, learning about the winemaking process, go on hikes and have picnics.

Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass, Ill., is operated by Paul Renzaglia.

"We opened the winery back in 1988 and we now produce about 4,000 gallons of wine a year," Renzaglia said.

They make 10 different styles of wine using home-grown grapes.

"We have a 10-acre vineyard right on the site," he said. "We grow mostly French and American hybrids."

"We have won over 100 medals in competitions across the U.S.," Renzaglia said.

The wines have been so popular, most years the entire annual release is sold out by December. "In January and February we have very limited offerings," Renzaglia said.

But from March through December, the winery is open weekdays from 1-6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1-6 p.m.

While Missouri has a well established wine industry, Illinois is just starting to develop.

"My father though there was no reason we can't be growing grapes here. The area is suited for grape growing. This was my father's dream."

Renzaglia said another winery has just opened at Pomona, Ill. and a couple others are scheduled to open within the next year or two.

"This is something we thought could be done in Southern Illinois, and I think we've proven it can be successful."

Sainte Genevieve Winery at Ste. Genevieve is also a family operation for Hope and Linus Hoffmeister.

"He makes the wine and keeps an eye on the future. I run the day-to-day operation," said Hope Hoffmeister.

The tasting room and retail sales outlet reside in a turn-of-the century mansion in downtown Ste. Genevieve. They will be open seven days a week beginning in March.

The winemaking takes place on a 400 acre farm in Weingarten, about 22 miles from Ste. Genevieve.

"We've lived there about 27 years now," Hoffmeister said. "We bought the farm as a summer home when we were living in St. Louis. We liked the area and community so much we moved here permanently."

An old vineyard existed on the farm. They used grapes from those plants to make wine for their personal use.

In 1978, they planted a commercial vineyard. "In 1984 we got our bonded winery license."

"From the time we plant a grape till the time we get a crop is five to six years," she said. "You have to have a lot of patience in this business."

The retail portion of the business has operated from the farm for about a year. "When the building on Merchant Street went on market we purchased it."

They now have 13 acres of grapes at the farm, where most of the production takes place.

"We manufacture between 5,000 and 6,000 gallons of wine a year," she said.

They make 10 to 12 grape wines and another eight or nine fruit wines each year. "We have a very large variety," Hoffmeister said.

At Christmas this year, the Sainte Genevieve wines entered the Cape Girardeau retail market. Bottles are available at National Del-Farm, Shop 'n' Save and D-Mart.

Hoffmeister said the wine tasting room in downtown Ste. Genevieve fits in nicely with the community's tourism business.

And Hoffmeister said Missouri wines are growing in popularity and are winning national and international awards.