Pirtle Winery: Producing wine and mead in Weston for 44 years | Northwest Missouri Leave a comment

When Pirtle Winery started making wine in 1978, it was no more than a small, family business in the basement of an old Lutheran Evangelical Church in Weston.

Now, under brothers Ross and Scott Pirtle, the winery has moved its operation, expanded its production and added a vineyard that produced 40 tons of grapes last year.

When Elbert and Patricia Pirtle, Ross and Scott’s parents, started making wine, they were commuting to the basement of the old church from Westwood, Kansas.

The winery outlet is still in the church, but the Pirtles have moved wine production to an updated facility across the street where they can store, press and ferment the grapes.

The original building now has three locations to enjoy the wine, mead and picnic baskets filled with cheese, summer sausage and crackers.

On the first floor is an indoor cellar with wine bar, tables and chairs. A tasting room and gift shop are on the second floor.

The winery also has two outdoor settings, one on a vine-covered patio and the other on the deck.

The covered patio with chairs and tables is actually a secluded garden and gives the illusion of being a “hidden gem,” according to manager Carrie McCardie.

“By the time mid-May gets here, it will be in full bloom,” McCardie said.

The wines include reds and whites, fruit wines and mead.

The most popular wine is called the Mellow Red, according to McCardie. She said it is a sweeter red blend made with Concord grapes.

Another popular wine is the Effervescent Rosé, made from St. Vincent grapes grown in the Pirtle vineyard down the street. This particular wine is cluster-pressed to maintain its light pink color and sweetness, Scott Pirtle said.

Since the grapes are pressed the same day they are harvested and the skins are not allowed to ferment in the juice, the color and flavor are distinctive, he said.

Pirtle said they are most proud of the wines made from the grapes harvested from their own vineyard. They grow Cayuga White and Seyval Blanc for the white wines, and Norton, Chambourcin, St. Vincent and Concord for red wines and rosé.

Mead is also produced in the winery. It is wine fermented from a diluted honey and water mixture, and it is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world, dating back thousands of years.

It can be dry or sweet, but all types of mead have a clean flavor and notes of honey, Pirtle said.

The winery uses locally sourced honey to create its signature mead, typically using three kinds to hit different flavor notes — clover, mesquite and orange blossom honey.

A combination of orange blossom honey and blackberries creates blackberry mead, one of their most popular items, McCardie said. The Pirtle brand is so popular that it is the official mead of the St. Louis and Kansas City Renaissance fairs.

Looking ahead, the winery plans to expand by adding a restaurant. This will allow guests to elongate their stay for dinner or lunch without relying solely on the picnic baskets.

Pirtle said he looks forward to giving people a nice place to “hang out, have food, and stay awhile.”