River Ridge - Commerce, MO

Date of dining experience: April 15, 2016

Place: River Ridge Winery

Location: 850 Co. Rd. 321 in Commerce, MO

Appetizer: My favorite appetizer here is the fried okra, but on this visit Audry and I split the olive plate over a bottle of Rose. The Rose this year is very good! It is a little darker than in the past and slightly less sweet.

Food: Southwest Chicken Panini. I wanted to try something new and different. This was definitely it! The jalapeno-cilantro-cumin sauce made it very delicious! Beware: this is a little on the spicy side.

Wine: All of the wines at River Ridge are so good. My wife and I tend to start with a bottle of Rose (semi-dry) and move to a Cabernet Sauvignon (Fall/Winter) or Chardonnay (Spring/Summer) once our food arrives. On this particular visit, we just stuck with the Rose and ordered a second bottle. My favorite River Ridge wine is probably the Villard Blanc (semi-dry). We did buy some bottles to take home (mostly whites because we don't have many in the wine fridge and it is starting to warm up outside): 2 Villard Blancs, a Lucky Dog, a 10 Spot, a Nooner, and a Cabernet Franc (dry red). The Cabernet Franc is a 2009 vintage that I cannot wait to open!!

Audry and I really enjoy dry wines and drink mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay because they are the most consistent throughout all the brands. If I had to choose my favorite wines from all the possible options in the world (that I have tried so far), I would probably choose Sauvignon Blanc for white and Cabernet Franc for red. A Sauvignon Blanc is pretty common, but the consistency of taste can vary greatly depending on year, region, and brand. A Cabernet Franc, for some reason, is a lot harder to find. But if you get a chance to try it, I think you'll agree it is delicious. I would place it on the scale somewhere between a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Malbec.

River Ridge is my favorite Missouri winery. The people are fantastic, the wine is extremely good for Missouri, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the entertainment (when provided) is always great. I highly recommend this winery.

If you have never been to River Ridge you need to go, now! They are open every day of the year except Christmas Day. Make sure you go inside to the tasting room as well. Let me know what you think once you try it. Enjoy!