My wife and I left the Quail's Nest Saturday afternoon and headed north on Osage Beach Parkway. As we drove the windy road, I thought about how similar it felt compared to Highway 7. The parkway was a four-lane road, sometimes divided and sometimes not. Still, it had quick elevation changes and short sight distances which for a tourist made the road feel faster than it should. True, there weren't deer this time, but instead there were cars pulling out from strip malls, other visiting drivers erratically changing lanes when they realized too late that they had missed their turn, and the siren-like pull of the scenic fall vistas drawing your eyes off the road. Wherever you go, there's a sense of being higher than the surrounding area.
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| The windy road to Shawnee Bluff Winery |
As we neared the dam, Osage Beach Parkway forks into Bagnell Dam Road and an option to merge with U.S. Highway 54. On Bagnell Dam Road the traffic slows, and the properties shrink in size but become more numerous. This is Lake Ozark, MO the older township on the lake. Original to when the lake was first created, many properties were quickly built to cater to the new tourist industry. While some shopping and restaurant properties have been demolished and sit vacant awaiting redevelopment, you'll pass mom & pop motor lodges from the 1930's, the Church of our Lady of the Lake, and steep driveways both up and down from the road.
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| Sunsetting on Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church |
It was because of the steep driveway, we missed our turn off the first time through, but then saw the banner announcing "Winery" high above the roadway. Taking the Jeep up the driveway, we encountered a small parking lot nearly full with five cars, two small buildings and a larger cape cod style building. We entered the cod style building.
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| The motel and winery as it is now |
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| The motel as it was |
We walked over to the bar, where the hostess, Victoria, was juggling orders from the food menu and helping another employee serve other patrons. My wife and I said that we were interested in doing a wine tasting of both reds & whites and having our Missouri Wine Passports stamped. Victoria told us that the owner of Shawnee Bluff Winery also owns Casa de Loco Winery in Camdenton, MO. He also bought the remaining inventory of Grey Bear Winery. The Grey Bear owner recently had a stroke and decided to sell the business. She stamped our passports for both Shawnee Bluff and Grey Bear.
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| Inside the tasting room at Shawnee Bluff Winery |
First we tried the Sauvignon Blanc. We usually weren't fans of Sauv Blancs, but agreed that it's lemon/lime zest with crisp finish was probably the best we had sampled. It was interestingly complex being slightly sweet with a dry, mineral finish. Next we tried the Call Your Bluff, a sparkling white wine. It had floral notes and was sweet but had a crisp finish. You could still tell that it had a definite grape flavor, being derived from muscato grapes, but didn't taste like grape juice. The Call Your Bluff is kept on tap and if you should desire a bottle or carafe, they will bottle it for you on the spot.
Up next was a Pinot Grigio. It was flavorful with citrus notes and a dry finish. Then came the Muscat Canelli. It was a semi-sweet wine with woodsy notes yet had a creamy finish. We usually shy away from Muscato wines, but this one definitely had enough flavor to balance out it's sweetness. Victoria said it was great to have at a fall campfire. Next we had the winery's Flappers & Philosophers. It was a dry wine with a crisp finish and citrus notes.
Shawnee Bluff's Cabernet Sauvignon had a cherry cola/coffee flavor to it. It was a dark, semi-dry wine with nutmeg spice notes. It was very smooth on the palate at room temperature. We liked it a lot. Victoria followed that up with the Barbara, a flavorful wine with strong chocolate and cherry notes. Then came the smooth Primivito, again with cherry and coffee notes but with little tannins providing a mellow finish.
The winery's Retro Red was a light red blend with a crisp dry finish. More tannins were present than with the Primivito, but not overwhelmingly so. Shawnee Bluff's Bluff Blush was a sweet rosé wine from the Catawba grape. It was sweet and light but had plenty of flavor to be enjoyed alone or with a meal. Sweeter than a White Zinfindel, but smoother and with more flavor, we both liked it very much. Next was I'm A Sweetie with it's Muscato sweetness. It came with lemon drop notes and could easily stand in for a dessert. After that came I'm A Sweetie Too, another sweet red wine, this time coming from Concord grapes. It was also another dessert wine with plenty flavor.
We bought a bottle of Bluff Blush and Muscat Canelli and took a seat on the Winery's pool deck. Although unplanned, we enjoyed the spectacular view over the lake as the sun set gently in the western hills. For a fall weekend in late October, there was still a fair amount of boat traffic gliding across the water. We would have liked to stay longer for the customary live weekend music, but we had to meet back with my in-laws and our daughters for dinner.
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| View from the Shawnee Bluff Winery deck |
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| Wood-fired oven at the winery. |
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| Looking down the bluff across the lake |
We were hesitant in telling Victoria that our dinner plans involved Golden Corral. Instead, we would have liked to try some of their wood-grilled shrimp, but with kids you're better off going someplace you know that they'll eat something.
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