Charleville Winery & Microbrewery

There are perks to having friends in the restaurant/bar business. Last week, I was invited to go with Sara & Jesse Jones (from Amalgamated Brewing, owners of The Rotten Apple, The Stable, & Jake's Steaks) and Jerad (their beverage manager) to Charleville Winery & Microbrewery in St. Genevieve, Missouri. The Stable features Charleville's beers on tap, so the owners' son invited us to see their operation.

I'd never been to St. Genevieve, which is about an hour from St. Louis, before but I'd heard that there were good wineries down there.

We followed Mapquest's directions, which took us about 9 miles down a gravel road. We were all wondering where in the heck the place was, since there were no signs. Come to find out, there is a main road that leads you right to the winery.

The tasting room is set back in the hills, past their vineyards. It is absolutely gorgeous out there. It was also a beautiful, warm & sunny October day.

We got to taste their wines & beers. I liked the dry whites, the Chauvin & barrel fermented Chardonel, the best. I also liked their seasonal brew, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reinbeer...an amber ale with hints of peppermint!

Jack & Joal, the owners, made a delicious lunch for us. We ate on the porch of their bed & breakfast, an 1800's cabin next door to the tasting room, overlooking the grape vines and rolling hills.

Their son, Tait, then took us on a tour of the winery & brewery. We met the winemaker, Tony, who took us next door (in the back of a pick-up, through the vineyard, down the hill) to Chaumette Winery, where he is also the winemaker.

This is my favorite picture of the day!

It was such a great day! The food, beer, wine, and people were awesome. It really is such a gorgeous place that I didn't want to leave. We are already making plans to go back.

Fabulous photos by Sara Jones.