MU Grape and Wine Institute hosts wine tastings, March 25, 26 and 28

COLUMBIA, Mo.–The Grape and Wine Institute at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources is hosting the 4th Annual Experimental Cultivar Wine Tasting, a spring workshop during which participants will blindly sample 18-20 Missouri wines from the 2012 vintage.

“For the past several years we’ve been conducting this workshop to determine the quality aspects of the wine produced,” said Michael Leonardelli, an enology extension associate with the Grape and Wine Institute. “What all these varieties of wine have in common is that the grapevines grow well in Missouri.”

The point of the event is to find new grape varieties for the Missouri wine industry, Leonardelli said. These grape varieties may easily grow in Missouri, but do the grapes produce good wines? Participants get to help answer that question.

There will be three tasting sessions to choose from:

• Monday, March 25, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 26, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Thursday, March 28, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

All sessions will be held in Room 107 of the Agricultural Engineering Building on the MU campus.

The $20 registration fee includes a deli buffet with the tasting. To learn more about the event and register online, go to gwi.missouri.edu.