Smithville, Missouri, is an unassuming town with an amazing winery. Ladoga Ridge Winery is a winery with a great view, with different events throughout the year and great wine. Ladoga, which opened in 2011, is a beautiful winery both inside and outside. Inside, the large tasting room gives off a chic country vibe with rustic looking bar as well as a large fireplace. Outside, there is a huge patio with varied outdoor seating as well as the sunset pavilion.
Michael and I have visited this winery numerous times since we discovered it in mid-2019. It is one of our top wineries since the atmosphere is wonderful, wine is great, and is a fun place to hang out with friends. We have been to numerous events hosted by the winery. The latest event was their Ugly Christmas Sweater party. It was a drop-in when you can event. We also brought along one of Michael’s youngest brothers David who recently turned 21. As we walked into the winery wearing our outfits the whole staff got super excited.
Since this was David’s first time at the winery, we each did a wine tasting. Ladoga Ridge has a good range of sweet to dry wines. They also have a few seasonal wines, fruit wines, and wine specialties such as slushies and mulled wine. Our favorite Ladoga Wine to share a bottle of is their Cayuga White, a dry white with fruity flavors, or Galen’s Red which is a dry oak aged Chambourcin. We had David pick out a bottle after our tasting and he chose Reflect, a sweet Cayuga white with an apple finish. We also picked out some cheese, crackers, and summer sausage to snack on while we hung out for a bit.
Since the Ugly Christmas Sweater party was also a contest, our group easily won. After Ladoga Ridge announced us as the winner’s a few days later Michael and I visited again to claim our price, but also get a glass of wine each to relax and enjoy our victory. We opened our prize just to see what we had and message David to see if there was anything he would want since it was a group effort.
Ladoga Ridge Winery is a great winery to just get together with friends and hang out chatting. With great wine and a friendly atmosphere, any wine-lover should find time to stop by and check it out.
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