Like Augusta Winery, Noboleis Vineyard was a winery that we had their wine, but never actually been to the winery to do a tasting. However, different from Augusta winery, Michael and I were probably the most excited to visit Noboleis.
So, to start off with why we had high expectations and excitement with Noboleis we must go back to April 2020. Obviously, I don’t need to remind anyone that this was the start of the pandemic and lockdown. The both of us (more me than Michael) had cabin fever. I noticed that there was a site called VinoShipper and that there were a few Missouri Wineries that ship their wine. So, looking at the options I found Noboleis. They had quite a variety on what can be shipped. I saw that they had two Vignoles. Figuring that you can’t go wrong with a Vignoles decided to order those, however, I must have gotten so distracted with what to order that I didn’t pick Vignoles at all!! I picked Noboleis Blanc and Steepleview. Now that the wines were shipped, and my error realized we just had to go with it. We sipped these wines on our deck while listening to music.
We enjoyed the wine so much so two months later I end up ordering the two Vignoles. Almost two years later and knowing Amanda liked Noboleis, we got a Chambourcin to do the blind tasting. Then later were surprised by their Dry Rose at the Four Course Dinner at the Willow Spring Mercantile. By this point we were more than ready to do a tasting and officially rank them on our wine tier list.
Fast forward a few months and Amanda is taking us to Noboleis Vineyard. As we got out of the car, I was surprised at what the winery looked like. For some reason I was expecting a large stone winery. I honestly don't know why, but was very taken aback by the small building. Also the outdoor seating scattered around made me say how much it looked like Riverwood Winery.
We entered and were greeted by the staff. They listened to me gush about the wine and how overly excited I was to finally visit the vineyard. They have two types of tastings a Signature (4 wines from the standard list) and Star (4 wines from Standard or Reserve). Michael had the Star, and I did the Signature. Amanda got a free glass of the Reserve Cuvee since she is a wine club member. They put 4 small wine glasses on a wooden board which allows you to move to sit someplace else. Since it was cold, we sat in their indoor area which gives you views of the vinification process.
The four wines I had were Dry Traminette, Baril De Blanc, Steepleview, and Moscato. Now I was trying to pick wines we hadn’t tasted before. I’m sure you have already noticed an error. I’ll give you a minute to recap from a few paragraphs above if you haven’t. Now that you have…. yep, I got Steepleview. We didn’t exactly remember the wine we had gotten back in April 2020. It was after discussing it at the table with Michael and looking back at our pass order that we realized. The Dry Traminette, is a crisp white wine that I always normally like the grape cause it is similar to a Riesling. Baril De Blanc, also a white wine but is oaked aged so it leaves a buttery finish. Normally I don’t care for a buttery finish in a wine but for some reason it really worked. Steepleview, is a fruity red wine, during the summer they actually chill this wine but since it was winter it was room temperature. The Moscato, had a touch of peach flavors and lands semi-sweet. I enjoyed each though my favorite out of this tasting was the Steepleview.
The star tasting Michael received was Reserve Vidal, Reserve Norton, Reserve Melange, and Reserve Cuvee. The Reserve Vidal was nice dry white, but it isn’t normally one Michael normally would pick. Out of these Reserve Melange was his favorite because it was more complex layered red wine. He was quite happy to get a double pour out of it because the bartender got distracted with Michael commenting about their neat aerator. Michael was surprised when he saw the Reserve Cuvee was a red wine since he thought Cuvee meant a bubbly white wine. The Reserve Norton was good but nothing particularly noteworthy.
As we sipped through our tasting, which is really a size of a flight we decided to get something to snack on. They do have hot food options such as pizza, but we opted for cheese and crackers. They had BelGioioso Italian cheese tray that have four different cheeses Provolone, Fontina, Parmesan, and Asiago. We ended our time there by discussing the cheese, Genshin Impact game, and ranking this winery. Since we enjoyed the wine, the service, and just the winery in general we ranked them in high A tier. They are also one of the few wineries in the Augusta area that refused to sell to the Hoffman Family. So yes, while we had 4 tasting also at this winery it was half the price at $7 for a Signature tasting and $10 for Star. Also, you don’t keep the glass which while yes, I do like collecting wine glasses at the various vineyards we have gone to, we have ran out of room in our cabinet.
There is no question that we will have this winery’s wine again because we can easily get it shipped through VinoShipper, but also through their website if you live in Missouri. If you ever feel the need to do a virtual wine tasting I would recommend Noboleis.
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