A Year Growing Grapes in Western Missouri

This summer I have continued to pour myself into a small backyard vineyard, just 10 vines, but a focused passion project that has become my personal field laboratory. Each step of the season was documented: weather patterns, canopy management, spray schedules, and careful cluster tracking. The goal wasn't yield but discovery and understanding how fruit develops here in Western Missouri then how it might translate into creating a sparkling wine program was the goal. The vines have rewarded the effort with a modest harvest, but continued gains in dealing with our climatic challenges and planning for our future successes.

We're finishing the season at 19.3 Brix / 3.6 pH. My target was closer to 18 Brix / 3.2 pH for a sparkling base, but I'm encouraged by the direction. My Theo and the girls tasted the juice and were surprised by how sweet it was, a reminder that even in small-scale trials, fruit quality can exceed expectations. My vision is to use this fruit for a micro-production of extra-brut sparkling wine, reserved for family occasions.

The 2025 growing season in Freeman, (Western) Missouri, USA was one of extremes: relentless rain from May through early July, searing heat in midsummer, and an abrupt cool-down in August, but amazing ripening conditions through the first half of September. It allowed the clusters to hang and slowly ripen and hold their acidity well. Disease management demanded discipline including early protection with copper, mancozeb, and myclobutanil, followed later by Switch, OxiDate, and Gunner to hold back botrytis and sour rot. Pest pressure told its own story: aphids, ants, and phylloxera balanced by ladybugs for the first few months, until Japanese beetles arrived and required a series of well-timed SEVEN applications.

The greatest challenge, however, came not from weather or disease, but wildlife. A marauding pack of trash pandas descended on the vineyard with the same zealous spirit of the Emperor's Japanese pilots on Pearl Harbor just as the fruit reached 13–14 Brix, stripping 80% of the north-end clusters overnight. I hope the raccoons all woke up with the worst belly ache, but we all know they were in dessert heaven. The loss was painful; I am still gutted every time I look at the trellis with hanging empty clusters. It reminded me vineyard protection must extend to every level, from canopy to cluster to wildlife. Even so, four vines remain intact, and those clusters represent the essence of this season's work. They are ready and so am I.

It has been a year of discovery, discipline, and resilience. This small vineyard may only yield a symbolic harvest, but it has already provided something larger, proof of concept, and a vision for what sparkling wine from Missouri can become. Each season builds on the last, and I'm eager to carry these lessons forward into 2026 and beyond.

More to come.

, Matthew