Submitted by Marilyn Alldredge, Wine Fest Coordinator

It’s time to start making plans for the 7th Annual Great Northwest Wine Fest in Mound City’s North Griffith Park, September 24, 2016. The event will be hosted by Northwest MO Enterprise Facilitation as their big fundraiser and is showing phenomenal growth and new introductions in its seventh year of wine tasting, sampling and sales. Most of the wineries involved in this wine fest have been deemed as winners in Missouri’s Governor Award Winning Wines. Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation is pleased that there will be more new Wineries and those there previously offering new wines at this beautiful fall setting, in the north end of Mound City next to Mound City Development Corporation’s lavish vineyards from Noon to 8 p.m. Each winery has their own unique taste and grape varieties, specialty named wines, and some are made with Mound City’s grapes.
The registration procedures, using two lines again this year and more advanced technologies can accommodates the crowd that has grown to over 1800 attendees. Tickets may be obtained in advance; or at the gate by cash, check or credit card. Wrist bands must be worn by those sampling and driver’s license or valid identification indicating their age must be shown at the registration desk. Each person sampling receives an etched wine glass.
Not only will the park feature prestigious wineries, but also a featured ‘Guest Artist” this year with Matt Snook, country recording artist who was a contestant in the 2015 NBC’s smash reality show, The Voice, as a member of the Team Blake Shelton. Matt will be performing throughout the afternoon and brings with him an impressive list of prior performances. He performs for our service men and women domestically at Walter Reed, Balboa and Brooks Army Medical. Matt also performs overseas in Kuwait, Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. He performed opening ceremonies for the AT & T National and US OPEN golf tournaments. Matt spends time with kids at Camp Quality; performs for Gold Star Families in Dallas, TX every year; and has performed at The Ryan Seacrest Studio and Red Balloon Network at Dallas Children’s Hospital. He has opened for George Strait, Jamey Johnson, Mark Chestnut, Joe Diffie, Tracy Byrd, John Michael Montgomery, Tracy Lawrence, Tony Orlando, Aaron Tippin. Michael Peterson and many others. “We are so excited and humbled to have Matt Snook as one of our entertainers for this year’s event,” claimed Marilyn Alldredge, coordinator of the Wine Fest event. Other talented returning entertainers will complete the musical entertainment on the stage throughout the hours of the event.
Once again a variety of food from booths such as The Enchilada Lady – Mexican goodies; Wabash Jct. Restaurant – gourmet soups and desserts, Stanberry; Knights of Columbus of Savannah offering a variety of grilled sandwiches; Rock Port Food Country and a new BBQ booth. Rock Port Food Country will be offering cheese and fruit plates. There will be availability of homemade breads, grape pies and more, all afternoon and evening. A reasonably priced gourmet sit-down dinner in the shelter house, 4-7:30 p.m., by Food Country Catering, will feature a choice of 3 entrées with a complete dinner meal. A full Bar to include domestic beers will also be available by The Klub of Mound City.
An array of Artisan booths, returning and several new ones, will be available for the entirety of the day’s activities. Such items as handcrafted jewelry; home decorative items; fall flowers; pumpkins; health products; purses and bags; gift items; photography and artistry; handmade items; baked items; jams, jellies, and take-home food items; candles, statuary items, hand knitted items; and more can be purchased at reasonable prices. There are still spots available for booth set-ups.
Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation board members are also offering two large raffle giveaways: a 50/50 raffle, and another large ticket offering of a wine refrigerator/cooler; the Wineries’ Wine Cellar Basket of at least 24 bottles of wine; and certificates of at least $100 value from each of the six counties involved in Enterprise Facilitation’s services. The winners need not be present to win.
A couple different “grape stompings” and view of the vineyards will occur in the afternoon. Tables and chairs are provided or bring your own lawn chairs. Entry Fee is $20 a person which includes samplings and an etched glass, $10 non-consumers and minors and $5 for children 12 and under. Ample parking will be available.
For more information, contact Marilyn Alldredge, Wine Event coordinator, 660-744-3146.
NWMEF is a non-profit organization providing FREE business coaching services for new entrepreneurs and small business start-ups in northwest Missouri in the counties of Atchison, Holt, Andrew, Nodaway, Gentry, and Worth for an unlimited amount of professional visits from the Facilitator.