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GRAPEGROWING sells a line of light, sweet wines geared for a different market and consumer. About 15 years ago, Dressel noticed that sales of sweet wines in the Augusta tasting room were collapsing. While the winery was earning a reputation for its dry wines that were selling well, overall the winery wasn't making money. Customers who came to the winery looking for sweet wines were being turned off by those made in the traditional dry style. Realizing he needed a change to retain customers who prefer sweet wines, Dressel saw an opportunity in Branson. Today, the Augusta line accounts for about 4,000 cases, and Dressel produces around 21,000 cases of the sweeter product for Branson. He said his rule of thumb for a market is sweet tea: If the excessively sweet Southern specialty is popular in a city or region, he can assume the sweeter Branson line of wines will do well there. "The sweet reds pay for the barrels for the whites," Dressel said. The Branson line is produced mainly with Arkansas Muscadine and Catawaba grapes, while the Augusta wines are made from small estate vineyards of vinifera and 65 acres of hybrids under contract. Dressel recently planted two acres of Pinot Noir, and he's looking forward to seeing how that variety does in the estate. While he may find Norton challenging, Dressel added that he recently tasted one of his estate Nortons that had aged for three years in the barrel and then another three in the bottle. He said the lengthy aging had tamed the gamey flavors of the wine and left spicy fruit flavors with anise, licorice and mocha notes in the finish that were "much more pleasant." Quality of winemaking improving In 2010, Les Bourgeois Vineyards expanded its production with a modern winemaking facility in Rocheport, Mo. The winery now makes more than 50,000 cases per year. Cory Bomgaars, the vice president of winery operations, has been with Les Bourgeois since 1992, working for much of that time as winemaker. Bomgaars helped guide the winery to its leading place in the state's industry and is the current president of the Missouri Vintners Association. The winery owns 30 acres of vines and sources grapes from other Missouri growers and some from California. The current winemaker is Jacob Holman. Bomgaars said the overall quality of grapegrowing and winemaking has vastly Cory Bomgaars is vice president of winery operations at Les Bourgeois Vineyards. improved in the state. In the vineyard, regular tailgate gatherings of growers with extension agents helped spread best practices for operations such as spraying and canopy management. "I think traditionally we were not too worried about early sprays, and then we'd battle bunch rot," he said. Another improved technique is getting more sun exposure on Norton grapes, which generally have high levels of malic acid that can lead to an off-putting tartness in the finished wines. Bomgaars said more sun can "burn off" some of that acid. Win es & Vin e s ja n ua ry 20 14 91