Wine Tours and Fall Foliage Close At Hand
By CHARLES CANTRELL
Associate Editor
WINE FESTIVAL: Stone Bluff Cellars hosted the Ninth Annual Green Country Wine Festival on Oct. 11. From left are Sherry Watson, Monita Taylor, Teresa Evans and Cindy Deitz. Stone Bluff Cellars is located south of Tulsa near Haskell on U.S. 64. The one-day event features wine tasting, live music, gourmet food, a kids area and artists and craftsmen.
DANIEL C. CAMERON for GTR Newspapers
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles focusing on great Oklahoma attractions close by for GTR readers to consider when planning a weekend trip or a short get-a-way. Fuel costs and a tightening economy make nearby attractions more enticing from a financial point of view, but some readers may not know about or have forgotten the many wonderful destinations within a short drive from Tulsa. The places highlighted in this series are chosen for their interesting appeal and entertainment value. The fact that they are close at hand, inexpensive and that supporting them supports local economies, are just added bonuses.
Now if you have any money left to burn from your golden parachute you could head out to California Wine Country for an expensive Napa or Sonoma Valley wine tour. If you didn’t get one of those nice little chunks of what’s left of America’s capital markets, but like discovering interesting, quality wines made by fellow Oklahomans, then you should consider touring what is becoming our regional wine country, Grand Wine Country.
Grand Wine Country is comprised of three wineries located in the intermittent forested, rolling hills terrain that lies between Oologah Lake to the west and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees to the east. Oak Hills Winery, Summerside Winery and Blue Coyote Winery are all situated in this quintessential, Green Country landscape of small farms and ranchland spotted with smaller rural communities like Adair, White Oak, Vinita, Big Cabin, Chelsea and Foyil. The hardwood forests and tall grass prairie of Northeastern Oklahoma offers up bountiful colors as its vegetation transitions from summer greens to the rich earth tone of fall. This alone makes it a great road trip.
But for wine lovers there is more, and with a well planned road trip you’ll enjoy great scenery, see roadside attractions and discover one of the state’s fastest growing industries. So, here’s our recommended tour.
We suggest the first stop on your Grand Wine Country tour be Oak Hills Vineyard (GPS: 36.50788N, 95.45416W) in Chelsea. Before you start be sure you pack or procure a picnic lunch. Next step, ignore those MapQuest results that put you on the interstate and take Historic Route 66 north out of Tulsa through Catoosa and Claremore. Watch for the iconic Blue Whale to your left as you leave Catoosa and, if you time it right, you can work in a tour of the J.M. Davis Arms & Historic Museum at 333 N. Lynn Riggs in Claremore to see the “largest gun museum in the world.” You can’t miss it. If you’re not interested in guns but love quirky roadside attractions and folk art masterpieces drive on north to Foyil, turn right at SH 28 for a few miles to see Ed Galloway’s Totem Park on your right, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and claiming the title of the World’s Largest Concrete Totem Pole. Big gun collections, big totem poles – does it get any better? See, you’ve already seen a lot of fun stuff and you haven’t even reached your first winery yet.
From Galloway’s Totem you will need to backtrack west to ol’ 66 and head north again to Chelsea. Just this side of Chelsea look for the Oak Hills Winery & Vineyards signs and they will lead you to the first stop on this wine tour.
It should be noted that Oklahoma wineries will often offer a wide range of traditional wines made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and other familiar European derivative grapes along with wines of a more indigenous nature that tend to be sweeter and fruitier. The later goes well with Okie fare like barbeque or cuisines like spicy Thai dishes. The range from dry to sweet is market driven to accommodate the multiplicity of Midwestern tastes. And Oak Hills is a good example offering sweet to semi-sweet blushes made from Catawba, Seyval Blanc and concord grapes to create favorites like Sooner Blush, Summer Harvest and their version of a great everyday Red Table Wine along with traditionally dry Merlot, Sedona and Cabernet wines.
By now it may be lunchtime on your tour and this winery has picnic grounds with a view of the vineyards. You’ll be glad you packed a lunch. Winery hours are Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.. or by appointment. For more information go to: www.oakhillswinery.com.
Time to move on up the Mother Road north to Vinita to the next destination, Summerside Vineyards & Winery (GPS 36.63227N, 95.13845W). Owners Marsha and Gary Butler will most likely be on hand to welcome you to the winery and vineyards they started back in 2001. You’re invited to take a self-guided tour of the facilities to learn all about Summerside winemaking and the friendly wine tasting room is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
You will find the Butlers are strong believers in Oklahoma wines. Back in the mid 1990s they realized that Oklahoma was surrounded by states like Missouri, Arkansas and Texas with century-old wine traditions. So, why not here? And they began looking for property and learning about the trade. Starting with their first planting in 2002, they have slowly turned their four-acre tract of land off Historic Route 66 into a delightful wine lover’s destination.
Summerside provides a variety of quality wines using their mainstay grape, Cynthiana Norton, because it has proven itself to yield excellent wine grapes in challenging weather conditions in areas comparable to Northeastern Oklahoma’s microclimate. Their flagship wine is Route 66 Red Wine, a customer favorite. For more information, visit www.summersidevineyards.com
Time to leave Historic Route 66 and turn south on SH 69 headed for Adair on the last leg of your wine tour. At Adair turn west for a few miles and watch for the Blue Coyote Winery (GPS 36.44567N, 95.36259W) turnoff to your right. Follow CR 429 for a half mile and the winery is on the right. Here you will find unusual wines ranging from Blue Twister Chardonnay, a dry white wine to Oklahoma Peach, made from, you guessed it, Porter peaches. For the very adventurous, there’s Dare You Hot Pepper Wine, Double Dare You Hot Pepper Wine and the certainly-not-for-sissies Triple Dare You Hot Pepper Wine. For more information go to: www.bluecoyotewinery.com
Now the choice is yours to head to I-44 and back to Tulsa for dinner or you can turn back and stay the night in any of the many stay over cottages on Grand Lake. There are also many good places to dine around the lake.
According to the Web site www.wine.appelationamerica.com, Oklahoma is re-establishing its once thriving wine industry. In the early twentieth century grape growing played a significant role in the region’s agro economy, before statehood and Prohibition pretty much killed it. Today all across the state and certainly in Green Country winemaking is growing and improving every year.
For anyone still hesitant to try locally produced wines Gary Butler, vintner and co-owner of Summerside Winery, has this to say: “Most vineyards in the state are less than ten years old. We know it takes at least eight to ten years before a vineyard will produce high quality grapes and yet Oklahoma vintners are already winning awards at prestigious international wine festivals. This bodes well for the future of Oklahoma wines. We’ve yet to make our best wine. It will only get better.”
For more information, visit www.OklahomaWines.org/fest.htm
Updated 10-23-2008
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