By Tony Brockmeyer
Dave and Tammy Campbell purchased the Little Hills Winery at 501 South Main Street in March of 1998. Dave and Tammy are very excited as they are now beginning to produce their own wine. “For many years we had a subcontractor bottle all our wines,” said Dave. Since we have been in business eight years we figured that it was about time we bring wine production back into St. Charles.”
Over the past year and a half the Campbells purchased wine production equipment from two small wineries. One here in St. Charles and one in Washington, Missouri. “We have about a 3000 gallon capacity at this point,” Dave said. “We look forward to really beginning to get back to being a full service winery.”
In addition to the Little Hills Winery Restaurant at 501 South Main, Dave and Tammy also own and operate the Little Hills Wine Shop at 710 South Main. “The Little Hills Wine Shop is our bonded winery. We have our barrels down there and we are also producing some wine in the man-made caverns at Second and Water Streets,” Dave told the First Capitol News. “Our plan is in three to five years to be able to produce between six and seven thousand cases of fine wine. We purchase our grapes in the St. James and Southern, Missouri, Mountain Grove areas.
We will eventually plan on growing our own grapes. At this time we do not have vineyards but as we grow we certainly are looking at purchasing vineyards in the future.
When asked what makes Little Hills Winery unique Dave replied, “We make a great wine and that makes us stand out from the rest. We have a great winemaker who is an artist when it comes to wine making. We will always be unique in only selling our Little Hills wine here at the restaurant and at the wine shop and on the Internet.” Little Hills Winery can be found on the Internet at www.little-hills.com.
As their production grows Dave and Tammy hope to grow the restaurants and open a few Little Hills Restaurants in other areas. “That would be our plans and eventually we will create another label to sell in the stores but you will never see Little Hills wine sold in the supermarkets or grocery stores. They will be unique to our restaurants and winery.”
Currently Little Hills Winery produces a Norton, a St. Vincent, Rivers Bend and a Chardonel. “Our Chardonel is a fine dry wine and it also makes a very nice semi dry and sweet wine. We also have a Concord,” Dave said.
Presently the wine production areas are not open to the public. All the wine is made by hand. There is no automation. Dave and Tammy hope to eventually bring some folks down for tours or private tastings but at this point the areas are just for production of their fine Little Hills Winery Wine.
The Little Hills Winery Restaurant serves lunch and dinner on a daily basis. They serve a full breakfast buffet on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8 am. Monthly wine dinners are also offered. According to Dave, “We host a monthly, Meet The Wine Maker. Our fine winemaker talks about certain wines. Our clients taste them along with a little appetizer. We also try to hold a monthly wine and cheese event. Reservations only are required for these events and there are small costs associated with them.
The Little Hills Winery Restaurant offers live music on Friday. There is a Jazz group that comes in once a month. Dave describes the music as very low key casual.
Space for private parties is available. “Up in our loft we can accommodate 50 to 55 people,” Dave said. “We try to keep our parties to that size although we can accommodate much more outside. The weather factor dictates how large a party we can hold. We have in the past rented out the whole facilities for parties for100 plus but we try to concentrate on parties of 50 and under.”
Dave describes the menu as, “Something for everyone’s pallet. We have limited fried foods more wraps, salads for lunch. For dinner we have some steaks, some good seafood. We change the menu twice a year and will be doing so within the next few weeks for the fall season.”
The Little Hills Winery is open Monday through Thursday 10am to 10 pm. Fridays 10am to 11pm, Sat 8am to 11pm, Sunday 8 am to 8 pm.
The restaurant has a great outside patio area where guests can sit and enjoy the weather and watch the activities on historic downtown South Main Street. Fire pits and fountains are prevalent throughout the patio area. “We try to keep patio seating open all year as long as the weather is not too extreme. In the winter we have guests who love to sit outside around the fires and enjoy their meals. We are very prideful of keeping our patio open every day.
At our bar we have basic well drinks plus beer and wine. We can make probably 80 percent of your liquor drinks but we try to stay away from the extreme bar atmosphere.”
The Little Hills Winery Restaurant has been through recent remodeling. “Changed out tables and chairs and the interior and we plan on doing the carpet. We are going to be bringing some of the outside elements inside as our customers enjoy sitting outside with the water fountains and the fire pits and trees and shrubs. We are going to begin to bring some of those elements inside the restaurant. When the weather isn’t conducive to sitting outside, they can enjoy the winery with that atmosphere in the inside.”
Dave and Tammy are very proud of the Little Hills Winery Wine Shop just down the street from the restaurant at 710 South Main Street. “We offer the largest wine accessory collection in the area. Anywhere from wine racks to wine decorating accessories for your home, picnic accessories, wine jewelry. About anything to do with wine we should have it or are able to get it for you. We can sell them a bottle and cheese and crackers. If they want wine and/or food to go, anything on our menu is available for carry out.
We also carry some wines exclusive just to Little Hills. We also provide personalized wine labels on bottles for occasions like getting married. We can place their names on the label or congratulations. There is no minimum number of bottles that must be ordered.
Dave believes, “Not only is the atmosphere on historic South Main Street outstanding, certainly the food and experience on South Main Street offers much more than just a winery. There is so much more down here on the street for everyone to enjoy outside of just coming and enjoying the wine experience.
Dave and Tammy invite you to visit their Little Hills Winery Restaurant at 501 South Main or their Little Hills Winery Wine Shop at 710 South Main in historic downtown St. Charles.
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