Oklahoma to Arkansas

What’s in Arkansas? That is exactly what Caroline and I asked each other. What road side attractions can possibly be here? After some intense research, we discovered there are several worthwhile stops in Arkansas: the Clinton Presidential Library, Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Fort Smith National Historic Site, Esse Purse Museum, the Ozarks National Forest, and Hot Springs are just a few of the many great stops in Arkansas.

We had our hearts set on visiting Graceland in Memphis by late afternoon so we made only two brief stops in Arkansas. Doesn’t everyone like a glass of wine at 10:30 in the morning. Well, apparently not. Caroline and I were the only visitors to the two wineries we visited. Did you know that wine is produced in Arkansas?

The Arkansas River Valley area of Arkansas is located between the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. It consists of flat lowlands and fertile farmland. Perhaps this area is knows as the wine country of Arkansas. There are three family owned wineries here dating back to the 1800’s. I believe these are Post Winery, Mount Bethel and Wiederkehr.

Our first stop was in Wiederkehr Village, population 46. Not kidding.

Johann Wiederkehr emigrated to Altus, Arkansas from Switzerland in 1880. The topography and climate being similar to that of his homeland, he decided to begin growing grapes and making wine. He carved a large wine cellar in to a hillside as one of his first tasks. This cellar is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. He began producing wines from the grapes, blackberries and persimmons which were native to the area. Wiederkehr’s efforts helped to start the American wine industry.

In 1998, Sam Wiederkehr, a descendant of Johann sold 20 acres of land to a young woman named Audrey. This land included 10 acres of Chardonnay vineyard which hadn’t been pruned or harvested for many years. Audrey set out to change that fact. This young entrepreneur persuaded several of her friends to live in tents on her property and to help her bring new life to the Chardonnay Vineyards. Audrey named her estate Dragonfly Ranch after the large variety of dragon flies that live here. Dragonfly Ranch has grown to 50 acres on which her winery Chateau Aux Arc thrives. Aux Arc is French for Ozark.

We did not meet Audrey on our visit. We tasted a special edition wine named “Smashed.” The proceeds from the sales of “Smashed” support breast cancer research. I had to buy a bottle–partly because of the taste and mostly due to the name and all its implications.

Once we found a place to stow our purchases in our jam packed car, we were off to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee!

Joy