{"id":3804,"date":"2012-09-06T14:58:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T14:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lamp1.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/?p=285"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:22:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:22:19","slug":"grateful-for-grapes-kraig-and-becky-keesaman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/2012\/09\/06\/grateful-for-grapes-kraig-and-becky-keesaman\/","title":{"rendered":"Grateful for Grapes: Kraig and Becky Keesaman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOne of life\u2019s gifts is that each of us, no matter how tired and downtrodden, finds reasons for thankfulness: for the crops carried in from the fields and the grapes from the vineyard.\u201d <\/em>J. Robert Moskin<\/em>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Becky and Kraig Keesaman and their daugher at Windy Wine Company<\/p><\/div>\n

Ah, the beautiful Missouri countryside \u2013 tall stands of corn, soybean fields, pastures of grazing cattle, wheat fields swaying in the wind, big round bales of hay, and \u2026 grapes. Grapes? Yes, grapes. Just east of Stewartsville and a little ways north of Hwy. 36, grapes are growing in a vineyard next to a brand new copper-topped building.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Windy Wine Company, the northernmost winery in Missouri and the only one in DeKalb County.\u00a0 The winery in the heart of northwest Missouri opened a retail site this past spring after several months of selling its wine wholesale to about a dozen area retail stores. Windy Wine, which includes approximately six acres of grapes, is owned by Kraig \u201908, and Becky \u201904, Keesaman.<\/p>\n

On the approximately 1,600-acre Missouri Century Farm known for its Angus cattle and typical Missouri crops, Kraig is the seventh generation to till the land, but the first to grow and tend grapes.<\/p>\n

Kraig, who says he has always been an \u201cexperimenter,\u201d (Becky says he\u2019s a good cook, too) started out brewing varieties of beer until Becky suggested he try his hand at wine. He got so many compliments on the wine, he decided to start a vineyard and keep experimenting. Kraig learned a lot when he worked at Pirtle Winery in Weston, Mo., a few years back, and he has taken University of Missouri Extension courses on wine making.<\/p>\n

The first wine he made to sell was the Angus Red, but Kraig, who has a public relations degree from Missouri Western, says the best seller is Good News Red, \u201ca Missouri Sangria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like it,\u201d he said of his new career. \u201cI\u2019m more of a plant grower than a livestock producer. If I were working with row crops right now, I\u2019d be experimenting with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winery features a tasting room, picnic tables and a deck, and the Keesamans plan to host a lot of activities on the grounds. They also have a coffee bar and sell many local products, including Kraig\u2019s family\u2019s Angus beef. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Kraig is a full-time vintner, and Becky, who earned a BSBA in Marketing from Missouri Western, works at DSV in Kansas City, Mo., a supplier of transport and logistics solutions. They have two children.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a faith-based business,\u201d Kraig said. \u201cWe try to be good stewards of what has been given to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re Kraig, if you\u2019re given grapes, you make wine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

At Windy Wine Company near Osborn, Mo.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOne of life\u2019s gifts is that each of us, no matter how tired and downtrodden, finds reasons for thankfulness: for the crops carried in from the fields and the grapes from the vineyard.\u201d J. Robert Moskin\u00a0 Ah, the beautiful Missouri countryside \u2013 tall stands of corn, soybean fields, pastures of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3804"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4215,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3804\/revisions\/4215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}