Jowler Creek Vineyard & Winery

It Started From the Basement – Jowler Creek Vineyard and Winery began with our founders, Jason and Colleen Gerke. In 2003, the Gerkes purchased the piece of property the winery and vineyard sit on today, and broke ground planting 250 Norton grapevines in the spring of 2004. After several more years of planting grapes and making wine as a hobby, the couple decided to turn the basement of their home into a fully-licensed winery in 2006 and began making wine commercially in the fall of that year. Jowler Creek Winery made 100 cases of wine their first year and began selling their product at wine festivals and via wholesale channels into stores and restaurants in Kansas City. In subsequent years, the business broadened its wholesale sales to include liquor stores and restaurant in both Missouri and Kansas, and also started selling directly to customers out of its basement winery.

The Start Of A Sustainable Vineyard And Winery – Being “green” can mean so many things… For Jowler Creek, being green means making choices throughout the year to positively impact our environment, being efficient with the resources we have available, and improving our wine quality to sustain our business. Jowler Creek has earned a number of awards and honors including the prestigious Jefferson Cup honor in 2012 and 2014 and Gold Medal honors at the Missouri Governor’s Cup contest. Among these many awards we are proud to be the first winery in the state of Missouri to receive the prestigious Missouri Agricultural Stewardship Assurance Program (ASAP) across five categories (specialty crop, energy, farmstead, livestock and grassland).

Building A Green-Built Tasting Room – In 2010, the business built a new, 1,440-square-foot stand-alone winemaking and sales facility situated next to the vineyard. In 2013, additional warehouse space was leased in off-site to relieve some of the pressure for indoor space at the winery. After several years of transporting products and merchandise between facilities, the winery invested in a significant expansion of the winery facility to consolidate their production, storage and event space in one location.

Today, Jowler Creek is owned and run by Jason and Kit Lacy, Kansas City siblings. With their families, they now manage more than 3,500 grapevines in its 7-acre sustainable vineyard and makes nine award-winning wines in various styles ranging from dry to sweet. They continue to maintain Jowler Creek’s focus on green and sustainable production, methods and quality.