Our Tradition

                                        
Never mind that hilly, wooded area in West Kirkwood Missouri known as Sugar Creek, we've found our own version of sweetness on the bluffs of wine country in St. Charles County. We Kirkwood expatriates made our big move to Missouri's vineyard mountains in 1994.  We christened this happy hideaway Sugar Creek Winery, and we continue to have plenty of visitors from our old hometown of Kirkwood and the surrounding environs to keep us company. We really love it here. Every morning we wake up to fantastic scenery and a fascinating and growing business. It's a business that attracts some really special people - people who are looking to relax and enjoy the product of our vineyards.

Not long ago the idea of running a wine business on the river bluffs between Defiance and Augusta was little more than a fantasy for the Millers. In fact, their dream was a more modest vision of moving from a Kirkwood home to one they hoped to build in the Sugar Creek Trails subdivision. Ken Miller was working in food-related sales, and Becky Miller was employed as a teacher in the Brentwood School District.

Becky Miller's two children, Michelle and Christopher Lorch, graduated from Kirkwood High School in 1981 and 1987 respectively. Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the Millers had some confusing mood swings. Sometimes they were in the mood to build that once-in-a-lifetime Kirkwood home; other times they were in the mood to pack it all up and head to the Missouri wine country they'd fallen in love with on numerous visits.                                               

We talked about wine country so much that I think our friends wanted us to put our money where our mouths were," said Becky Miller. "Then one day this property became available and it was brought to our attention. And soon we were at the point of having a contract and having to sign on the dotted line," she recalled. “We were looking at it over breakfast at Bob Evans in Sunset Hills when Ken said either do it now, or we forget it and never look back. We decided to go for it -  and there I was sitting in that restaurant with tears streaming down my face.”
Those tears were wrought by both joy and apprehension. It meant selling everything in Kirkwood and moving away from friends, relatives and a neighborhood. In retrospect, though, Kirkwood has never been far away from the Sugar Creek Winery. Dan Graham, Becky Miller's brother and owner of Graham's Grill  is also an occasional visitor. He also stocks some of Sugar Creek's finest at the Grill.                                                                 

Ken Miller says grapes for wine always had a place at his family table since he was a youngster growing up in Melrose Park in the Chicago area. His grandfather immigrated to America from Italy early in the century and carried with him a fondness for wine-making

"My grandpa, Michael Belmonte, would go to California and bring back all these grapes to Chicago," recalled Ken Miller. 'He would invite the whole family to get involved in a great grape-crushing party to make some wine. 'We now offer a signature red here at Sugar Creek called 'Michael.' It's in honor of my grandfather," Ken Miller noted.

Early on Becky Miller's son, Christopher, joined the family operation at Sugar Creek Winery. He spent two years educating himself about wine in the Napa Valley area of California, where he has worked in the Plump Jack Vineyard. There's nothing underground about the current operations of the Sugar Creek Winery. With plenty of fall weekends still left for wine, music and merriment, the Millers continue to invite folks to 'take to the hill' - their hill - to enjoy the pleasures of the vineyards.