Augusta MO and its Wineries Reinvented Like a Setting for an Epic Movie

By Pauline Masson –

If you would like see how a sleepy little river town can be reinvented as a modern high tech, high toned, tourist Mecca, go to Augusta.

When my husband Bob and I decided to spend Sunday afternoon there I was just looking for a ride in the sunshine after a six-month bout of long COVID. I certainly had no thought of writing a travel blurb. But when what has transpired in Augusta, I couldn’t resist.

I had read in the Missourian that David and Jerri Hofmann had started buying up the Augusta wineries and had plans to transform the community into an international wine destination. 

Davis, a successful commercial real estate developer based in Florida decided to use part of his fortune to turn a historic community of vintage wineries near his hometown of Washington, Missouri into an international wine destination.

David and his wife Jerri happened upon the 1980 declaration by the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau that August, Missouri was acutually the first recognized wine region in America. 

Their plans for the town sounded like well-funded marketing, but I had always liked Augusta so I wished them luck. 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that what they have done with the place  –  to paraphrase an old adage – is exactly what Cecil B. DeMille would have done to prepare for one of his epic movies, if he’s had the money. It is definitely re-made, larger than life, and polished to a fair-thee-well. Newly painted buildings almost topple onto each other along side crisply tuck-pointed brick and stone structures that look like they were finished yesterday.

Statues are scattered among the wineries, eateries, stores, museums, guest cottages and vineyards.

All the formerly nostalgic wineries have been reinvented and now splay across the landscape like imagined movie sets. I’m not exaggerating. Augusta is Astounding.

Crisp white trolleys run every 30 minutes Friday through Sunday, making the rounds between the town’s attractions – Sunflower Hill Farm, Klondike Park Boat Ramp, Montelle Winery, Augusta Emporium, Augusta Winery, Mount Pleasant Estates and Balducci Vineyards.

On Sunday, there were pedestrians everywhere. After passing a pair well-dressed ladies on a couple of different street we stopped for a visit. Wilma Larson and Alice Vierck live in St. Charles but had formerly lived in the August area so they are thrilled with the Hoffmann renaissance of their former home.

“This is not our first time back since they (the Hoffmanns) took over. St. Charles is close by,” Wilma Larson. “It’s a wonderful sight to see.”

Is it ever. The formerly aging wineries have been rebuilt to larger-than-life proportions. Vast parking lots keep the hundreds of cars off the streets of what is still a small town to clear the way for an easy drive through town..

My reason for going there was to visit Augusta Clothing, an upscale women’s shop organized in the town’s 1840’s wine hall. I had been seeing the full page ads in the Missourian for several months and it beckoned to me. I was not disappointed. The store manager is Cyndi Lane, former wedding planner, limo driver and pageant organizer – now Augusta’s goodwill ambassador. She reeled off the businesses and buildings that the Hoffmann family have bought, restored and added to the town’s must see.

Seeing I was walking with aid, Cyndi ran next door to the visitor center to get me a copy of a slick little booklet created by the Augusta Chamber of Commerce that tells everything that is in or near Augusta today – including eleven wineries, 27 places to shop, ten bed and breakfast inns, a dozen eateries, a history museum, a visitor center, and a county library.

You can see most of what is in the booklet on the Internet at www.VisitAugustaMO.Com