Profile: Amigoni Winery

The bliss of world class wines, made right here in Kansas City.

It was a rainy spring afternoon in Kansas City (when wasn’t it raining in spring 2021?) when I first stepped through the front door at 1505 Genessee and was immediately enveloped by lightly perfumed air, cool light, and the sound of Led Zeppelin’s 1971 ballad “Going to California.”

Going to California, huh? How fitting. I was indeed transported.

Amigoni Urban Winery was officially founded in 2006 by Michael and Kerry Amigoni, but the Amigonis themselves have been making wine for a bit longer. Kerry, a warm woman with tinkling earrings and a sparkling laugh, walked me through the history. She told me, “When our babies were babies, Michael came home with a kit and said, ‘I’m just going to try making some wine.’” Consider that the Amigoni babies are now out of college, and you’ll have an idea of approximately how long ago this was.

It wasn’t long before they were growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the backyard, and by 2001, there was an official vineyard in Centerview, Missouri. The vineyard exclusively grew varietals from the Vinifera trail, which is to say, French varietals– not the cold-hardy grapes that are more common in Missouri like Norton and Chambourcin. As Kerry noted, “We drink Cab, we drink Tempranillo… we wanted to make what we like to drink!”

With that in mind, the Amigonis focused on Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and then as the enterprise grew, expanded into growing Petit Verdot and Mourvedre, among other more unusual grapes. One of my favorite things that Kerry told me during the hour and a half I spent with her, touring the building and tasting wine (yes, you caught me) was, “We introduce people to varieties you’ll never hear about in Kansas and Missouri… Cinsault, Barbera, Tempranillo… wines that people might look at on a menu and say, ‘Oh, I can’t even say that.’ Viognier was the first thing we introduced to people and it’s the hardest word to say, but that’s what we want for everybody – just to feel comfortable [with wine].”

That desire, to make wine seem sophisticated but also fun and approachable, has always been evident in how the Amigonis design the spaces where people drink their wine. In 2007, Kerry and Michael approached a colleague of Kerry’s (her day job is in commercial real estate) about leasing space in the livestock exchange building, and from there the vineyard as a hobby grew into a profitable winery business. That first space, across the street from the current location, set the tone for what it meant to build an urban winery in Kansas City, with cheerful yellow walls, brick floors, warm wood, and wine barrels. Tables were dotted with games like chess and checkers and backgammon and everything about the space encouraged guests not just to buy wine by the bottle, but to sit down and savor a glass. As the business expanded, the winery was ready to expand too– and so when in 2012 their current building (a former air conditioning warehouse that was once home of the Daily Drover Telegram) became available, Michael and Kerry jumped at the option to move across the street and imbue the space with some west coast cool (seen in the wrought iron chandelier and marble counters) right alongside their signature Midwestern hospitality.

The wines themselves are a tribute to that: to taking the best from the coasts and making it at home in Kansas City, and to taking the best from the past and integrating it with the future. Their flagship bottles of Cabernet Franc are the first example, but even more so are featured wines like the Inkwell and the Urban Drover, both nods to the building, and Bollicini, their relatively new-to-market line of sparkling rosé and Pinot Grigio. Amigoni has grown from producing four barrels (100 cases) in 2007 to over 4,500 cases a year. They ship to 42 states and have grown so much that in 2018, demand for the bottles outpaced production at the vineyard. The Amigonis now source their grapes directly from California, primarily from Lodi just south of Sacramento. Some of the grapes even come straight from aged Mondavi vines! The process of actually making the wine, though, still takes place right here in KC, and with good reason: the community and wine club that have sprung up around the Amigonis are as much a thing to behold as any other part of the operation. Fall brings opportunities for wine-lovers to help with crushing grapes, and spring gives rise to bottling parties, with wine club members and local wine lovers alike feeling like just another member of the Amigoni family.

So what’s next for Amigoni Urban Winery? I’m told there will be a Sangiovese in 2021 and a port in 2022. You can buy their wine in your liquor store and find it infused into sauces in partnership with Cascone’s or Panache chocolatier. Opportunities to partake are nearly boundless, but of course you can always go the classic route: just head on down to the west bottoms, grab a seat, and “go to California” in your mind.