Landry Vineyards Offers Locally-Made Wines in West Monroe

On a sweltering late June morning in the middle of a particularly wet growing season in the hilly outlands west of Cheniere Lake, the team at Landry Vineyards is prepping to absolutely crush it. A huge haul of blueberries from a farm in nearby Bastrop is in, and the fresh fruit needs to be pressed so the juice can be fermented in French Oak barrels, then bottled and reborn as part of a popular Merlot blend, one of the Louisiana vintner’s dozens of varietals now available in more than 650 retail locations across more than 40 states.

With dedication and patience, and the right amount of pressure, amazing things can happen—even with wines in north Louisiana.

A natural planner who left the engineering field not long ago to run the winery he and his wife began in 1999, Jeff Landry is always planning one step ahead of the seasons. But today, he has blueberries on the brain.

“I am not against making fruit wines and muscadine wines—we do that, and people love them,” Jeff Landry says. “But we must have a commitment to wine grapes to be taken seriously, by the industry and by wine connoisseurs, and we need to grow more of our own grapes here in Louisiana, and we’re going to.”

About 35% of Landry Vineyards wine is produced from Louisiana-grown grapes, like blanc du bois, Norton, and lenoir — or Black Spanish, though he wants to boost that percentage soon. They also grow muscadines, with the rest being Central Coast California grapes hand-picked by a family Landry has known for years.

What began a quarter of a century ago in Folsom, Louisiana, with Landry and his wife, Libby, handpicking grapes and filling five-pound buckets has evolved into mechanical harvesting and wine production of 40,000 gallons and 200,000 bottles each year, proving that though the local climate and agriculture present certain challenges not faced by wineries in Napa or Naples, it is nothing Jeff Landry and his consulting viticulturist Fritz Westover can’t overcome.

Besides, this soil is ultra-rich in other ways. Landry Vineyards was built with community in mind.

The Landry property holds cottages and RV spots for overnight stayas, and they host regular live music concerts and social events on their stage and sloped grassy lawns at the winery.

“Most of the time it’s whole families out here for events or in the tasting room, and they bring their balls to throw, and we have our cotton wagon for rides,” Libby Landry says. “These are kids being kids, playing, running, jumping through the vineyards. They’re off their phones, they’re off their iPads, and the family is playing together. It’s a beautiful thing.”

That kind of connection is key for the Landrys, especially that they are now grandparents.

Their third son, Noah, manages the vineyard and bottling process. June is prime blanc du bois growing season, but like his father, he’s thinking ahead. He is researching new plants that are more disease resistant. Healthier plants mean fewer pesticides. It all goes back to the health of the land and the people.

“Blanc du bois is a French-American hybrid, and a really good wine,” Noah Landry says. “Honeysuckle is actually growing all around the property, and every spring, honeysuckle impacts our vines. It’s incredible when you pick up on the flavor of that.”

Whether it’s a light sparkling rosé, a rich pinot noir or a smooth Cottonport, the Landry label has come to represent a stunning variety.

“Moving to West Monroe after Katrina was like starting all over again,” Libby Landry says of their arrival from Folsom in 2006. “Every plant that we put in the ground was a new start.”

When he first drove through the property that year, Jeff Landry could envision the hills covered in what is now 16 acres of grapes, but the couple, with four young boys in tow, would not have made the move if they hadn’t found a church they wanted to belong to in West Monroe.

“For us, living out the faith is the importance of recognizing community as being bigger than us,” says Jeff Landry, now 59. “We’ve learned that from church, and it’s true, and whether people are churched or unchurched, you love your neighbor.”

Inspired by his reformed Presbyterian faith, Landry says this work is a calling to be a small creator inspired by the Creator. His canvas is the vineyard, and his vision? An elevated, wine-appreciating community in the heart of the “Bible Belt” — but one centered on presence and moderation, and on strong families spending quality time together.

And that idea is growing beyond Landry’s own live concerts, parties and tours, too. Thirsty Farmer, a relatively new vintner just down I-20 in Calhoun, has been making a great name for itself since the pandemic, and Landry’s stream of weekend visitors, vino lovers and agritourists from Acadiana to Arkansas to Memphis are realizing that when it comes to wine, Louisiana, too, can have great taste.

“It’s a pleasure to really just make people happy — not just happy but truly fulfilled — because when you do that, they remember your name and your wine and they keep enjoying bottles of it long after they leave the tasting room,” Jeff Landry says. “There’s nothing more pleasant or more pleasing to me than hearing people say, ‘This was beautiful, and we had a wonderful experience.’”

Jeff & Libby Landry

Occupation
Owners, Landry Vineyards

Hours
The Landry Vineyards tasting room is open 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Winery tours are available every Saturday at 2 p.m.

Website
landryvineyards.com

Q&A

If you could sit back with anyone for a glass of blanc du bois at Landry Vineyards, who would you want to visit? Honestly, any agricultural people in the industry, so they can see and understand what we’re doing. Because a lot of people don’t know you can grow these types of grapes in Louisiana. So, you want to educate those people. That would be a lot of fun, and it’s also very important for the future.

You’re very open about your faith. Do you think that’s interesting when you consider you run a winery in the Deep South? There’s definitely a so-called Christian culture that says wine is taboo. But, no, that’s really mixing things up. That’s completely wrong. Everything has its proper use. Wine is no more inherently wrong than food, you know? Scripture says a lot about wine and viticulture. Anyway, we say everything in moderation.

Where did your passion for agriculture come from? My grandparents in Pointe Coupée Parish. My grandpa had a giant garden when I was growing up, like half an acre, and I spent a lot of time there with them. They lived off the land completely. They didn’t even deal with cash, really. Everything was agriculture-based. When my grandpa got his Social Security check — it was probably less than $100 — but he said, “Look, I’m a rich man.”