BY JESSICA SCHLUTER
Tracie Trotter has spent much of her life working around wine.
Her parents own a winery and several tasting rooms in Kansas, where she grew up. But for the past nine years, Trotter has brought her love of wine to St. Joseph, where she runs Wyldewood Cellars.
Trotter met her husband while living in Kansas and that led to the move to St. Joseph.
“My husband was in the Air Force and that’s how we met; he was stationed in Wichita, which is where I’m from. After he got out of the military, he wanted to move back home. He’s from Champaign.”
Trotter and her husband decided they wanted their kids to go to St. Joseph schools. At the time, the old apothecary building was for sale, and that’s how the winery came to be.
Wyldewood Cellars Illinois is a branch of the original Wyldewood Cellars started by Trotter’s father. When Trotter first opened the Illinois location, the wines were shipped from Kansas and bottled in St. Joseph.
“We’re actually a branch of my dad’s winery that was started in Kansas over 30 years ago. We used to get the wines from him, and then bottle them up here. And then we started just making the wines up here.”
Now, the wines are made right down the street in St. Joseph in a separate building.
“We make wine just down the street. We used to make it right here in this back room, but then we needed more room. About six years ago we started renting the building down the street.”
The winery is a true family business. Two of Trotter’s sister-in-laws and her father-in-law work with her. And, her father helped the Illinois location get started.
“He taught my sister-in-law how to make the wines, she’s the wine-maker. And then my father-in-law came to work for us two years ago, and we’ve just been booming ever since.”
Trotter is not only a business owner, she is also a mother of three children under the age of 10.
“I had just had my second child in 2010 when we bought the building.”
Her sister-in-law also has three children under the age of 11. The winery is family-friendly, and it is a blessing to be able to bring the kids to work.
“It’s nice that my sister-in-law and I can bring our kids to work and not have to pay daycare expenses. The kids are old enough now that when they’re not in school, they help stock, they help bottle, they help clean.”
Wyldewood is known for more than just wine.
“We’re also different, we don’t have just grape wines. We’re known for elderberry and elderberry is different. So it’s a good variety for people, and we’re always coming out with new wines it seems like. We also make elderberry concentrate, jelly, syrup, vinegar, vinaigrette, and obviously the wines.”
They also sell wine accessories, home decor, and other seasonal items. They have outside seating, a lounge, and a back room that can be rented out for private events.
“We rent it out for small events, baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties, things like that. We also do wine painting parties, private wine tastings.”
Throughout the summer, there are special flavors of wine slushies available. Now that the weather has changed, the slushie machine has been put away and a new special drink is on the menu.
“Trish, my other sister-in-law, is really good at mixing the different wine slushies, and the different flavors. We put away the slushy machine for the winter and then she came out with the caramel apple sangria. We don’t bottle it, it’s just in-house. You can come and get a glass and sit outside, or sit in the lounge.”
Wyldewood is a part of several events coming up, including Haunted Halloween and the Country Christmas Stroll. They also have a Fall Sign Paint Workshop on October 27th and a private wine tasting and massage event happening on November 3rd. To RSVP for the wine tasting with massage, call 217-469-9463.
Trotter might have a lot on her plate with running a business and being a mom, but she would not have it any other way.
“I love it, I love what I do. Finding a good wine for someone brings joy to my life, to everyone pretty much.”
“I love it when people walk in the door and I can tell them about the wines. Or when they tell me ‘I love your wine, it’s the best wine I’ve ever tasted.”
“It makes me feel really good because it’s something that my family has made.”
Even though she wouldn’t want to do anything else, it hasn’t always been easy.
“I learned from my dad on how to run a business, and how not to run a business, but you don’t really know what you’re doing until you’re immersed in it.”
“I have made so many mistakes, but if you don’t make mistakes you don’t learn.”
“One thing I’ve learned is advertising. I’ve made a lot of mistakes advertising. What works, what doesn’t.”
“The newspaper is not the way to go for us. We have billboards, and interstate signs, and those bring a lot of people in. Social media is really what brings a lot of people in, and online presence.”
“We just got an Instagram, and we’ve had Facebook all along. But that’s also changed its face a lot.”
Trotter’s other sister-in-law, Trish, handles the social media.
“Trish is really really good at that, because she did radio for like 20 years. And she did social media for the radio stations. She’s definitely a great asset to have with the marketing and advertising aspect of it.”
One of the most important things that Trotter has learned from being a business owner is customer service.
“You have to be friendly. You have to be customer-friendly to the customer. No matter if you’re having a bad day, you have to be nice to them.”
However, Trotter enjoys helping the customers.
Her father is an international wine judge, and she is a judge-in-training. Her father has helped her train her palette to appreciate different wines and she brings this knowledge to help her customers in choosing the perfect wine to fit what they are looking for.
Their most popular wine is elderberry mead.
“Meads are made with honey, not sugar, and we get our mead from Arthur so its local Amish honey.”
Wyldewood has over 30 kinds of wine, so there is something for everyone to enjoy. And if they are out of stock of a certain kind, it’s not for long.
“Since we make it down the street, if we’re out of something we’re only out for maybe a few weeks and then we have it back in stock.”
Trotter truly enjoys her job and she enjoys working with her family day in and day out. She hopes one day to pass the business to one of her children or one of her nieces or nephews.
“I love what I do, we’re basically our own bosses. We get along really well. We don’t have any drama.”
“It’s definitely been a whirlwind roller coaster, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
For more information on the wines, or events, or the winery itself, check out the Wyldewood Cellars Illinois website.
