By: Gerald Dlubala
With a name like White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard, you would expect this small boutique winery to have a noticeable connection to, and maybe even affection for, white-tail deer. For the Fuller family, the connection is there, but the term affection may not be accurate.
“Our first year, we planted 1800 vines, not realizing that a herd of deer would eat them down to the ground nearly right in front of our eyes”, said Christy Fuller-Flyntz, co-owner of White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard in Edgerton, Kansas. “But they did. So even though we started in 2003, that little learning experience put us behind a couple of years from our original production plan, postponing our first harvest until 2008. The economy was not the best then, and it seemed that no one was buying grapes, and if they were, it was at such a low price per pound, we felt as if we were giving them away.”
That’s when Christy’s father, Dan Fuller Sr., decided to make a semi-sweet seyval and enter it into an amateur wine competition to see if they could make good wine from their Kansas farm. The wine was not only good; it won a bronze medal.
“So here we are,” said Christy. “Winery and vineyard owners with an eight-foot-tall deer fence around 10 of our 40 acres, and Great Pyrenees farm dogs who may or may not decide to help control other hungry intruders like the raccoon and turkey.”
Fuller Sr. had lived on site for almost 50 years before planting the vineyard, using it as a family farm and pasture.
“Growing up, we always had animals,” said Christy. “We had cows, pigs, chickens, horses, you name it. It was the traditional, whole farm setting. A vineyard wasn’t even a twinkle in my dad’s eye, but he always made his own beer and wine as a hobby. When he retired, he had a hard time doing nothing. He was so used to always working with the land that he decided to plant a vineyard, thinking it would only be six months of work, and then he could travel and enjoy his retirement the rest of the year. Yes, we all laughed, too.”
White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard can be considered an estate winery, where the wine production from start to finish is done on-site and is under the control of the winery owners. They began with five varietals before settling on their main three: lacrosse, chambourcin and seyval. The Fuller’s farm is 40 acres, with five of those presently dedicated to being used as a vineyard.
Depending on normal uncontrollable conditions that all farms must face, including the drought that hit Kansas this past year, Christy said they average about 15,000 to 17,000 bottles annually. When their vineyard doesn’t sustain that volume, they sometimes buy grapes from other Kansas vineyards. If they have to go further, they look to Missouri vineyards since they are in the same region.
Tastings, Flights & White Tail Run Wines On-the-Go
“We built our tasting room as a log cabin,” said Christy. “We are very much a boutique winery, and our guests describe it as homey and welcoming. When you first walk in, you’ll see our tasting bar, where we’ll talk with you about our wine flights. We offer 22 different wines in total, including our ready-to-drink sangrias. Your flight allows you to sample up to six of those 22 choices, and each person can customize their flight depending on what they like, dislike or are interested in sampling.”
“We have seating both inside and outside, and while guests choose where they would like to sit, we’ll pre-pour those flights to order and bring them to your table,” she said. “Tastings are self-paced, with no one to rush you through. We’ll come back occasionally to answer any questions you have about any of the samples. Then, if you want, you can buy a glass or bottle to enjoy here or a bottle to take home. Guests are welcome to stay as long as they wish. We also offer locally made cheese and summer sausage that pair perfectly with our wines. The cheese is from Alma Creamery, which uses all Kansas dairy, and the sausage is from JET Produce and Meats in Leavenworth. Our fruit wines are made with produce from local orchards as well. We found that local produce makes the best wines.”
The Fullers know that because they are a rural Kansas winery, sometimes it’s hard to get people to look at them. Christy tells The Grapevine that wine drinkers can have preconceived expectations that Kansas wines, especially the fruit wines, may be of lesser quality or too sweet for their tastes.
“That’s the fun part,” said Christy. “We have to get their attention and let them know that their preconceptions about our wines may not be accurate, especially our fruit wines. We aren’t big on sweet wines ourselves, so those we make are nowhere near, in taste or form, any of the usual Midwest sweet wine offerings. Those that do try them are pleasantly surprised and like them.”
To get that exposure, Christy says that they go to festivals and markets to provide potential customers the opportunity to try White Tail Run wines. Sometimes, as an additional attention grabber, they’ll attach an eye-catching name to one of their wines, like their Buck Naked Red or Frisky Fawn White.
“Dan fought us over the Buck Naked label for quite some time,” said Christy. “But you know what? Sometimes, when you’re working in the vineyard in 99-degree temperatures with high humidity, all you want is a cold beer or two, so while sitting around and thinking about this new wine we fermented with a different yeast, we thought it would be funny to maybe name it Buck Naked. Of course, our dad was shocked that we would consider that. He thought no one would buy something like that. But here we are, and whether because of the name or because it’s a really good wine, it’s become one of our best sellers”.
“We also possess a catering license, which allows us to provide off-site tasting rooms on the go for other local events,” she said. “For example, if a boutique or spa would like a local vendor to come in and sell wine or beer for their customers while there, we can do that. It’s been a great way to meet new people and build new relationships with people that normally might not travel out to us. We are 35 minutes south of KC, and for many urban dwellers, that may be a little far to travel. These catering-type events allow us to bring our wine to them. It’s a great way to expand our reach and meet and make new customers. We also try to have a good rotation of events here at our winery. We’re not within 10 miles of any major cities, so having events here that include other local vendors brings people in and helps support our local economy. As a woman owner, I try to feature majority-women-owned businesses that don’t already have an established storefront. We hope to get their products in front of new customers since many may not have that opportunity.”
Not Just Another Award-Winning Winery and Vineyard
“Our on-site 18-hole disc golf course was recently ranked ninth in the world for winery disc golf courses,” said Christy. “After COVID, we took a step back as a business to see what we would do if something like that happened again. We decided to build this disc golf course because we thought people could at least get out and play disc golf if there were another shutdown. Even being ranked in the top ten, we want to improve and expand our disc golf course.”
“We’d also love to expand our tasting room and enclose our outdoor pavilion for more room because that is a need we are experiencing,” she said. “We always look to expand our pop-up presence to meet more people and build those relationships. We are classified as a farm winery, which means that here in Kansas, we can self-distribute within the state. Our wines are in liquor stores from Topeka to Kansas City. That keeps us going through the winter months, when people may want to avoid traveling the gravel roads to get to our tasting room in person.”
Dealing with Challenges
Christy recommends that before anyone starts a vineyard, they do all the research they can and get quality soil testing done by reputable organizations because, as she says, “soil is everything.” But most of all, it may be the ability to maintain patience and perseverance.
“Without patience and perseverance, we would have never made it through the initial deer damage we sustained,” said Christy. “We have clay-rich soil that works well for us, but the initial damage from the deer when we were just starting out was hard and truly frustrating. We just have to remember that it’s part of being a farmer. And I’ll add that you should be prepared to work in the heat. Vineyards make their own climate, and it’s usually hot and dirty. Along with my brother Dan “Dusty” Fuller Jr. and one other part-time person, we manually tackle the pruning and outside work to keep the quality up.
Building Generational Habits and Qualities
First and foremost, we are a proud family-owned and operated farm and winery,” said Christy. “Our children are developing a love for the land by growing and gardening on their own. They sell their produce and cut flowers at the farmers markets we attend, and we hope that instills in them a desire to continue the farm and winery for a third generation. That is our goal. They are learning a great work ethic and how to grow their own food while respecting the land and noticing how sustainability is important to us all. They’re also building social and communicative skills with customers. All of this is important and worth doing, and it gives them a leg up in the future.”
White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard’s best seller is their original and most awarded offering, the seyval semi-sweet, followed equally by Buck Naked and Oaked Chambourcin.
For more information or to contact White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard:
White Tail Run Winery and Vineyard
2327 N. 400th Rd.
Edgerton, KS 66021
(913) 893-4003
