A little bit about Matrot Castle and Winery

Seraphin Matrot, built the castle in 1883 after leaving Paris.  We know that he made wine and sold it under the table. Kansas was the second state to force prohibition on its residence. This did not stop Matrot from making wine, in Topeka, Kansas, just up Huntoon road. There are many stories about Matrot, what we know for sure is that he made wine in the wine cellar. We don’t know what grapes he grew, but it could have been many different vines. Before prohibition Kansas was one of the largest producers of grapes in the United States, and Kansas grapes were sent all over the country. Davenport winery is the first legal winery to open in the Matrot Castle! We offer free wine tasting events every Saturday and Sunday. On any given weekend we will have anywhere for 5-15 wines to try. Each wine is very interesting, and has its own personality waiting to meet you!

A Short History Of Davenport

C.W. and Mary Davenport moved to Lawrence in 1949, settling at the Jenny Wren Farm west of town where they raised apples, grain crops, cattle and ran a meat market / auction barn. C.W. retired in 1960, but soon discovered he needed something to keep him busy, so he bought farm ground east of Lawrence in the Kaw Bottoms area and set 74 acres of peaches and 6 acres of apples. The road bordering the farm came to be known as Peach Orchard Road (now County Road 1057 and/or East 1900 Road).

C.W. and Mary's grandson Greg helped work the farm during the summer months and eventually took over operations when C.W.'s health no longer allowed him to work. Since then, Greg has added more apples and pears to the mix, then grapes because his wife Charlee thought "they looked so pretty."

Given their respective German & Polish heritages, it was only natural that Greg and Charlee should begin making wine; first as amateurs, then commercially in August 1997.

Greg & Charlee's intent is to make good wine from Kansas-grown fruit, with minimal intervention, to allow the wine to express itself freely.