Arcadian Moon Winery

Arcadian Moon’s story is one of divergent paths that made a fateful intersection one spring day. But before we get to that chance encounter, we must go back.Brandon Fahrmeier grew up as a third-generation farmer on his family’s farm in Lexington, Missouri, just twenty minutes north of Arcadian Moon.

After graduating with a degree in agriculture education from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Brandon taught in two different Missouri school districts before pursuing a career in sales with Ball Seed, selling young plants to nurseries and greenhouses. During this time, he met a number of customers who were making wine in their basements, and fell in love with the entire process. Within a year of buying his first home, Brandon, along with good friend, Todd Vaughn, who is now co-owner, winemaker and head brewer of Maize Valley Winery & Craft Brewery in Hartville, Ohio, began making wine in his basement, too.

Five years later, between life on the road with Ball Seed, starting a new family with his wife, Mary, and devoting every weekend to winemaking, Brandon realized his life was seriously out of balance. So, in 2007, Brandon and his family moved back to Lexington, where, with the help of his family, he opened Three Trails Winery.

Flash forward to the spring of 2009. Ryan Kegley, working as an art director at a Kansas City advertising agency, his wife, Megan, and some friends, headed out to Lafayette County to visit a few wineries, including Three Trails, that they’d recently heard about. There, on a fateful day in May, Ryan and Brandon met in what turned out to be a pivotal moment for both of them. Not yet realizing that the outcome would be an entirely new venture, Brandon was looking to transform his existing Three Trails Winery into something that more closely aligned with the vision, mission, and values he’d originally intended. Ryan was looking for the opportunity to step out from the advertising world in which he’d spent nearly a decade honing his creative and marketing skills, and help build a brand from the ground up. With instant and undeniable chemistry, the two set out to transform Three Trails into what would become Fahrmeier Family Vineyards.

​Over the next few years, even as Fahrmeier Family Vineyards continued to expand, Brandon’s dreams began to outgrow his family’s farm, and he and Ryan began planning a new winery. With the right piece of land, a few partners to help pull it all together, and a clear vision before them, Arcadian Moon was born.