Liberty has always been a community that offers pleasant surprises to visitors from Kansas City, leading with the movie-set-cute town square and the gorgeous William Jewell College campus.

Now there’s another reason to zip up Interstate 35 from downtown: Belvoir Winery, 1325 Odd Fellows Road, Liberty (belvoirwinery

.com and on Facebook).

The winery, which opened in early 2010, is on the grounds of the former Odd Fellows Home District, four historic buildings that served over the years as an orphanage, a retirement home, a hospital and a school. The oldest of the Jacobean Revival style buildings is from 1900.

Owner John Bean purchased the empty property and its 235-acre grounds in 1992 at the urging of his late wife, Marsha. Then Bean planted Norton, Chambourcin, Golden Muscat and Vignoles vines. Bean’s son-in-law Jesse Leimkuehler, who manages the property, says practice made perfect.

Belvoir now sells six wines, three red and three white. The most popular is the Sorelle Dolci, a sweet white wine.

“Sixty percent of wines sold in Missouri are sweet wines. That’s just a fact,” Leimkuehler says.

One of the four buildings has been renovated, and it is now open to the public seven days a week for free tastings. That building and the grounds can be rented for private events.