Friday, September 9, 2011

Lost in the Rhubarb

July 15th
Stop #6: Cedar Hills Vineyard

Once again, my "trusty" GPS led us to our destination via a slightly off-road route. It's been a wet summer, and the dirt road before us was one giant mud puddle. I closed my eyes, stomped on the gas, and squealed - all of which are probably discouraged in driver's ed class - but we managed to lurch through the mud without getting stuck. Barely.

My car was thoroughly covered in muck as we finally pulled into Cedar Hills Vineyard, just outside of Ravenna.

Cedar Hills Vineyard in Ravenna, NE


Cedar Hills offers so much more than wine, which makes it a unique stop on the wine tour. Along with several varieties of grapes, Cedar Hills produces other fruits including strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, which are used to make not only wine, but jellies and pies as well.

During our tasting, I was most impressed with the fruit wines. I have occasionally ran into strawberry and raspberry wines in Nebraska, but Cedar Hills' are exceptional. Cedar Hills also offers a few fruit wines that were new to me: Elderberry, Blackberry Dessert, and Rhubarb.

Yes, I know that rhubarb is technically a vegetable...

I'm not the only one who was amazed by Cedar Hills' wines. While we were talking to the owners, Paul and Joyce Sears, I mentioned enjoying their wines at the annual Nebraska Wine and Jazz Festival in Kearney. Paul beamed with pride as he told us that for two years in a row, Cedar Hills has given out the most tastings at the Festival. Last year they came in second for most bottles sold, coming in second after the Mac's Creek, a large vineyard in Lexington. This year, Cedar Hills sold even more bottles and came in first! That's no small feat, and the quality and uniqueness of their wines made it possible.

We had a great time chatting with Joyce and Paul, and finished up our visit with a glass of Rhubarb wine and a slice of homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. As we were leaving, I turned off my GPS and asked for better directions. We took a more civilized road back home, wondering why we'd never made the half hour trip to Ravenna before, but knowing we would again.

Favorites: Raspberry Passion and Rhubarb

Cedar Hills Vineyard's Website

No comments:

Post a Comment