Cedar Ridge Winery & Fireside Winery

This was the beginning of a very exciting weekend for my girlfriends and I. We were off for a weekend away to the Amana's. But first, we decided to start this weekend on our Friday night after work. On our way to our hotel, we made our first stop at Cedar Ridge Winery in Swisher, IA. We pulled into this amazing place and found that it was very busy. The bar was full when we first walked in so we examined their wine selection for a short time. Some room opened up and the four of us stepped up to the bar. We sampled quite a few of their wines and all of them were amazing. I would say that it is safe to say that they have one wine that has to be my favorite wine of all I've had thus far. The wine is called St. Pepin. It is a middle range white wine. The crisp light flavors and the balance of sweetness makes this an exceptional wine. This winery was also the first time I have ever tried a port wine. All I can say about that is that it is a little too much for me to handle. After we finished sampling, we decided to order a couple of things from their food menu to enjoy out on the patio. They had a local band playing that night so we figured that was why they were so busy. We sat for awhile drinking wine while we snacked on the food they served us. We had a great time and I would classify this winery as one of my top five for overall experience. The family that owns the winery we very pleasant and very helpful, the property was astounding, and the wine was exceptional. But we decided to move on because we had more to do. We took off and headed to our hotel that we would be staying at for the weekend, got checked in, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to the next winery.
Our next stop was to Fireside Winery in Marengo, IA. The sun was making its way to the horizon when we made it to the winery. This winery was also hosting a local band that evening so they were very busy as well. When we pulled up, they had a small tasting bar setup out front and also inside. We went to the bar out front because they weren't busy. A couple of the ladies who worked there showed us their wine list and I decided to start with a couple of their red wines. I tried the St. Croix and the Serenade. They were both quite good and packed full of fruit flavor. I then tried a couple of the blush wines. I had their Spark and their Firefly. Their Spark wine was also very good and was full of exotic melon flavors. I finished my tasting with their white wines all of which were very good. I had their Blu, Storyteller, and Glow. Their Glow wine was pretty sweet but had nice tropical fruit, peach, and apricot tones. Blu was probably my favorite wine that they make. It is also in the middle range on the sweet to dry spectrum. The four of us then decided to split two different bottles and we headed out to the patio. By this time, it was dark out and it was just starting to cool off. We found an open table, poured a couple of glasses, and examined the property. Their patio setup was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. This is still my favorite winery when it comes to their vineyard and the scenery. They had fire pits out in the yard, beautiful gazebos, and spectacular landscaping. You have to see this place. Maybe it was the big bright moon out in the sky but this place was so relaxing and I would spend every summer night there if I could. Usually they are only open till 6pm on Friday nights so you have to catch them when they have a band because they stay open later. Anyway...this was just the beginning of a great weekend and it was already starting out to be an awesome time.