Penoach Winery & Jasper Winery

It was October 13th, 2012, only two weeks since my last trip that I would make it to the next set of wineries. My husband and I and another couple were on our way down to the Des Moines area for a friends housewarming party so we decided to use part of this day to check out a couple more wineries. We made it to our friends new house, he gave us the tour, and we worked on making this Saturday afternoon more enjoyable by watching the Iowa Hawkeyes kick some butt and try some of our friends first batch of home brew. As the people started piling in and the crowd got rowdier and rowdier, we found ourselves out on his back deck trying to plan our movements for the rest of the afternoon. After the game wrapped up, the boys decided to make a change in plans. The boys told us they wanted to stay at the house but they also said, "you girls go ahead." So I asked a couple of other girls that were at the party too to come along and check out some wineries with us. We were going to try and stop at Schade Creek Winery in Waukee, IA but we were disappointed to find out that the city of Waukee would not allow them to sell wine in their tasting room. Of course, we had a couple of other options so we took off for Adel, IA.
It was about a twenty minute drive to Penoach Winery. We pulled in and found a lovely yet rustic farmstead. It was a beautiful property and reminded me of something I would like to own if I lived on an acreage. They had a little building with a lovely covered patio where they had their tasting room. We walked in and found a couple of other people there for the same reasons we were. We wandered around their store for a few minutes before squeezing up to the bar. With four in our group and another group of four and another couple, that made it a tight fit to get some samples but we made it work. We chatted for a bit while examining their wine list. The lady who was working appeared to be a little overwhelmed with this many people to manage all on her own so we reassured her to take her time and to get to us when she had a second. We started with their Picket Fence White which is a semi-dry LaCrescent. It was quite good but I moved on to their Frontenac Rose' which was very good as well. I then had their Iowa Edelweiss which was a semi-sweet white with nice tropical flavors. Next was their Brianna which was my favorite of all they had to offer. I also had their St. Vincent, Girls Night Out, Dallas County Apple, and finally the Raspberry. All of their wines where very delicious. By now, more people had made their way to the winery and were waiting for a turn so we quickly finished up and picked out a few bottles to take with us. We would now be heading back to Des Moines to swing through Jasper Winery.
We made it back to town and went straight to our next stop. We made it to Jasper Winery right before they were finishing up with samples for the public. They were closing early this particular evening because they were hosting a wedding. They allowed us to try their wines and then asked that we finish in the wine room. Since we were a little rushed, we stuck to the side of their wine list that hosted their sweeter choices. We tried the Edelweiss, Bed Head Red, Lucy Lane and their All-Night White. All of their wines that we had were very good. They were all smooth and went down very easily. We decided to buy a bottle and head to the wine room where they made, bottled, and stored most of their product. They had several tables and chairs set up for plenty of people to sit at and we were quite surprised to see how many people were still there even though the wedding had already started. We chatted for a short time and then decided to grab a couple of bottles for the road. We also wanted to try and go to Vines to Wines in Des Moines, IA but we discovered that this was not your typical winery. At this place, you make an appointment, pay a small fee to visit, then you pick and stomp your own grapes. We decided that this type of winery sounded awesome but was better suited for a day with more time. We had used the day wisely so now it was time to get back to the party.
By the time we made it back, it had been several hours since we had last seen the boys. We were not surprised to see that the boys had made good with their afternoon and spent it as they usually do, drinking way too much beer than they should have. But we figured we had all had a long day so we filled ourselves with water and food to sober up and then headed back to home. We made it safely and soundly back to our residence but at the end of a long day, we were all thankful to have had a great time doing what we love most. Wine Wine Wine!!!