Wine, beer and spirits of the Amana Colonies

Iowa’s oldest distillery, Iowa’s oldest bonded winery, Iowa’s oldest brewery and a couple of Iowa’s new-style wineries have joined together for one tasty tour of locally made alcoholic beverages and food pairings.
 
The Amana Colonies Convention and Visitors Bureau will be offering this brand new culinary excursion starting this month. They do the driving, you simply sit back and enjoy the lush river valley scenery. Between stops your tour guide will share interesting Amana history and provide background about Iowa’s craft beverages industry. (Did you know that to maximize land usage barns are centrally located in the Amana villages instead of being spread throughout the countryside?)

The Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery near Swisher is a family-owned business featuring estate-grown wines and ClearHEART^® vodka, gin, and rum, along with brandy and whiskey. The tour starts in the processing room and ends in the spacious tasting room. You’ll be able to sample up to three spirits or five wines (they’ll be delighted to explain the combinations). They will also provide a sample from their menu to accompany your tastings.




Wines at Ackerman Winery.

 The tour returns to Amana and Ackerman Winery, Iowa’s oldest bonded winery which has been family owned for 55 years. The self-guided tour offers oversized windows to watch the wine processing first hand. You’ll get a chance to sample traditional Amana fruit wines such as raspberry, apple, rhubarb and more. Learn about their famous Dandelion Wine, produced from plants gathered by the children of the village for $5 gallon. Cheese and crackers are paired with their wines.




Malt at Millstream Brewing.

 Down the street and is Iowa’s oldest brewery, Millstream Brewing Company, in operation for more than 25 years. You’ve probably seen the label in your grocer’s beer coolers, as Millstream distributes throughout Iowa and is beginning to get into some neighboring states. After an explanation of the malts and grains that are the foundation of the beer’s flavor, you might even get to chew on a grain of chocolate malt, a very distinctive taste on the palate. The main floor showcases their bottling operation and hand labeling process. Then it’s down to the basement to see the coolers and huge tanks filled with the brews. Sampling is great fun with tiny beer mugs to toss down the samples and pretzels providing some salty crunch.

White Cross Cellars

Within walking distance is White Cross Cellars, Amana’s newest wine experience. It features European and California-style wines as well as Midwestern varietals. Samples of Amana brats are paired with the wine. White Cross Cellars’ specialty is food pairings, and they have joined with Ox Yoke Restaurant for special five-course dinners of White Cross Cellars wines with menu items such as chilled cucumber and avocado soup, crab cake on mixed greens, garlic-mustard-grill beef skewers with rice pilaf, lemon cheesecake. Definitely a culinary breakaway from the Ox Yoke’s traditional German style meal!


Less than 10 miles away is Fireside Winey near Marengo, a relatively new winery featuring many wines made  with 100% Iowa grapes. Take time to let them guide you through the samples and stories of each wine. Foods may include apple slices, fresh bread and a warm cheese dipping sauce.


For information regarding costs, times, dates and reservations contact:


Amana Colonies Convention & Visitors Bureau
622 46th Ave
Amana, IA 52203
800.579.2294 or 319.622.7622
info@amanacolonies.com

LuAnn Reinders, Iowa Tourism Office