First time I visited the Amana Colonies, since moving to Midwest and stopped in this winery around…read more11:45am on a Saturday, we walked up to the counter were barely greeted and everyone was busy stocking and checking the orders. Once they noticed we were there, we said it was our first time, so we just read the menu and did a wine tasting with cheese for $14. The lady said okay, sit wherever. We sat in the back of the tasting room, there was no-one else in the place, she brought the wine and cheese to the table and left. No explanation, no entry into their wines, nothing. First off the glasses were thick, like used for beer tasting? no ability to see the legs on the wine. But what was I thinking? I had my doubts just given the names of the wines... Ember wine? Dandelion wine? Marquette rose? I proceeded to start with the ember - a red-ish wine... not full body, lacked depth. The rose, had an after finish of water that just ran off my tongue, a good rose has a crisp refreshing taste with balanced acidity and fruit notes... this was horrible. Next up the dandelion? I'm only to assume it's supposed to be like a chard, but honestly I left it on the table. Should it be warm like a mead? Confusing. I'm from the PNW and we are known for exceptional 90+point wines and family estates, so I know wines, and whatever I drank today, was not it. On my way out, other folks entered and were at the check in and the staff was more than willing to walk them through selections of wines for tastings. Wish I had that!

Cute little store with lots of snack type cheeses and some wine. The lady who was there was very…read morehelpful and friendly. She asked us what kind of wines we liked, explained that this store specialized in grape wine, while the other one next door was fruit. She let us sample a couple of different wines and made recommendations based on the things we said we liked. She also gave a list of all their wines with descriptions to look at. I wish we would have gone here first instead of the winery next door because their was a night and day difference in experience.

White Cross Cellars is the most recent addition to multiple wineries in the Amana area. They have…read moregone away from the flavored wines and instead are establishing themselves as the place to go when you're looking for more standard wine selections. They've got a solid number of both whites and reds, as well as a delightful port that's a great ending to any evening. The red's largely have a medeival theme (Knight's red, Monk's red and Stormy Knight) that we assume has something to do with the cellar story, but whatever the reason, Knight's are cool, the wine is good, 'nuf said! Whites weres solid with our favorite being the Oktoberfest - a sweet white that's available, you guessed it, in October and until they run out! We've been very impressed with the folks that work here. They know the wine well, love to help you sample the libations and make some great food recs to go with the wines! Another fun thing that we're excited to try are the dinner's the have throughout the year. They pair wines with a local establishment and serve up a delicious evening. They've also become active with many of festivals that occur in Amana throughout the year making it always a good time to drop by. Our favorite wines have been the Monk's red - fuller red that's really smooth, the Knight's red - little dryer with a big of kick - good with steak!, Cranberry Bog was different and a good lighter wine and we really like the the Stormy knight as a way to end an evening - it's a delicious heavy port that's basically dessert in a bottle. Great spot with some really good wines! Better selection of "normal" wines that many of the other Amana shops (though you won't find any dandelion wine here) and certainly worth stopping in for. They'll treat you right and likely introduce you to a wine you didn't know you loved - now back ot the Monk's red!

If you find yourself in the Amanas don't forget to stop by and taste the real German wine. White…read morecross cellars will lead you thru their whole tasting. Dave and Mary will fill you in on their passion of all the Amana history. I can't leave the Amanas without saying hello and grabbing a mitler for me and a cranberry bog. I highly suggest you look into their wine dinners it's Such a treat. Thanks for all you do for the Amanas !

TLDR: history weirdo gives bonus star for old flavor wines and hopes they update their website…read more I'm the survivor of a late 1980s childhood transplant to Texas. Over the last few years when my parents have visited Iowa family they habitually hit the Amanas for themselves and have picked up wine for me. Ackerman is one of the now-familiar labels they have kindly brought back multiple times. At home in Tx, it's usually Pinot Grigio or Texas viognier/drier local mead by my plate or on the porch. I can do the sweets like port or moscato, and the Ackerman bottles I've gotten tend to hit closer to that spot. Not as bad as my friend S's dad's homemade fruit wine with sugar crust sealing the lid, but make no mistake. *Sweet* I usually ask my parents to find something unusual (their mango would qualify here, definitely not an endemic Iowa flavor) or local/historic like the dandelion wine I discovered probably two decades ago when I stopped at the Ox Yoke for lunch. Part of my heart belongs to throwback flavors like dandelion; not that long ago we as a nation were eating the greens in salads and the blossoms went into wines or jellies. This wine is great with friends or a book, I think the only thing I paired with it at any point was a handful of salted almonds. The only thing harder to find than dandelion in any form is rhubarb. PLAIN rhubarb, not half cut with strawberry. And my goodness, this rhubarb wine was the surprise gift because it was not as sweet as expected. Or perhaps misremembered or from another label. This rhubarb was comparatively pert and I loved it. The blueberry was lovely, an amazing deep garnet and as sweet as a moscato. Again, nice for dessert or sitting in the sunshine. Not really to pair with any sandwich or pasta but you do you--I started enjoying wine much more when I threw the pairing wheel away. The online site isn't navigable, frankly, and I hope they get someone to update it because they're missing sales. I didn't have the patience to call the listed phone number to see if I could even order for shipment (cross fingers, Tx has bent a lot of -OH rules already for the shutdown). I'll just say to Iowans who drive outside their state that 1. stashing a bottle or two for your weird foodie friends will probably prove rewarding for them, and 2. thanks very much for sharing.

Ackerman has a nice little tasting room serving kind of the first stop for many who visit the Amana…read moreColonies. They offer a wide variety of wines that are characteristic of the region. They don't hide much and try to be creative. Hardy grapes are exemplified here such as Le Crescent, Marquette, and Edelweiss. They can be characterized by an overly sweet profile and may seem like dessert wines. Some folks may even think they are producing late harvest or ice wines. Unfortunately, the use of little plastic cups for sampling was far from the norm and I couldn't take the free tasting seriously. Maybe they'll mature to using wine glasses soon.

The village winery isn't so much a winery as it is an experience. When you come in you're greeted…read moreby a wine bar to your left, a cooler in front of you that contains meats and cheeses, in front and on the wall are a collection of steins that would make any German drool and to your right is an expansive room containing any figurine, decorative village model or (news to us that these existed) limited edition animal figurines. The wine selection is the same as every other place in the area with the standard sweet wines and ecclectic flavor wines (i.e Dandelion). We have no interest in figurines or decorative replicas of houses, but the expanse contained within this store will make the harshest critic marvel at the sheer amount of stuff that's available. They had everything from 20K lifesize figures to halloween themed lighted villages that you can use to make your own wonderland of microsized people! Whateve floats your boat - if you dig it, this is your spot! Worth coming in just to see the sheer volume of stuff you'll probably never be looking for and to try some interesting wines!

We stopped here with friends last November and purchased three bottles of fruit wine and stored…read morethem in a cool pantry in Cedar Rapids. About three weeks ago I opened the pineapple wine and found it to be disgustingly undrinkable. I then opened the rhubarb wine and found it to be only slightly better, but not good. I emailed this business and did not receive a response to my issues/questions. I called this morning and spoke to Don, who said their fruit wines should be consumed in about two months after purchase. He said fruit wines do deteriorate with age, unlike traditional wines. There was nothing on the bottle nor were we informed of this when we made our purchase. So beware. If you purchase wine from this business you may want to drink it within a couple of months before it goes bad. We will not be buying our wine from this business as a result of our experience.

Tiny claustrophobic hole. The guy came out and just looked at us, so I said we wanted to do a…read moretasting. He said, "K? The wines are there" and pointed to a sign on the side of the wall that I never would have noticed if he hadn't pointed them out. We chose flavors and he poured without saying anything or explaining them. We only tried 2 because the flavors were so awful. They had a bathtub aftertaste and tasted nothing like the flavors they were supposed to represent. Gross, gross, never again!

Sandstone Winery sells fruit wine - Strawberry, Cranberry, Rhubarb, Blueberry... I can't remember…read morethe rest. They were very interesting, but even the "medium dry" wines were pretty sweet. I did buy a bottle of the rhubarb wine, mainly because it was the only one that actually tasted like wine, but after a glass at home we turned it into cooking wine. And the guy selling the wine really needs to take a lesson in friendliness 101. We walked in and he just stared at us. We had to greet him. And as we looked over the available wines, he continued to stare at us. If we wouldn't have asked to taste the wines, he wasn't about to offer any up. Truly an odd place... skip this place and go to White Cross Cellars. They have wine and port, are friendly and knowledgeable, and make really good recommendations - after they find out what your tastes are.

Thank you Fireside Winery for providing a wonderful atmosphere for Lizzy's Bridal Shower. The Wine…read moreBarrell room was the perfect setting! The space was very private and Kayce, you delivered service with confidence and upbeat personality. Thank you so much, Kayce for making it easy. We will be back!! Sonya

What a gem to find in between corn fields! We sauntered in with a livingsocial certificate and…read moreimmediately were impressed with the selection, staff and ambience of this quiet winery with a surprisingly good backside view! We liked the white wines better than the reds, but the Nightcap red with brandy was by far our favorite! Fact - Worth taking home! The patio was covered making the experience quite nice with a great view and a crackling fire to boot! The appetizers were also surprisingly good - we tried the brie dip with apples and bread and it was the perfect complient to the bottle of wine we bought and enjoyed on the patio. Finally, the place is becoming extra legit by hosting live music and dinners catered by PHAT DADDY'S this summer. They'll have the music every Friday and Sunday as well as a number of dinners that look solid. Great place to go, grab a bottle of wine and enjoy a surprisingly nice view of the country side!

My Uncle & Aunt who live in North Liberty, IA treated myself and other family members to brunch & a…read moretour of the distillery. The seating area outside is very nice and the view is beautiful. The $23.99 brunch really could step up the food items. I personally did not eat brunch after seeing what was offered and it just didn't look appealing. I'm from California and the brunch menus at the wineries I go to the food is top tier. But you do pay $80.00+ and up. After brunch my uncle treated us all to the tour. Our tour guide Kelly was absolutely amazing. She was very informative and answered any questions we asked. Kelly truly dies deserves the 5 star review. After our distillery tour we all sat back out at the patio area and listens to live music. We ordered some wine and I ordered their wood fire cheese pizza which was very delicious. Today was a very nice outing for the family. If I ever come back I would just order pizza or something off the menu and NOT the brunch.

I don't care what anybody says, this is one of my favorite spot in the area! As always the service…read morewas excellent and the food was on point. But what really blow my mind was setting outside drinking an old fashioned well watching the sunset. Pretty freaking cool!!!!