Our first winery was Barrel Head Winery which turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. The owners were great to talk to and their wine was really good. My sister was looking for sparkling wine and they had some really great ones that were fermented in the bottle to give it the bubbles instead of using carbon dioxide. Our favorite variety was the Dry Cuvee Cougar although the Tomcat was good enough to pick up a bottle as well. I also picked up their Spiced Sweet Apple, their Dry Apple, two bottles of their Noiret and a bottle of their Leon Millot. My sister stuck mostly, if not completely to their sparkling wines. Their vineyard was also beautiful!
Lunch was at 1st and Main in downtown Dubuque. The food wasn't bad but I remember it being better last time my husband and I visited there (a few years ago).
The next stop was Stone Cliff Winery in the Port of Dubuque. They were a bit busier but the wine wasn't too bad and so I took home a few bottles including their Wild Pineapple, Sweet Raspberry, Cabernet Sauvignon, and their Chardonnay. The ambience of the winery is really neat as it is in an old historic brewery.
Since we were at the Port, we took the time to walk along the river. They have added some neat artwork since I last visited.
Our next winery was Sunset Ridge Winery which was the only winery where we didn't purchase wine. The wine wasn't bad but nothing wowed us. They had a really neat patio area. I heard they often have music.
Our final winery of the day was Park Farm Winery. Here we found a white wine (the Eclipse) that was wow enough that my mom even bought a bottle.
We had an early dinner at HuHot which was pretty good and then spent the evening in the hotel room enjoying wine and good company.
