While Nebraska’s wine industry is less than 25 years old, it’s quickly spawned a number of award-winning wineries, many of them found along the Southeast Nebraska Winery Trail. As a result, groups meeting in Lincoln have several relatively new options for gatherings in bucolic vineyard settings.
“People don’t think of Nebraska as a wine destination, but when they come and taste our wines they are pleasantly surprised,” says Derek Feyerherm, director of sales for the Lincoln CVB. “There are beautiful wineries just outside the city for indoor and outdoor events. We’re even seeing groups rent motor coaches for an afternoon of tasting our wines and craft beers.”
Among the most established of the wineries is James Arthur Vineyards, which is located on 400 acres of rolling hills and prairie grasslands just north of Lincoln in Raymond. The winery, which has won gold medals in several international wine competitions, offers the St. Croix Room, a 1,000-square-foot event space with a stone fireplace, wine-tasting bar, catering kitchen and a terrace overlooking the vineyards.
At Deer Springs Winery groups can gather to taste such wines as Gypsy Red and Firefly White in a renovated 19th-century farmhouse with 800 square feet of event space. Tree-shaded outdoor areas with seating are also available.
Opened in 2002 by a fifth-generation Nebraska farmer who decided to give grapes a try, Whiskey Run Creek Vineyard & Winery in Brownville is on the site of a historic brewery. Visitors can still see the original 1866 brick caves used for storing beer. Events at the winery are held in a 110-year-old barn encircled by a wooden deck that spans a creek.
Producing a wide variety of wines made from Nebraska grapes, WunderRosa Winery encompasses 14 aces of rolling fields and vineyards in Roca. The winery hosts catered events in a tasting room with a spacious outdoor porch overlooking vineyards and the Lincoln skyline.
Enthusiasts of craft beers as well as wines will find much to enjoy at SchillingBridge Winery & Microbrewery in Pawnee City. The spacious grounds encompass a microbrewery, wine production facility, tasting room, nine acres of vineyards, historic railroad bridge and archaeological burial sites. Groups of up to 350 can be accommodated in spaces that include a banquet room with a fireplace as well as lawn and patio areas.
