IG Winery [May 2021]

"If we were meant to stay in one place we'd have roots instead of feet!!" - Rachel Wolchin. The great thing about going to new summer locations is taking routes of travel that we haven’t driven before. [at least not since way back in our trucking over the road days] This means we are driving through new towns, with new sights to explore and new wineries to find and visit!! Haha!! Shawn usually plans out our stops before we head out so we can find and reserve our camping spots, but I like it because then I look for things to do in that area!!

Yes, a lot of the time this includes any wine spots, and since this is a wine blog that is why you are only hearing about these outings, but there are also many more sights we take in on our trips!! It just so happens that on our second afternoon, I came across IG Winery in Cedar City, Utah. Worked out great since there was a gym nearby... [as if!! LOL] Steele and I dropped Shawn off for his [hour or so long] workout and headed down the street a couple blocks for a tasting at IG Winery!! You can see that Steele loved the primo parking, it really made her feel like part of my experience!!

I remember it being such a loving day, so I sat outside on the patio. I loved the paintings on the building; I thought they were an accurate depiction of how you would feel during a wine tasting!! Can you see the couple being poured out in the wine glasses below!? So cool!! IG Winery, known as Utah’s "oldest and largest” winery, was opened in 2012 by Douglas McCombs. Douglas worked as an HR Professional for 30 some years in Las Vegas and it drove him to become a wino... [haha.. just kidding] but I have a feeling that he is very happy with his new career choice!!

He did work with a few other vineyards, making wine and helping them to rebuild the vineyards when he decided to bring wine back to Utah. You see, this region did not have wineries since sometime in the 1860’s!! [I know, right!?] In fact, it took some doing to even become licensed, since they weren’t sure how it should be done, and let’s not even talk about the zoning issues that had to be tackled. Needless to say, Douglas and his family stuck it out and converted a small cottage, on main street, nestled in the heart of Cedar City into the first winery this town has had in years!!

Decades later IG Winery is still a family owned and operated business. Their wines are vinted [in the context of wine, "vinted" indicates that the winery listed on the bottle purchased and bottled bulk wine, rather than producing it from start to finish] and blended [in winemaking, "blended" means combining two or more grape varieties] locally. The younger generation in the family are now grown and starting to take over, slowly but surely. In fact, Douglas's daughter has become Utah’s first profession female winemaker!! They get their grapes from Washington, Oregon, California, and Utah.

IG Winery is proud to be part of the growing wine industry in Utah. They own a vineyard of over 60 acres near Zion National Park, and they intend to continue growing. They have come a long way from the start, when they were the only winery in Utah. Douglas and his family worked hard to pave the way for other wineries to come and flourish in this region. They created the Utah Wine Festival that seems to get bigger and better every year, as well as starting a Wine Trail to encourage wine lovers from all over the country to come and see all of the amazing local Utah vineyards!!  

They offered a cocoa charcuterie board and I simply had to try it!! Yes.. even the apricot cup is made of chocolate!! [I had to take some of it to go.. whew] We actually went through Cedar City a few years later and I just had to stop in again!! Another great experience, and Shawn was with me this time. If we ever have to come through again I may plan a barrel or vineyard tasting, how fun would that be!?  

Next week Wine with Wixy will be continuing on our journey to our new summer destination, Spokane, WA!! Buckle up and enjoy the ride, cause you never know where we may stop along the way!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!