Naughti Wines [September 2022]

Remember how I was telling you in last week’s blog that I was debating whether I was even going to write about my next wine tasting?? I’m going to be honest and start off by saying the reason I hesitated was becuase I didn’t want to offend anyone. With a winery name like Naughti Wines, I’m sure you can imagine why I might think such a thing. But, as you can see… I decided to go ahead and write about it. I mean, I did stop for a wine tasting here, and this is a wine blog!! You can see from the wine bottles below that the names are somewhat "Naughti," and you can also imagine what their merchandise may look like in the gift shop. LOL!! I had many good laughs while I was here.

Naughty Wines was not even on my radar until we were driving to last week’s winery, Prairie Berry. I am not prejudiced when it comes to wine tasting and I thought, wine not!? So we stopped in to check it out!! It is definitely not like any place I have been before. It was a little shocking at first, I think mostly because I did not know what to expect, but the staff was very welcoming and extremely nice and funny; they just rolled with it all, so that’s what I did as well. I walked up to the tasting bar and ordered myself a wine tasting, picking them more on the wine name than the varietal. Check out the test tubes in the second photo, such a cute way to serve a wine tasting!

So, let’s start back at the beginning with Rob and Kim Livingston and an idea they had to open a wine tasting room in the Black Hills. This next part is something I don’t think I’ve come across yet while researching the way someone gets their start in a winery/wine tasting room. Rob and Kim went searching for an existing winery that was looking for partners to expand their current wine business into new areas. This is actually kind of ingenious if you are not willing, ready, or able to start a winery from the ground up. It really paid off and worked out well for the Livingstons.

They found a winery by the name of Naked Wines in Oregon that fit the bill perfectly, and in 2011 they opened Naked Winery Tasting Room in Deadwood, South Dakota. It wasn’t too long afterward that the Livingstons jumped in with both feet and opened another Naked Winery Tasting Room in Hill City. [The one where Shawn and I went.] They brought in other wines and even blended some of their own, but this is really just the beginning of their story. You see, Rob is more of a beer enthusiast than a wine lover, so he went ahead and followed his heart by opening the ever-popular Sick-N-Twisted Brewery right next door to the Hill City Wine Tasting Room.

During the summer of 2021, Naked Winery Tasting Room changed their name to Naughti Wine Tasting Room. It is a long, rather uninteresting story that involves the parent company in Oregon and rebranding. The Livingstons really used this name change to their advantage and had a lot of fun with it. They like to say that if anything is Naughti, then it happened in Deadwood. James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was a scout, army spy, and professional gambler. He along with the town's "working girls," made this place famous back in the day. It is now known as a historic gambling town.

They enjoy using lines like they are “taking the pecksniffery [unctuous, sanctimonious behavior, or the act of hypocritically feigning high moral principles, benevolence, or piety... Hahaha!! ] of wine tasting” and "no stuffy sommeliers or judgment to be had. If you want it over ice or in a tin cup, great… if you want to swirl and sniff, that’s your prerogative as well." Whatever it takes to get that party going in your mouth that will satisfy those old taste buds. Plus, I really love this part: they are not only dog-friendly, but the chairmen of the board are none other than Max and Oliver, a couple of standard poodles who keep watch over the place. [awww!!] 

I do remember enjoying multiple delicious wines here at the Naughty Tasting Room. [Haha... see how much fun this is!? LOL] I believe I even bought a few bottles to take home, though I do not remember the names of them. You can also see the souvenir glass in the photo above that I have added to my wine tasting glass collection. Since they served their wine tastings in those cute little test tubes, this was my best option. [even though I still bought the test tubes!! Haha]

Bee sure you don’t miss next week’s blog, Wine with Wixy will be visiting The Hive Winery. Did you see what I did there!? “The Hive Winery” and “Bee” in the same sentence?? I totally crack myself up sometimes!!

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