Prairie Berry Winery [September 2022]

I found this little winery not far from the campground where we were staying while we were in town visiting Mt. Rushmore. If you explore the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota it will eventually lead you to Prairie Berry Winer!! They have the best location with fabulous views from the tasting patio, steeped in history going back to the 1870’s. Why don’t we take a quick walk down memory lane, all the way back to 1876 when Anna Pesa Vojta and her husband Jon emigrated to the Dakota Territory from Czechoslovakia.

They brought the family wine making knowledge and tradition along with them. Anna’s daughter Frances was born to continue this tradition. Winemaking, pickling, and preserving food started out to be a way for the family to survive the cold winters, you know before supermarkets, restaurants and freezers were a convenience. [I cannot even imagine this way of living, can you!? LOL] Regardless of their winemaking abilities, they found only what they called “prairie berries” growing in which to work with. There was not a grape to be found, so they sent the children out to pick berries.

Jumping two generations and about 90 years, and to the birth of Sandi brings us just about back to the present. Sandi grew up at her father Ralphs feet running around on the family farm. She picked berries together with her dad, Ralph. He would often set her with a bucket of berries that she picked to let her experiment and mix things, to see what she would come up with. The family has always been quite proud that she created her first batch of wine before she was 4 years old!! She was even allowed to taste it, during holidays or when she was feeling under the weather.

Sandi went to college for environmental chemistry where she met her husband Matt Keck. After graduating with degrees in chemistry and biology, Sandi and Matt moved to Portland Oregon so they could volunteer with the Peace Corp. They wanted to see the world!! However, this was adventure was cut short with strong encouragement from their families after being stationed in Tanzania and witnessing the 1998 US embassy bombings. In 1999, less than a year later, Sandi made a batch of chokeberry beer and while sitting around the kitchen table with Matt and Ralph… the idea of Prairie Berry Winery was hatched, starting in their 500 square foot basement!!

Prairie Berry Winery gets its name from the very berries they use to make their wine and the nickname that Anna gave them long ago. Local wild fruits like chokecherries, buffaloberries and wild plums. Prairie Berry was only the second winery in South Dakota to be awarded licensure by the state to operate as a commercial winery. They expanded and grew over the next 15 years, so much so that Sandi and Matt decided to open a brewery right next to the winery. They named it Miner Brewing Company.

You can see from the above photo that they offered a nice charcuterie board. They had an amazing gift shop and offered fun and interesting labels on their wine bottles. I do have to say that wine made from berries tastes a lot different than wines made with grapes. I will also say that I am not sure that I’m a fan. I am pretty sure I did buy a bottle of the Red Ass Rhubarb to take for my sister, Lisa Yoder!! [Hahaha!!] You can envision what the label looked like by the road sign below. Plus, she has always like rhubarb [how gross is that!?] so I thought it would be a good match.

It's so sad that after 25 years of business both Prairie Berry Winery and Miner Brewing Company have closed their doors. Sandi and Matt wanted to retire due to the physical toll of running this large production. They initially had a buyer lined up to take over but it fell through. Operations were shut down and the property was sold off in parcels.

As it often comes about, Wine with Wixy just so happened to stumble across another winery, completely by accident!! It is a very different type of tasting room and as of this writing I am debating on whether or not I am even going to write about it. I guess you’ll have to tune in next week to find out why and if Naughti Wines makes the cut!!

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