And in addition to brinery, what
the heck is a portmanteau? Are these two of those complicated wine terms
the average person has no clue about and no use for? What do these words mean?!?
Actually, a portmanteau is a word
created by combining two words together into one—ginormous, Spanglish,
Brangelina. Lately, our culture is
filled with them. So I decided to create
my own: brinery! A brinery is a mix of brewery and winery
together, and this past Saturday I led a wonderful group on a Black Hills
Brinery Tour, getting the best wines, beers, and scenery the Black Hills has to
offer.
Brinery Tour group outside of Crow Peak Brewing.
Stop one: Naked Winery/Sick and Twisted Brewery Hill
City
Naked
Winery is an interesting Black Hills story.
The wines are actually produced in Oregon, primarily from Washington and
Oregon grapes. South Dakota has two
Naked Winery tasting rooms; the original in Custer, South Dakota just
celebrated its second anniversary in March.
I have been privileged to witness the evolution of these tasting rooms from
the very beginning, and what a fast evolution it has been! The Hill City tasting room has expanded the
number of wines it sells, doubled the size of its tasting room, and started
brewing its own beer under the Sick and Twisted name. There are six Sick and Twisted beers, all
with some pretty risqué names, adding to the whole naughty, naughty theme of
the Naked wines. Though I regularly
admit I am not a beer connoisseur, several in our group who are avid beer
drinkers gave the Sick and Twisted beers thumbs up. (I even remembered to bring the hubby’s
growlers from home and filled a growler with the Panty Dropper Porter…I told
you, naughty, naughty!) The wines, as
always, were a special treat! In the
past I have I enjoyed the flagship wine of Naked, the Merlot, and the
2009 vintage was no exception. I also
have a special affinity for Oregon Pinot Noirs, and Naked has two that are
very nice! Yes, Naked Winery/Sick and
Twisted Brewery is a perfect example of my new word brinery!
Tasting at Naked Winery/Sick and Twisted Brewing, Hill City.
Stop two: Prairie Berry Winery
I have also
written about Prairie Berry Winery before, as it was the winery that broke
ground for the other tasting rooms and wineries that now call the Black Hills
home. Prairie Berry has also evolved
into a premier winery, whether in the Black Hills or elsewhere. Originally, Prairie Berry produced more (and
became famous for) fruit wines from rhubarb, pumpkin, and buffalo
berries. However, as this establishment
has attracted more palettes, it has also evolved. It now produces more dry reds and some very
quality dry reds at that! I happen to
enjoy Phatt Hogg Red (a blend in the Pinot Noir class), Rimrock (a Zinfandel),
and Sand Creek (a Cabernet Sauvignon blend).
The fruit wines are still incredibly fun and popular, and in honor of
the Cinco de Mayo weekend, one could order a Red Ass-arita, a margarita made
from Red Ass Rhubarb wine. We also ate
our lunch at this stop. Though I can
rave about how far PBW has come with its wine production, I don’t have the
words to talk about the food that can be experienced here! We had gourmet Paninis and pizzas since we
were just breezing through, but the lunches and special dinners here are
absolutely amazing! I am hungry just
thinking about the mouth-watering treats served from the kitchen created by
specialty chefs Maija and Heidi.
Tastes and lunch at Prairie Berry Winery.
Stop three: Belle Joli
Though the
Black Hills still has a very small number of wineries and tasting rooms, I love
that each one is so unique when compared to the last. Belle Joli is different still from the last
two stops. Enologist and vintner Matthew
Jackson went to CSU Fresno, and then came back to Belle Fourche, South Dakota
to grow grapes. There is the facility
and vines in Belle Fourche, but now there is also a small tasting room in Deadwood,
South Dakota and more vines between Belle Fourche and Sturgis, SD. Also, expansion plans include a larger
tasting facility outside of Sturgis, hopefully breaking ground this summer. Jackson grows the majority of his grapes and
outsources for some of the fruit used in his dessert wines—cherry, peach, and
pear. The new peach and pear dessert
wines I tried this weekend have similar residual sugars to ice wine, and the
wonderful smooth flavor showed this. Belle
Joli is still a true family affair, with Matthew’s wife, Choi, and parents
taking active roles in the wine production.
I look forward to seeing the continued progress of Belle Joli and its
truly South Dakota product.
Purchasing at Belle Joli in Deadwood.
Stop four: Crow Peak Brewing
The final
stop on our Brinery Tour took us to yet another unique aspect of the growing
wine and beer industry: Crow Peak
Brewing in Spearfish, South Dakota. The
brewery started on a small scale in 2007, and then moved to a gorgeous,
wood-sided facility in 2009. (The
mantel made of rocks that is in the shape of a beer jug is my favorite part of the décor.) Many seasonal beers are brewed here, but some
of the selections are canned throughout the year for distribution around the
multi-state area: Pile O’ Dirt Porter
and 11th Hour IPA. Again, I’m
not a beer drinker (wine only, thank you!), but I love the ambiance, culture,
and environment of microbreweries. They
are just fun places to be! Crow Peak was
no exception. Our large group split
into smaller groups and received tours of the beer production areas from Josh,
one of the owners. We also sipped on
many different types of beer, from a lighter cream ale to a hoppy, hoppy
IPA. I was again prepared with the
growler that I filled with the hoppiest of the beers for my hubby, since those
are his favorites.
The sommelier had a beer...at Crow Peak Brewing in Spearfish.
After four
stops enjoying Black Hills brinery experiences, the bus ride home was not
boring. (What happens between Sundance
and Upton, stays between Sundance and Upton.
Hahaha!) I truly enjoyed both the
wine and beer of the brineries in the Black Hills. Just like portmanteaus evolve with our
culture and society (who would have imagined a word like “sexting” even ten
years ago), the wineries and breweries of the Black Hills are evolving into
world-class establishments. My hope is
that as these industries boom in all regions of the country, our little corner
of the Midwest will also continue to see the expansion of these
industries. Next year’s Brinery Tour
can’t get here soon enough!
