Prairie Berry Winery in Hill City, SD is a family-owned business that has been making wines for South Dakota for over 130 years.& It all started in 1876 in Mound City, South Dakota with Anna Pésa Vojta, who started making her own wine with the prairie berries she found outdoors. The recipes were then carried on by Frances Kalda Vojta, along with his son Frank. Today it is Ralph and Sandi Vojta, his daughter that have turned the wine business into the huge commodity it is. It started in Mobridge, was then moved to Rapid City and in 2004 to his final home in Hill City. Today, Sandy makes over 30 different wines.
Although, they don't offer tours, they do encourage you to come for some wine tasting. They now have 15 different fruit, grape and honey wines for you to sample and, hopefully, purchase to take home. While you're there, you can enjoy some shopping and take in lunch at their Euro-deli. At the Euro-Deli, you won't be getting your typical simple lunches but rather exquisite and unique cuisine such as Olive Tapenade, Grilled Panini Sandwich, Proscuitto and Chorizo sausage to name a few to get you started.
Wednesday's at the winery have a touch of mystery and fun as you learn about Riedel Wednesdays, where you'll sample wine from a regular wine glass and a Riedel glass and get to see the difference.
Prairie Berry offers wines from domestic and wild fruits from the prairies. Some of these include rhubarb, chokecherries, currants, buffalo berries and honey that is locally raised. They also specialize in grape hybrids, enabling them to continue to grow even in the colder climates. Whether they're crisp white wines or oak-aged reds, they have continually created award winning wines.
