Vine Street Cellars

This was my second visit and won't be my last. Mark, the guy behind the bar, is very knowledgeable about the wines and does a great job of walking you through a tasting. Like many Iowa and Nebraska wineries, this one struggles a bit with dry reds, but there were a couple good ones that I was steered towards. They also offer several flavors of cider now.Next time you're in Glenwood make sure you stop in for a tasting and good conversation!

We stopped at this winery on a Friday night after a long drive during a cross country trip. I called in first and confirmed they were open and spoke to a younger gentleman who was very helpful and gave me the prices for the wine and cider flights. 5 (1oz) wine flights for 4$, unbeatable. If you like cider, they offer 5(4oz) flights for 7$. We tried both and preferred the wine. Once we got there the staff was so friendly and helpful! We really enjoyed Coop's company, who has a French background and is very knowledgeable in wine. His expertise and hospitality really outshined from other locations we've been too and we would definitely come back here again. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys wine!

Truly a gem in Glenwood! It's no wonder this is a local favorite.Located on the town square, Vine Street Cellars is a winery at heart. They do offer a few select beers from local breweries, but I insist you try and enjoy their Iowa wines. Food-wise on any given day, they offer a cheese tray for $7.99. Music and pizza night was the big draw. Once in a while they fire up the oven and offer live music 6:30-9pm, which is why I came with friends tonight. From 6-9pm they served personal-size wood fired flatbread pizzas ($5 each). Three pizza flavors were on the menu: cheese, pepperoni, and chicken and cilantro. I ordered the latter and was pleasantly surprised; it was a buttery-good crust topped with a lime cilantro sauce, chunks of chicken, and cheese. My only complaints as far as cuisine was concerned: the pizza could have been warmer and crispier.But we came here for the wine and music, and both did not disappoint. Wine by the glass was incredibly affordable, with prices ranging from $2.75 to $4. The music was pleasant, though I wouldn't recommend coming if you have a hard time with noise (or love to talk). The ambiance was pleasing; I enjoyed the openness of the space. They do have a patio dining area on the north end of the building.Despite the fact our pizzas were delivered in intervals, the service was top notch.If you're from Omaha or Council Bluffs, I most certainly recommend taking the Loess Hills Scenic Byway to Glenwood for this monthly event. Come hungry and with friends. Please note they do not take reservations.

Loved their Norton wine. Not a huge wine connoisseur myself, but I do love a rich red with my pizza, especially when you're dining at a winery. If you like Shiraz, go with the Norton. It was very, very tasty. The pizza? Good. I went with pepperoni. Wished there was something a bit more gourmet - perhaps one with fresh arugula, real mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes, locally sourced sausage. Something with a bit more.....uniqueness. Love that they coal-fire the pizza, too, but mine could have been a bit crispier for my liking. The place was packed -- live music and it was a Friday night in a small town. It was so packed that another group needed the space where our table was to fit their party at one big table, so the owner comped us our $14.99 bottle of wine to have us move our table a few feet over. Free wine's my favorite kind. :)

This week's recommendation is Vine Street Cellars in Glenwood, Iowa, where one can drink deeply of the latest, officially-recognized American Viticultural Area, Western Iowa.  Before wine snobs pop off as is their wont, remember that California wines were once considered a joke for no better reason than not being European. Look how that turned out. Good vino requires great soil, patience and top-notch agricultural acumen. What better stomping grounds than the Loess Hills of Iowa? Full disclosure: I'm not a wine snob. I approach the subject academically. Self-identifying as a snob on any subject is pretentious and says less about one's appreciation for the breadth and depth of a subject than it does about one's expert claims. Wine is good when it pairs well with friendly conversation and food. If it only costs $6 a bottle, all the better. My personal favorite was served family-style from a jug at Casina Azzura about a javelin's toss from the Piazza della Repubblica within sight of Earth's fanciest McDonald's. I recommend that as well.I was encouraged to try Vine Street Cellars collection of Loess Hills AVA wines by my frequent host, Glenwood City Councilman and "Stuck: The Web Series" cinematographer Wade Rodman. His Honor told me Glenwood has a lot to offer and he wasn't wrong. Vine Street is located on the beautiful, old-timey town square of pastoral Glenwood, the largely-bucolic seat of Mills County, straight across the Missouri from Bellevue's Olde Towne. Vine Street Cellars is not externally ostentatious. Neither is the inside, but it is a cozy, pretty and clean bistro of polished wood. Its fully-stocked shelves offer up the best wines in the heart of this 8.3 million-acre Loess Hills District Viticultural Area.Mimi was our gregarious and knowledgeable wine guide. First and foremost she offered up samples with a smile -- always appreciated by connoisseurs. I just wanted to sit down and get to it besides I opted for the sampler for $4. For $5, you get to keep your glass as a souvenir. Material possessions end up possessing you so I opted out, but you should go for it. Everything on the menu from the fruity Traminette to the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition bronze-medal winning Vignoles is $4 per glass. I also had a glass of each. Bottles are all in the mid-range under $20. A steal for this many current and future award winners. Locally produced Keg Creek Breakdown Brown Ale is available. I can attest to its deliciousness, too. It was a busy drinking day, to be certain. Try the cheese plate or order a gourmet pizza from Adriano's Brick Oven across the square. It's worth the drive itself.Over two dozen people crowded Vine Street on this particular Saturday afternoon. Impressive as the majority made the trek from Nebraska, according to the plates in the lot. Obviously, the word is getting around so make an afternoon of it. You will regret nothing.

We cannot get enough of their ciders! We discovered Sacrilegious at a local event in Omaha and just had to visit their home base and boy were we blown away by the amazing selection of ciders they had and how absolutely delicious they were! They have a blueberry pancake cider that I cannot recommend enough! Also amazing is their tart watermelon cider among many more. We got married over a month ago and we wanted to have some growlers of the blueberry pancake cider at our wedding however they were unfortunately completely out when we went to pick some up. The amazing part was that since they were out, they actually delivered a bunch the day of the wedding to our venue which we thought was absolutely incredible. Our guests were just as in love with their ciders as we are. If you haven't made the trip to Glenwood to check them out, hopefully this convinces you!

We stopped by Vine Street Cellars as the last place on out Western Iowa Wine Trail tour and I'm so glad we did! It reminded me of this little place in downtown Sonoma. Everyone was so nice and they actually stayed open late and were so nice about it. I can't wait to come back in the summer and sit outside! We also had the cheesecake which I am still thinking about!

We were out driving around the Council Bluffs area a bit on a Saturday and stopped in here late afternoon to try some Iowa wines and because we needed to gnosh on something or we would fade away. The only food option on that day/time of day was the cheese platter, which you can select your preferred cheeses for and it comes with bread, nuts, and dried cranberries. I wish I had just had some local beers, but I went along with it and did a wine tasting. I stopped after two tastings and finished out my remaining tastings with my first (driest white) selection. Lots of choices on the wines. Very nice decor and atmosphere with a mix of random folks like us out for a drive and locals who are obviously regulars.

My husband and I decided to check out a few Iowa tasting rooms and wineries on a recent fall afternoon, and Vine Street was our first stop. This is a tasting room only, and is not on the vineyard site. The tasting room itself is very nice - very spacious and upscale with a three-sided bar. We decided to do a tasting of 5 wines for $5 each (you get to keep the glass; if not, it's $4). There were quite a few to choose from, so we each chose 5 different wines. Overall, most of the wines were just ok, with a couple that we didn't like at all. I'm certainly not a connoisseur, and of course recognize that different people like different styles, but nothing jumped out at me as especially great. I can deal with that, but the service was definitely lacking. There were two people working during our visit, one who was more concerned about eating his takeout lunch and the other who was much more focused on another group of customers and barely acknowledged us. If it weren't for the service, this would be a 3-star rating. t might come back for a second chance, due to its proximity to a couple other wineries, but it wouldn't be my first pick.