by Michele Slott
Prairie Berry Winery

While other people are out shopping, today winemaker Sandi Vojta is starting the new vintage of Raspberry Honeywine.

“Honeywines really need to be babied,” she says as she stirs.

The honey comes from the Sturgis Honey Company, owned by the Stolle family, shown at left handling a drum of the sticky stuff.

As the honey comes out of large drums, it is poured into totes where Sandi adds warm water and her father, Ralph, stirs. A hose attached to a pump moves the sticky, amber liquid into a fermentation tank. “It’s already at 70 degrees!” Sandi says happily.

The smell of the honey is rich and intoxicating, all on its own.

Ralph laughs at the sticky streams on the floor. “You should have seen my house the first time we made this back in Mobridge. What a sticky mess! It was unbelievable.”

Sandi agrees, “It was the first wine we started as a commercial winery, back in 1998, and it was a challenge.”

by Sandi Vojta- Winemaker

Some of my all time favorite wines are produced from a tried and true winery located in Napa Valley called Raymond Vineyards.  They are one of the authentic wineries that you have to seek out or possibly rediscover.  Coincidentally they are a Fifth Generation family of winemakers beginning in 1876 in California.  They produce four different labels of wine. These include the Napa Valley Reserve, R Collection, Limited Edition, and Small Lot Wines  They specialize in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and are recently again producing a Meritage (last one was in 1991).   If you tend to prefer a chewy Cab to a Merlot …I highly recommend giving their Reserve Merlot a try……2 thumbs up for this wine!  Their lower end R Collection Cabernet is an outstanding every day wine up to their higher end silky smooth Generations Cab.  It’s all good.

Cheers!

Sandi