Snus Hill Winery - Madrid

Exactly how much fun can you have at an Iowa winery on a Sunday afternoon? Well, at Snus Hill Winery in rural Madrid, it was 5 bottles of fun. Snus Hill is an award-winning family owned winery nestled in the rolling hills and peaceful countryside of rural Iowa. Located at 2183 320th Street in Madrid, you'll have to navigate a bit of gravel to get there, but it's so worth it.

We grabbed a couple of friends and drove out to enjoy some music and a few bottles of their wine. With so many different wines and varietals to choose from, you'll want to get in on the complementary tasting to help decide what bottle to take outside to the lawn.

The main building is beautiful, and there is also a large banquet room with a dance floor available for weddings and private parties. Plus, fun wine shirts and other items available for purchase.

Charles and Hanna Larson, Swedish immigrants, purchased the land in the 1870's, and the winery was built on their original homestead. Four generations later, John and Diane Larson, and John's sister, Linda, opened Snus Hill Winery in 2005.

The Snus Hill Winery name reflects their Swedish heritage - 'snus' was an old Swedish chewing tobacco and is also the name of one of the winery cats. Their wine bottle labels also have a cat on them and several wines they offer refer to cats, too.

We've been fans of Snus Hill for years (it's dangerously close to the Iowa Foodie compound), so we were quite excited to see that one of our favorite wines, Ditchweed, was on sale!

I seem to remember that John's story behind the name Ditchweed was a good one. Ditchweed is a not-quite-dry red with cherry and raspberry notes. A very easy to drink red.

Our friends got a bottle of Whisker White. A nice crisp dry white wine that is perfect for sipping on a summer afternoon.

Every Friday night from 6:30pm - 9:30pm and Sunday afternoons from 2pm - 5pm Snus Hill features live music from local musicians. Blues, boogie, country, even steel drum bands, the variety is awesome. Hot Tamale & the Red Hots were getting the crowd going when we visited.

And of course, we decided to try ONE MORE bottle - this time it was Sven Red - a slightly tart rose that has just a hint of cranberry. It's a darn near perfect wine for patio sitting.

Snus Hill Winery offers a great selection of wine - everything from dry reds to crisp whites, rose wines and even specialty and dessert wines. And their list of awards is pretty amazing.

If you're in need of a great glass of wine and some good local music, get in the car and head to Snus Hill Winery. We rate it a 5 cork stop on the Heart of Iowa Wine Trail.

And watch out for the wine growers!

Let us know your favorite Iowa winery - we're always looking for a new spot to try!

Snus Hill Winery

2183 320th Street
Madrid, IA 50156

515.795.3535

Hours

Wednesday - Sunday  10am - 6pm
Extended hours during live music events

More information at www.snushillwine.com or on their Facebook page