Gregg Pardieck, owner, is a former pilot, and started the winery in 2007. The facilities located on 80 acres include a renovated barn with a 125 seat wine/beer tasting room, with an upstairs chapel, a large outdoor tent with seating for 450 people, and an amphitheater that features a stone arch from the old Seymour Shields High School.

All Chateau de Pique wine and beer is produced from grapes and ingredients grown on the property, except for the fruit (non-grape) wines that are all sourced. There are 15 acres of vineyards producing Chardonel, Vignoles, Traminette, Cab Franc, Chambourcin, Marquette, Concord, Catawba, St. Croix, and Niagara.

John McMahan is the winemaker, brewer, and manager.

Morgan, was our server for this visit. She is also the event manager. Not only was she very friendly, but also extremely knowledgeable about the winery/brewery and the products. They have two options for tastings that include any 5 pours of wine or beer for $5, or any choice of samples for $15. I suggest the latter, as you will want to try many.

My selections for the tasting included the following wines. I must say that their tasting notes included below are spot on:

• Estate Chardonel – Delightfully dry and perfectly amazing. Subtle notes of pear. *Purchased a bottle.
• Estate Vignoles – Peach on the nose with undernotes of apricot. *Purchased a bottle. Probably my favorite.
• Estate Traminette – Slightly sweet with a rich mid-palate fullness. *Purchased a bottle. This is probably the less sweet Traminette I have ever had. It is amazing.
• Estate Cabernet Franc – Medium bodied, soft berry palate (we recommend aerating). *Purchased a bottle. Definitely needs to be aerated for the best enjoyment.
• Estate Chambourcin – A bold and oaky red, direct from our vineyard.
• Estate Marquette – Oak aroma with a nice light bodied fruitiness & robust mouth feel.
• Sweet Mile High – This adventurous concord wine is a local favorite. *I had to try this ones since it is their best seller.

In addition to the wines, I also sampled the following beers, whish are available by the pint, pitcher, or growler.

• Belgian Wit *Purchased a growler to share with family.
• IPA
• Pale Ale
• Scottish Ale

I thank Morgan for her hospitality, and highly recommend that if you are in the area, you stop by for a visit. Taste the wine and beer, and roam the beautiful landscape. Check out their website to see their scheduled events and offerings to make your own event special.

Chateau de Pique Winery-Brewery, 6361 N CR 760 E Seymour, IN 47274

Scott Morris

The post Chateau de Pique Winery-Brewery, Seymour IN first appeared on CU4Wine & More.

Keene told us about how 12 years ago, owner, Rick Harris started making mead in the basement of his home in East Moline. That home was was built by a bootlegger decades ago. Thus the name “Bootleg Hill”. The two made and distributed on their own from there and then in November 2018, the business was moved to its current location. They are located in an older downtown building, that is small but quite quaint and comfortable for patrons. There is even a small stage in one corner to facilitate live music.

So what is mead? Well, it is considered an ancient drink that was likely the first alcoholic beverage. Mead was discovered entirely by accident, when honey was allowed to ferment by mistake, or even found fermented in the wild. More information on the history of mead can be found on their website.

However, I will share the following information on the types of mead that is also found on their website.

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With its honey base, mead is a versatile drink. It can be made sweet or dry, still or sparkling, and other ingredients can imbue delicious flavor.

• Melomel is a mead that contains any sort of fruit. Many of Bootleg Hil’s meads are melomels, with delicious flavors like strawberry, blackberry, cherry, blueberry, pineapple, and orange. Mead made with grapes is known as pyment.
• Cyser meads contain apple juice as well as honey, for a flavor akin to a cider.
• Infusing mead with spices and herbs creates a metheglin. Here at Bootleg Hill, we’re particular fans of adding ginger to our meads, as with our Orange Ginger variety.

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I tried a few different meads, and Keene was more than happy to tell us about all of the options. The samples I had were:

• Pineapple Planet Melomel – a traditional melomel with pineapples. I had a glass and not just a sample of this.
• Cosmic Cherry Melomel – semi-sweet melomel made with clover honey and real cherries.
• Purple Moon Pyment – extra sweet made with Concord grapes

They also have a few meads aged in bourbon barrels and mixed drinks, including slushies. Keene had me try the slushie of the day, which was pineapple. I could have had a full glass of that had we not been off to our art exhibit!

In addition to meads, they also have a fine selection of craft and Belgian beers, basic beers, ciders, Iowa wines, and sodas.

If you are ever in the area of downtown Davenport and want to try something different, stop by and try the meads and hang out.

I wish to offer a big thank you to Keene for his hospitality. His background is another story, but you’ll need to stop and ask him about that!

Bootleg Hill Honey Meads, 321 E. 2nd Street, Davenport IA 52801

Scott Morris

The post Bootleg Hill Honey Meads, Davenport IA first appeared on CU4Wine & More.