Returning to Giant City and the Shawnee Wine Trail

The trip to Giant City went smoothly and we arrived in the late afternoon/early evening. While we didn't have a lot of time, we unloaded the car, checked in, and then headed to Owl Creek Vineyard. It's a particularly nice choice if you're staying at the Giant City Lodge, like we always do, since the winery is only a short distance from the south entrance to the park.

The sweet dessert wines, particularly the ZenGeist, were excellent as usual, though I was a bit disappointed with some of the dry wines. Even the Seyval Blanc, an off-dry white which we have bought on previous trips, was not as tasty. They had just bottled the vintage so that had some impact, but they also mentioned that there was a higher percentage of other grapes in this particular vintage.

Still, we each bought a glass of wine, and took in the view.


From the Patio

While the other wineries have impressive vistas, none of them allow you to cozy up to the forest like the Owl Creek patio can.

As we left, I took a snapshot of grapes on the vines. It's amazing what a different year and an offset of a few weeks can bring. Last year, on June 12th, the grapes were already plumping nicely.


Owl Creek, 6/12/10

And this year, a few weeks earlier on May 27th, the vines weren't quite bursting with fruit yet. From the person manning the tasting bar, this is not all that unusual. Over the course of a few weeks, the grapes can grow rapidly.


Owl Creek, 5/27/11

If you want to read about the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, you can check out my post from last year's trip or you can check the Wine Trail's link to the right or click here.