It's Nat'l Wine Day! Here are the Best Wineries in Cedar Rapids

Happy National Wine Day! Or, as my lovely wife calls it, "Tuesday". Today is a day we celebrate all things vino. What? Did you think wine day last Monday? No, no. May 17 is National Pinot Grigio Day. Hm? You figured it was back in February? Nope. But February 18 is National Drink Wine Day. Today is just, in general, wine day.

Iowa provides a harsh climate for winegrowers

Iowa has a surprising amount of wineries, which I'll get to in a moment. First, I feel it's important to recognize all Iowa wine creators. It's a tuff state to work with! We have very warm summer days that can spawn fungal vine diseases. Then on the flip side, we've got ridiculously cold winter nights that can kill off many varieties of grapevines. Iowa wine equals tuff gig for sure.

Iowa actually has a lot of vineyards

If you think Iowa is only a craft beer/distillery state, you're quite wrong - and don't let any wine enthusiast in the state find out you felt that way. According to the Iowa Wine Growers Association, Iowa has 316 vineyards and over 1,200 acres of wine grape grown each year. Of those acres and vineyards, Iowa actually has 100 commercial wineries, as of early 2021.

That means, logically, we have many right here in Eastern Iowa. I hopped on Yelp and found the best-reviewed Eastern Iowa wineries. For the record, most had really solid, positive reviews. For the sake of only a few total votes separating the best from the second, third, fourth, etc., this list is in no particular order. meaning, it's not "best to least best but still really good".