We are Piasa Vineyard and Winery. About seven years ago we planted two acres of
wine grapes at our home in Godfrey as a hobby. That Hobby spiraled out of
control and became a 13-acre vineyard with an accompanying winery. By most
standards, that's small, but for two people with "day" jobs it was BIG! For the
first couple of winemaking years Phil Graczyk, an award winning winemaker from
St. Louis, kept his "day job" and made wine for us part time. As our harvest
grew, so did our wine volume. Last year, Phil become a full-time winemaker and
manager and the vineyard hired John and Linda Unnerstall to tend to the vines.
Last year, as our wines were gaining popularity in the local market with the
help of our friends at the Piasa Winery and Gift Shop in Grafton, Illinois we
entered several of our wines in competition. We received numerous awards most
notably: Best of Show at the Illinois State Fair for our Traminette. Sales have
soared in Grafton. We had a bumper crop of grapes last fall so wine volume is
also up.
Cheers,
Mark and Terri Darr
Piasa Vineyard and Winery (Owners)
