From Vine To Wine: St. Croix

Kickapoo Creek Winery has many beloved sweet wines, ripe with fruit flavor and vibrant in color, but don't forget about our St. Croix. Our driest , most complex red may not be as popular as the Dave wine, but it is the favorite of the Dave. It is also most popular among California wine drinkers.

A quick swirl of a glass of St. Croix open up incredibly rich cherry, vanilla, and oak aromas. The subsequent sip reveals an unraveling experience on your palate: A distinctively dry feeling and acidic flavor rolls over your tongue, turning ever so slightly sweet at the end, right before finishing clean.

St. Croix would pair excellently with red meat, particularly a nice steak, but it's also great for enjoying with friendly conversation.

As you may have guessed, our St. Croix wine is made from St. Croix grapes. It's a sweet bluish-red grape, excellent for medium bodied wines. 

Our St. Croix is 10% off every bottle in the Kickapoo Creek Winery Tasting Room all of December! It makes a perfect gift for the dry wine lover in your life.

To purchase St. Croix online visit our shop site (shop.kickapoocreekwinery.com)

Employee Spotlight: Rory Conner

Say hello to Rory!

 Rory Conner, our Executive Director, has been at Kickapoo Creek Winery for over six years. He was born and raised in the Peoria are and graduated from Peoria Notre Dame High School. After High School he graduated from Lincoln College with his Associates Degree and later his Bachelor's Degree from Elmhurst College outside of Chicago.

Rory is married to Mary Kozimor Conner who... serves as the winery's General Manager; and they have one son Kale and one dog Drako.

Kickapoo Creek Winery prides itself on being a local family owned business which is something Rory really enjoys. Rory grew up on the winery grounds which first served as a horse stable and then later a hosta nursery.

Rory hopes to one day host an event for Bill Nye (The Science Guy) and they can share a bottle of Rory's favorite Kickapoo Creek Wine, Norton.

While he's not at work he enjoys spending time with his family and in particular playing with his son Kale. His favorite move..."Enter The Dragon" with Bruce Lee.

Best advice he's ever been given: Live for youself, not others approval.

From Vine to Wine: Kickapoo Kranberry

            November is upon us and the vines have been bare for a while now. The grapes are well on their way to becoming wine as the year darkens from twilight to night.

            There is a lot to be thankful for around this time of year: harvest and health, family and friends. At Kickapoo Creek Winery, we celebrate and give thanks with a fun take on a classic holiday flavor: our Kickapoo Kranberry wine. Accordingly, it is our wine of the month so every bottle bought from the KCW Tasting Room is 10% off for all of November.

            This particular wine comes from many different vines. It is a blend comprised of 60% white grapes and 40% red grapes. The white grapes used are seyval blanc, la crosse, prairie star, and la crescent. The red are frontenac and sabrevois. This blend is what gives Kickapoo Kranberry the ruby color similar to real cranberries.

            Fun fact: we used to call the wine Kringle’s Kranberry and it was only made for the holiday season. However, it was too good to drink exclusively during wintertime celebrations so we changed the name to Kickapoo Kranberry and started selling it all year round. It is a sweet and refreshing wine and goes well with many settings: from a hearty Thanksgiving dinner to a fun summer party alternative.

            Either way, it’s great chilled; on its own or even with a splash of sparking lime water to enhance the tartness and give it some bubbles.

            Let us know your favorite way and time to drink Kickapoo Kranberry in comments!

If you can't make it into our Tasting Room all Kickapoo Creek Winery wine's are available online!