Shawnee Hills Wine Trail Reviews

To celebrate our 32nd anniversary, we spent two nights at the Von Jakob Winery and Brewery in Alto Pass (population 400) after a two hour drive through the farmlands of Southern Illinois. After tasting about 20 wines from a very knowledgeable server, we purchased a dozen bottles and moved into our cabin about 200 yards away. We also got a bottle of wine along with a cheese and cracker basket. The cabin was a converted farmhouse complete with a Jacuzzi. We could have brought our own food and used the kitchen and dining room if we wanted. We drove the little windy roads north to the Little Grand Canyon in Alto Pass and then down south to Cobden (population 1200). In Cobden there was a pizza pub our server recommended and a burrito stand open for dinner. It was nice outside, so we ate some surprisingly good burritos at the burrito stand before heading back to the cabin. On 31 Aug, we had a real nice breakfast at 9:30 in the wine tasting room. We were the only guests and our host showed us the dining room they use to serve dinner on Friday nights. We said we’d be back that night for dinner. We decided to do four wineries near Cobden after breakfast. Our first winery was the “Starview” and I liked it the best for location. If I owned a winery, this would be the one. Most of the servers we met throughout the day were SIU Carbondale students or recent graduates. We got there at 11 am when it opened. Our server at Starview was excited he was just accepted into the Air Force and we chatted about his future career while we tasted the wines. Wine tasting was free and a couple of wines were sold out which made me curious. We liked Starview’s Traminnette the best and next time I’d probably stay there or nearby. We even got a 10 percent discount for our six-pack. Our next winery was “Blue Sky” which was clearly the biggest and most commercial operation. The student server told us about two tastes in that we were only allowed five tastes which I thought was annoying. I wouldn’t go back there the next time. We bought three bottles there and then moved on to Orlandini Winery which was about a mile from Blue Sky. We got there just as the proprietor was flipping her closed to open sign at noon. This was a nice little winery with a nice deck and pond. The reviews we read the previous night said Orlandini’s had the best wine and we liked their Vignoles and Saluki Red. I even liked their dry red Chambourcin. But overall, I thought Von Jakob’s had the better wines. Orlandini’s only had seven wines to taste and tasting was free. We bought a six pack before leaving. I would definitely come back to this one again. The last winery near Cobden was the “Owl Creek Vineyard” which claimed to be the first area winery. Their tasting operation was on the second floor and they also had a short order grill with a deck. When we arrived, for the first time that day, we had other patrons in the shop eating lunch and drinking wine on the deck. The server told us wine tasting was $5 for five tastes which included the wine glasses. I was annoyed. We only bought three wines here. They also had three types of hard cider on tap and I had a glass on the deck. If we came back someday, I would only purchase the hard cider. From there we drove back to Alto Pass. By the way, the experience of driving through the little farm roads between the wineries was half the fun. We drove with our moon roof open and windows down. We saw turtles, deer, and birds along with idyllic farms and lots of honeysuckle. It seem like everything was 2-3 miles away on our Garmin GPS but it took 10-15 minutes with the windy roads. We arrived at the Hedman Vineyard’s Peach Barn restaurant for lunch about 1:30 and tasted their wines while we waited for a schnitzel (for me) and a Greek salad for my wife. Not surprisingly, our servers had the best Peach wines. We bought a six pack and would definitely return here next time. After lunch we returned to our cabin to relax. About 4 pm we ventured out again to explore the “Natural Bridge” site in the Shawnee National forest. It was another windy road trip that ended on a two mile single lane gravel road. Our host that morning recommended we take a look, but cautioned that there was poison ivy along the paths. She wasn’t kidding. I hiked down to the site in my blue jeans while my wife stayed in the car. Another young couple was a couple of minutes behind; both were wearing shorts. I pointed out the poison ivy which was everywhere along the path. I hope they didn’t catch it. The natural bridge was actually impressive. I’m surprised someone spent the time and money to build a road and paths so people could see it. From there we drove to Giant City state park. Again, the drive was more fun than the actual park. We stopped at a fruit stand for fresh strawberries on the way back. After showering and changing for dinner, we had a nice candle lit four course dinner with a few other couples at Von Jakob’s winery and brewery. I tried two of their Hefeweizen beers they made; both were very good and at $4 a glass a good deal. After packing the car Saturday morning, we had another great breakfast. We stopped at the “Kite Hill” winery on the way home north of Alto Pass. Again, we were charged $5 each for wine tasting but the proprietor let us taste all his wines. My wife liked the Kite Hill Pink wine ice he had mixed. It was like a tasty snow cone so we bought a six pack. Not sure I would return to this winery. There was no deck or view and the $5 taste charge was annoying. All in all, I’d do it again someday.

Me and my Wife very rarely get a chance to spend some together. So we took the trek down to Southern Illinois Shawnee Wine Trail. As soon as you get off I-57 you enter a very beautiful simple hidden world. The drive alone through the trail is worth the 31/2 drive for us. We stopped at several of the Winery's and Vineyards finding all of them to greet you with a smile and a since of pride of there product. Most of the wines of the region are unique and different than anything you can get anywhere in the US. We tasted more good than bad I would say our favorite being Orlandini and Hedman. At most spots there is great food. Please do yourself a favor Stay at a B&B there is one around every corner, they are cheaper than any hotel and nicer. Most prices for tasting was free, most wine was between 4-7 a glass but trust me, we cleared hotel, food, wine, glasses from every winery and 5 bottle with the B&B for like $300. I know most don't care about quality for price, but it was nice to be able to pull a Napaesque experience for that price. That is one dinner in Napa which is simply rediculous in this economy. Give yourself a break like I said the drive alone is easy and fun. The winery's are awesome and great. The food is excellent, live music at Rustle hill till 9pm and giant city state park on the trail, you can even begin to imagine all the free perks that come with this area give it a try.

Driving through the Southern Illinois hills and forests to visit 12 superb wineries is an exquisite day. The scenery is beautiful, the wine tasty and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxing. You travel through several quaint towns that offer some local fare. In addition some of the wineries offer food as well. Most offer free tastings, some if you purchase or a few have a modest fee. if you like sweet, dry red, blush or white there is something for you.

My husband and I visited the Shawnee Wine Trail to celebrate my birthday this year. We stayed at one of the cottages on the grounds of Von Jakob Vineyard. We really enjoyed Von Jakob. The cottages are located at their new location overlooking orchards and rolling farmland. We drove to their original location in Pomona, Illinois (about 4 miles down the road) and it was absolutely beautiful! We wished the B&B was at this location. Looked just like Germany! We stayed in the Cab Sav room in their cottage that has 3 rooms available. The room was very spacious, comfortable bed and very nice jacuzzi tub. Bathroom was done in marble, very pretty. The only thing we noticed was a sewer smell when we ran the water, but we noticed they were still doing work and updating the cottage, so that was probably not the norm. The common kitchen, dining room and living area were all very nice. Our friends stayed in the Gold Canyon room. Their room would have been my pick of the three. I loved the decor. Two things are missing from this B&B if they are important to you....no t.v. and no phone. Very clean!

Upon check in we were also given a complimentary bottle of Von Jakob wine! A very nice treat! They also gave us a little basket with crackers, cheese, chocolate and coffee. Each morning we were served breakfast at 9:30 in the tasting room of the vineyard. Breakfast was outstanding! Very very good and tasty. We each got a huge platter of eggs, bacon, new potatoes sauted in garlic, onions, bells peppers (soooo good), fresh tomatoes from their garden and french toast. All the veggies were grown in a garden located on the grounds of the vineyard. The second morning's platter was the same except instead of scrambled eggs, we had a very good omlette. We all loved the breakfast!

We were there during their semi annual Von Jakobville Festival which is a Jimmy Buffet themed day complete with a nationally know Jimmy Buffet tribute band, The Boat Drunks. Nadorah Skakoor from the Coral Reefer Band was with them. Very very fun and festive day!

We enjoyed our stay at the Vineyard and would recommend it to anyone. Also, my favorite Von Jakob wine was the Cave Creek White. Bone dry and soooo good! My only regret is that we waited until check out Sunday to buy our wine....they couldn't sell wine on Sunday until 12:00 noon, so had to leave without it. Remember that and buy your wine on Saturday. ;-)

If you live in driving distance of the wine trail or are visiting anywhere near then you must take a day-trip here. I am from the Central Coast wine country in California and am used to the opulent winery atmosphere. This was a refreshing down to earth experience. All the grapes are locally grown varieties you wont find anywhere else. Great for a group or a couples get away. I recommend going on the weekdays because all the tastings are for free.

Loved the many wineries in this area. We went on a Wed. and Thurs. and followed the list with times they are open. We absolutely loved Rustle Hill, Blue Sky, Alto and Pomona. Owl Creek was small but nice. Some are very far away down country roads and you could get lost easily. One, Kite Hill, said they were open on the list, but after driving 22 miles there, they were closed. What a waste of gas! Von Jacob had delicious food and a wonderful large deck. Starview had great Sangria. Hedman only had a couple of wines we liked and were out of their peach wine but they serve lunch there, so is worth the drive. A few wineries are only open on weekends, so we did not get to sample their wines. Most of the owners or staff were extremely friendly and knowledgable.
Some of the wineries had music on Wed. and on weekends. I liked that Rusle Hill stayed open till 9 pm every night. Most closed at 5 or 6 pm. Blue Sky is beautiful!
There is still a sign up for Von Jacob's old winery that is closed. This is confusing while driving around looking for the wineries. I wish they would take that sign down, as their new winery is actually much easier to find.
Would definitely visit this wine trail again. Many bed-and-breakfasts or cabins in area.

You have to stop at Pomona. George does charge $4 to try about 10 wines, but he was so interesting and knowledgable offering food pairing suggestions and helping you identify the flavors in each. He's passionate about his wines. Von Jakob (pronounced Ya cub) also charged $1 for 4 oz of beer. Hard to choose, but we came home with chocolate milk beer and hard cider. They offer a 10% discount on everything if you checkin on FaceBook while there. Owl Creek had interesting ales to try. Blue Sky had a wonderful sherry with a butterscotch finish and a lot of other great wines. We bought most here. Rustle Hill is open late, but skip it. Their wines are pricey and just ok.

My husband and I split the wine trail up into 3 days so we could also enjoy the wonderful forestry in the area. We loved it. There are a variety of wineries on many different scales. Almost half offer food in addition as well as local bands some nights. If you are anywhere in the area of Southern Illinois I would recommend visiting these wineries and taking in the beautiful scenery.

Drove down from Chicago to find record setting 100 degree heat on Labor Day weekend - not optimal for wine tasting. Only went to three vineyards / wineries... Pomona, Alto and Blue Sky. Each had its positives. Pomona was smaller scale, they make wine mainly from apples. I was surprised that some weren't as sweet as I expected. A couple were actually pretty good (with oak added).

Alto was the first winery in the area - it felt like they were serious about their wine (not so commercial, employees knew more) and our visit there was enjoyable despite the heat. Blue Sky seems like the most commercial operation, but they put a lot of money into the tasting room / bar and the grounds (nice terrace!). Could easily just spend the afternoon hanging around over there (I think there were quite a few people doing that).

It would be easy to scoff at this area's upstart wine trail, but if you go into it with respect for what the people are trying to accomplish, realizing that there will be wines that you think are not very good it can be (and was) a very enjoyable afternoon.

My wife and I were looking for a few days to spend away from home, and we decided to rent a cabin near the Shawnee Wine Trail (Rustic Hideaway Cabins, highly recommend). Most of our time was spent at the wineries, but we did take some time for sight seeing (e.g., Bald Knob Cross) and plenty of hiking (e.g., Little Grand Canyon, Garden of the Gods).

As for the wineries, we visited Owl Creek, Pamona, Kite Hill, Hedman, Alto Vineyards, and Von Jakob. While I recommend them all, my favorite was Owl Creek and my wife's was Pamona.

We spent Sunday morning hiking in Giant City State Park, and afterwards were looking for a place to grab lunch. The Lodge in GCSP only does fried chicken on Sundays, and since we are vegetarians, that was out. Since Owl Creek was just outside the park, we decided to stop there. The staff there is really friendly, and the food was fabulous (we had a focaccia bread pizza, with a brie and peach apricot appetizer). Owl Creek's wines are fantastic, along with the hard ciders. Monday we hit Alto Vineyards (pretty scenery, wine was not bad); Von Jackob (didn't try the wine, but the food was really good); Pamona; and Kite Hill. On Wednesday (Tuesday was dedicated to hiking) we visited Hedman winery, which has, in my pinion, the best Chambourcin wine on the trail.

Pamona serves non-grape wines. Don't let your stereotypes fool you, not all of the wines there are sweet. Give it a chance, because you will not be sorry. Plus, the atmosphere there is wonderful, and the owners are really nice people. Also got to chat with the owners of Kite Hill, who are really fun to talk to and have great advice about local attractions to see (plus, the winery's view of the lake on the property is really nice).

Wanted to try Hickory Ridge and Starview, but just couldn't find the time. Already planning a return trip.

My sister turned 50 on May 22, so we opted to visit the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail to celebrate. If you love wine, great folks, good music, and some of the most beautiful scenery to be found in Southern Illinois, you MUST do the wine trail!

You dont have to go to Napa to enjoy great wine, scenic beauty, musical entertainment and friendly atmosphere. Blue Sky winery on the Shawnee wine trail has it all. From excellent dry wines made from locally grown grapes to white and red sangrias that are sure please. In addition to some of the best wines on the trail there is a delicious selection of food. The seasoned oil blend and fresh bread are fabulous. I particularly love the chamborcin and chamborcin reserve dry red. The large spacious outdoor seating area provides an excellent venue while enabling social distancing. If you haven't visited the Shawnee wine trail I highly recommend adding a visit to your bucket list.

My wife and I have visited the trail several times and have stayed at a few of the cottages and bed and breakfasts in the area. This I would recommend doing as opposed to a hotel somewhere. The winding roads in the area remind me of middle Tennessee and we realy enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of the area, so its nice to be centrally located somewhere along the trail. We have found the people who work the vineyards and wineries to be unpretentious and accomodating, and we always bring home a bottle or two of something that we like. The wineries are spread out a bit, so be prepared to bring along a driver who is at least semi-designated, or try one of the van services in the area. We usually try to find time to take a hike at Giant City State Park along the way, and we have even stayed at the Park's cabins. A few of the wineries have their own accomodations, and some have full dinner menus. Von Jakob does an awesome Friday night reservation-only dinner that we love. They also craft-brew their own beer which I enjoyed. Or you could simply have a nice tray of cheese, crackers and grapes at Owl Creek. Most have a nice view with some sort of outside seating. and the tastings are free or only a few bucks. We brought home several wine glasses and have started a bit of a collection. Visit Blue Sky and Rustle Hill if you are looking for a bit of a festive atmosphere. They both serve beer as well and have live music fairly regularly. My favorite wine is from Orlandini and Hedman, and for atmosphere my favorite is Rustle Hill. As others have noted, keep in mind that this the wine here does not taste like store bought wine, so enjoy it with a sense of context.

Was only able to visit 5 wineries on the trail this visit, but made all of them worthwhile. The area in the Shawnee Forrest is gorgeous. We stopped at Alto Vineyards, Von Jakob, Owl Creek, Starview, and Rustle Hill. I highly recommend all of these. Live music, good wine, food, and outstanding views. Affordable prices, and they all offer tastings , from $2.00-$5.00. We are returning in September, for a girls get-a-way, and cannot wait...

We've been to Wineaux several times .You can not beat the food anywhere ..It's Delish anything you order .
So friendly ..
Their wines are Great .
It's definitely worth your trip .

I’m from Illinois and had never even heard of the Wine Trail. Its definitely worth a trip to check it out. Great getaway idea with the girls.

There are 11 wineries on a 40 mile road. Some of them are deep in the forest on sketchy roads, but our GPS managed to find them all. You pay for a tasting, then buy a bottle or two of your favorite to take home if you wish, or to drink later at your room. Everyone we met was super friendly and the wines were great. Be aware that not every winery is open every day, so you have to allocate a couple of days to see them all. Well worth spending a couple of days in the area.

We go once a year to the Shawnee trails. This is where we end up by the end of the night. Always great music, wonderful artichoke dip, good sangria, and lots of fun.

This group of six siblings (ages 53-63) has now visited every winery on the trail. It took us two weekends to do it. All of the hosts were full of knowledge and hospitable. Because our tastes vary, some of us liked certain wineries more than others.
But we can declare that, for us, overall, the winner is Feather Hills. Feather Hills had something everyone liked and several somethings several of us liked!

We appreciate the spirit of cooperation among the wineries and the great signs marking the trail.
There are other wineries in the region, but they don't play by the same rules as those officially on the trail and you could feel the difference.

Great weekend getaway! The wine trail can be 1 day or entire weekend. Everyone is friendly and will answer all your questions. Fantastic food options and they will help you pair wine and food. Any type of music you want can be found at one of the wineries.

If you enjoy beautiful views, trails and scenery this is for you! The wine is a plus. We did not have time to do the entire trail but did do 5 of the wineries. Each is special with a special type of wine from berries to apples to grapes. If you are not a wine taster there are micro brew beers available along with soft drinks for the designated drivers. The wildlife and foliage is beautiful so don't miss the chance to take a drive with benefits.

We enjoyed the wines at Hickory Ridge, Blue Sky and Feather Hills but not nearly as much at Alto or Peachbarn (formerly Hedman), and definitely not at Owl Creek! We are dry wine enthusiasts and appreciate good wine. Pomona was closed during the week so we were unable to taste their fruit wines.

Hiking is plentiful and beautiful! We would have hiked Little Grand Canyon but it was too aggressive for someone in our group. However we did like the moderate hikes of Pomona Bridge and the Giant City Nature Trail and Devil's Standtable Nature Trail in Giant City State Park.

The hiking at Giant City State Park is definitely worth doing. We were glad we stayed at a cabin with Giant City Lodge. The restaurant and lodging were convenient for the nearby hiking trails. The cabins were a bit musty and rustic, and lacked wi-fi.

We were glad we took two days to discover the wines and hiking but we sure would have enjoyed staying another day or two.

Looking for a hidden treasure in Illinois? This is it, not far from Tennessee or Kentucky area, this adventure is a peaceful yet hip place to go if you are looking for something different to do. We stayed in a small cabin in the middle of a farm by a man made pond, Pinnion Lake Cabin. The cabin is fairly new built, beautifully furnished and clean. The wine trail starts right down the road and first winery we went to was Starview vineyards. Had a wine tasting and went on down to Alto vineyards because there was a festival in Alto Pass. We went to Von Jakob vineyard next and sat on the huge deck to relax. Then we headed back to Starview for a live music on the lawn relaxing evening. Couldn't ask for a better first day. The next day we hit Blue Sky vineyard and had the famous dippiing oil with bread then headed to Kite Hill vineyards and ended up at Rustle Hill Winery for dinner and more music! You can't beat the slow pace here and the wines are incredible. The wineries are beautiful and pleasing to the eye with great food and music. In addition there are great little antique and gift shops in some of the towns you pass through. I highly recommend it if you just can't make it to Napa valley this time!

An opportunity for a fall excursion to southern Illinois turned out to be a pleasant time. We managed to visit a number of vineyards over this past warm weekend. We tent camped at Giant City State Park for $8 per night. We mixed hiking and sightseeing over two and a half days. The wineries are all very different. We were able to enjoy music at a number of locations. Lunch at Von Jakob's was a tasty bargain. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Trails End outside of Cobden. All you can eat chicken at the state park restaurant filled us up one evening. We hiked at Garden of the Gods area, Giant City Park and Little Grand Canyon. Part of the fun on a road trip is chatting with folks we meet along the way. The only truly frustrating aspect of the trip was the difficulty in getting into the state park visitor center. It simply never opened Saturday or at least it was locked the three times we checked. Finally this morning a very helpful employee answered questions regarding area attractions which determined how we spent the limited remaining time before setting off on our six hour trip home. We would have benefited from the info the first part of our trip.
We are not big wine consumers, but we bought a few bottles to enjoy at home.

Whether you go with the girls or your companion this trail is great. Beautiful scenery and all the wineries are fairly close together. We elected to do the East route on Saturday then hit the Western route on Sunday. We also got a shuttle to take us around on Saturday which was a fabulous idea. No worries about drinking and driving. I will go back with my husband some weekend now that I know which wineries I like the best.

Before you start pick up the purple wine trail book, the map contained within was perfect and we found every winery with no difficulty. It also gives a brief description of what type of wines and how the wineries came about. Every place we visited was friendly and proud of their vintage. Most had entertainment and food on Sundays. On Monday we visited Kite Hill and were actually fortunate enough to meet the owner, Bob and the winemaker,Scott. The wines were very good and reasonably priced.Other products for sale in their tasting room, too. As we were leaving the winemaker stopped us and asked us if we wanted to tour the facility. We sampled wine from several storage tanks at different stages and saw the harvest storage rooms. This is a fairly small, friendly operation and we were thrilled (and flattered) to be introduced to their operation. Highly recommend a stop at Kite Hill. Orlandini, Hedman, Starview and Owls Nest were a few others we enjoyed, also. Well worth the drive in the country and stops along the way, Bald Knob Cross, Little Grand Canyon and Natural Bridge.

Visited the cache river winery for my mothers birthday. Dinner at Winneaux was awesome. Great service. Great food. Excellent wine. Will def be back

My wife and I visited the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail on an overnight trip from St. Louis. We stayed in Carbondale at the Super 8, but I think a B&B would have been a better choice. We are regular visitors to the Augusta and Ste. Genevieve wineries. This wine trail is very comparable. We visited 6 of the 12 wineries in one afternoon and had a great time. Yes, some of the wines were pretty awful and this is NOT Napa valley. Still each stop had at least a couple of good selections, so we enjoyed a few glasses over the course of the afternoon and came home with a three or four bottles. If you like fruit punch, even a little bit, be sure and try the sangria when it's offered. It also has less alcohol than wine, so it will help you make it all day. A few of the places have a food menu, plus you can bring a picnic basket.

The biggest operations we visited were Blue Sky and Von Jakob. Blue Sky is a really nice facility, with a lake, waterfall and a very nice tasting room. We found Hickory Ridge to be a charming backwoods stop, plus we like their wines a lot. Orlandini was a memorable stop - pretty good wines, plus you can meet the owner, a very nice guy. Alto and Starview were also fun stops we can definitely recommend. There was live music at most of the spots, which really enhances the fun factor. A note for single men: women outnumber men and they're all drinking! We saw a few bachelorette parties at varying levels of drunken indulgence.

All in all, I would call it a great way to spend an afternoon (or two if you have the time). If you enjoy the St. Louis area winery experience, you'll have fun here, for sure. It seems a little less crowded, probably because the distance makes it hard to do a day trip from a big city. I liked that there were 12 winereies so close together. Plus the drive through the woods was beautiful.

This is a wine trail filled with some surprises, both good and bad surprises! All the wineries are within 40 miles of each other. Very poor online maps, not to scale and not well documented. They could really use a good PR person to give them some advice!
The roads are in bad shape. But the good surprises, wineries like Blue Sky, Star View, Alto, Von Jakob and just excellent with great facilities and really good food. Those four are the best in my opinion. In all, we visited 9 of the 12 and found the wine to be very tasty and diverse. There is not much in this area so make sure you have plenty of gasoline. There are a lot of backroads some with very poor signage directing you to the next winery. Blue Sky is worth the drive by itself, a great place for a destination wedding which was in progress as we visited.