CENTRAL CITY — Prairie Creek Vineyard & Winery in Central City was the runner up in the inaugural Central Nebraska TODAY.com’s Tournament of Taste.
The Tournament of Taste featured 64 different central Nebraska restaurants and eateries that had been nominated by residents through a vote.
A bracket was set up and those businesses with the higher number of votes moved ahead. In the end, it came down to Skyline Café of St. Paul and Prairie Creek Vineyard and Winery of Central City, with Skyline taking home the top spot.
A trophy and full bracket were presented to General Manager Katie Benner on Wednesday, April 10.
Prairie Creek Vineyard & Winery is located at 1600 16th St. in Central City. The location is open Tuesdays through Fridays 4-9 p.m. and Saturdays 1-9 p.m.
Prairie Creek is owned by Nick and Kristen Ryan and Benner joined the winery in 2014. The original vineyard started in 2003. The one acre consisted of 550 vines of Brianna, DeChaunac, Seyval, Lacrosse and Foch.
Today the vineyard has grown to encompass 13 acres and includes 4,200 vines their white wine grapes now consist of Seyval, Lacrosse, Brianna, Edelweiss, and LaCrescent and red grapes are Foch, Marquette, Frontenac, Fredonia and St. Vincent.
Benner said that they are the second largest winery in Nebraska.
“Each year the vineyard and wine making take an enormous amount of hand labor. Each of the bottles that you enjoy at the winery have been crafted from start to finish in our facility. We grow, crush, blend, bottle, label, cork, capsule, and distribute,” according to Prairie Creek’s website.
In 2007 the original tasting room was built and opened at the vineyard with the assistance of a United States Department of Agriculture grant.
In 2016, Benner said their current location was purchased in downtown Central City and renovations turned it into a restaurant and tasting room. It opened for business in 2017.
Benner said the ambiance they renovations aimed to capture was that of Omaha’s Old Market district. She said the work was aided by local contractors who helped to fabricate the unique space.
To go with the wine, their menu consists of upscale offerings such as quality appetizers, salads, entrees built around chicken, steak, salmon, pork or beef, burgers and several desserts.
Benner said all their food is made in-house from scratch, they peel their potatoes, cook their own pasta and create their own sauces. “There is definitely a level of craftmanship in the food,” she said.
Benner said much of the growth of Prairie Creek has been due to the restaurant and the regulars who patron often, one couple even visits regular from as far as Kansas City. “It’s a nice destination point,” she said.
During the Tournament of Taste, Prairie Creek went up against Wave Pizza Co., Fyre Modern Grill, Chances ‘R’ and Studio 6 Bistro.
When asked about her thoughts as the tournament started and progressed, Benner said it was “really fun,” to learn Prairie Creek had been nominated. She said she hadn’t even received the official email when her friends began texting her to tell her about the nomination.
Benner said they have many engaged and active friends of Prairie Creek who supported them throughout the tournament. She added it was fun to get the Central City community involved in the process.
Benner even noted that the Central City mayor asked if they had won the tournament.
“It’s great exposure for our community, I think its fun that we are able to be part of that. It’s not just about us, it’s about getting people here and realizing all the amazing facilities and amenities that Central City has,” Benner said.
Benner closed by saying that it was the local support that got them as far as they did and it was encouraging seeing a small town community come together for a common purpose.
