Uniquely themed facility amidst the other wineries in the area. Visited on a weekday afternoon, enjoyed lunch in the restaurant, then sampled the wines (note that there is a charge for sampling past the initial three). The wines were good, but perhaps not quite as good as the other wineries in the area. Definitely worth a visit, but make sure you hit all the wineries in the area.
a group of 6 of us went on a weekend trip and this was one of our first stops we absolutely adored this place the atmosphere, the history, the food and the wine. I read some of these reviews and those who had bad experiences I'm sorry. We however loved it definitely worth the short drive hope to one day revisit.
As a working winery, clearly Wiederkehr's focus is on their wine-making and selling/distribution business. However, the old features of the property, the original hand-dug cellers (one is now the restaurant) and the vineyards, are an interesting experience for anyone with a curiousity of history and our immigrant ancestors. The food in the restaurant is tasty and somewhat authentic to the old Swiss/German recipie (lived in Germany for several years) and I recommend it simply for the experience. Wiederkehr offers a realtively wide variety of wines that I'm sure, setting aside one's snobbery, most everyone would likely find at least one they'll enjoy. Wiederkehr's wines tend to run on the sweet side for my taste but I certainly found their Sangria, Blush Niagara, Johannisberg Riesling, and Beau Noir worth shipping home to Dallas to introduce to my friends (especially the Sangria!) The wines are very well priced. When we were there in June, the gift shop and tasting area appeared to be undergoing some sort of rennovation or repairs and as a result the building was warm and humid. That didn't deter us though--we're intrepid tourist/vinophiles! Wiederkehr makes some very tasty wines and I'm hopeful that their repairs/rennovations are completed soon and bring a bit more polish to the experience.
The restaurant is really the highlight here. Great food in an old world atmosphere. Loved the smoked pork loin chops with fried potatoes and sauerkraut. Delicious. Winery tour is minimal as is the very basic wine tasting. Beau Noir wine is excellent. I would suggest going earlier in the year, perhaps during their October Wine Festival. Fun day though.
Wiedekehr Wine Cellars has good wine and a great restaurant. The atmosphere is casual, laid back, and enjoyable. Staff is very sweet and fun. Restaurant had good food and drippy candles.
The Wiederkehr Winery was founded in 1880 and makes it one of the oldest wineries in the country. It still has its original hand dug wine cellar, which is now their Weinkeller Restaurant, and the original log home built by Johann Andreas Wiederkehr. The winery owns many hundreds of acres and is the largest grower of wine grapes in the Altus, AR area.We took the wine tour and it would appear their machinery for bottling wine is very old and well worn. The warehouse does not appear to be in good repair. Their tasting room is very dark and unattractive, as is their gift shop. All the wines they manufacture are very sweet. So if you are a fan of red wines or even the dry white wines, they are not available in this area. I believe this to be because of the variety of grapes produced here.We ate an early dinner in their restaurant and found the food to be excellent.However I get the distinct impression this winery has fallen on hard times. At least it would appear the case from the condition of their warehouse, and gift shop. Perhaps it is just old and needs maintenance. It is a shame it has not been better cared for because of the history of this winery.
Enjoyed the drive up to the winery - crooked roads with a hairpin curve, really fun on a motorcycle! We tasted 3-4 wines free, there was a $5 fee to taste 5 more varieties. Very good local wines.
We visited Wiederkehr Wine Cellars on a Saturday afternoon. They are pretty much a basic winery with tasting availability. You get three tastes for free and five more for five dollars. A pretty good deal.The tasting area is very basic however the wines are quite good. They also have grape juice and sangria.However, the highlight of the tasting was Dee Dee. She was extremely knowledgeable and also just extremely fun to be around.The entire tasting experience was excellent.We did not have time to visit the restaurant, but will the next time we visit.Overall an excellent experience.
This was a family get together from around the state as this was a central point. We had NO reservations and didn't know how many would show up. Arrived at 1:00 pm on Saturday. Told hostess we thought about 10 would show up.She said great and arranged some tables.By 1:30 we had 20 people gathered. Arranged some more tables and accommodated our group.Our waitress ( deserves an all star award for outstanding service ) took orders for wine, appetizers and food orders. We had 2 pots of fondue appetizers.Everyone raved about the food which about covered the lunch menu selections. Desert menu was shared by most and some claimed if they had known the size and taste they would have just ordered desert. The whole group did the wine tasting and tour, purchased wine to take home and all wished we could spend the weekend.
We bought two cases, one of the fortified concord - Grandpa's favorite and the reason we made the stop, and a mixed case of sweet wines for us. The tasting room has a lovely old-world charm. The Italian carved bar back is exquisite. The attendant was helpful and recommended several wines to try. There is a fee to sample over 3 vintages, but $5 for 4 more was reasonable and she poured a few over our allotted number because she thought we might enjoy them. The only drawback is that the ac/swamp cooler made everything very sultry and hot inside. (One form of authentic old world charm I could do without.) A dehumidifier or window unit would be a good investment for the tasting room and restaurant.