We spent a beautiful afternoon at the winery. The staff is not only helpful but very friendly. The…read morewines were delicious. The views perfect. It will be a summer repeat again and again.

Madison County Winery is located in - you guessed it - Madison County. My mom and I participated in…read morethe Madison County Fall Crawl and ventured here. There is much to do in this area and MCW is not an exception. It is worth noting this area is absolutely beautiful, especially in the fall. I really like Madison County Winery's setup - the vineyards are abundant, visible, and accessible (perfect for that Instagram moment you are dreaming of). They have a large patio area with traditional outdoor tables and limited indoor seating. OUtside, they also have an offset pergola and firepit area with their own patio furniture, which would be fun for a small group. I had the wine slush which melted really fast and was very sweet, but who am I kidding I still enjoyed! My mom had the PINK wine (semi-sweet Rose) and liked it so much that she bought a bottle to take home. Down the steps from their patio, they also have a tent with personal pan fire grilled pizza - would also recommend. What is honestly better than wine, pizza, and beautiful fall day. It was such a great Sunday afternoon, I can't wait to take friends back soon!

I was able to attend a small event recently at Speckled Hen Farm encompassing Speckled Hen and a…read morecouple of businesses they closely partner with including Covered Bridges Winery. Kevin from Covered Bridges Winery was an excellent host and let us know about their business in the same way as our hosts from Speckled Hen Farm and Lone Oaks Farms did. Where they started, where they are now, and what they have coming up. He offered tasting of 8-10 different wines from sweet to dry of his different blends. I tried the St. Croix (dry red), Frontenac Gris (dry red), LaCrescent (dry white), Marquette (dry white), Petite Rose (dry rose), and Rattlesnake Red (semi-sweet red). I'm not a huge wine drinker...some over the years...and I know my taste leans to dry and not overly sweet. I enjoyed all the samples I tried; both red and white! Ask Kevin about how the name rattlesnake red came to be...! Since we were on the Speckled Hen property we didn't get the full winery experience, but Kevin had the same enthusiasm as Kris (our host from Speckled Hen Farm) and Luann (our host from Lone Oaks Farms). You can tell why they all partner together so well! Winterset is just a 30ish min drive from where I live in Clive. A trip to the Northern part of Ankeny or to the South side can take me just as long...so it's really not far away at all and it's a nice drive. If you're like me and you enjoy a little bit of a day trip to find new things... It's worth the short drive from the metro! Check out upcoming events at Covered Bridges Winery on their Facebook page and site (as well as those for Speckled hen Farm and Lone Oaks Farms on their respective pages). https://coveredbridgeswinery.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CoveredBridgesWinery

Good wine, great service and nice location…read more I stopped here with Harvest Hosts for an overnight stay. It was packed when i got there with live music and a packed house. One of the owners saw me trying to find a place to park and pointed me to the best area to park, said after the band was over people would think out and I could park anywhere i wanted on the grounds. After getting setup i came in and grabbed a bottle of red wine and a charcuterie plate. The owners and staff were wonderful, the wine was great and the music was fantastic!! I had a great time staying with them and if i lived in the area i know i wold be there often.

We had a wedding reception here last night. It was a terrible place and I wouldn't ever recommend…read moreit, especially for the price! We had to pay for two days so we could decorate it a two hours the night before. Plus they wouldn't let us bring any type of drink while we were decorating the night before. As we are decorating, the Owner is following us around looking and investigating all of it. During the wedding reception, he has his long black haired dog, walking around everyone while we have white tablecloths and decorations up. While the nieces were playing with the dog and chasing it he told them to leave the dog and not to chase it. I'm sorry, but we payed $3500 a day to celebrate and not put up with the dog or this man's action. If I could give less than one star I would. DON'T USE THIS PLACE!!

DO NOT HAVE YOUR WEDDING HERE!!! My daughter just had her…read morewedding ceremony at Annelise Winery. She wanted an outdoor wedding & Annelise Winery was one of a few places that had a place to have the ceremony inside if the weather was bad. Before going to the winery my daughter emailed the owner & told him that she would like the ceremony there & he gave her some prices. When we got there he didn't remember the email conversation with my daughter. Then the owner proceeded to say that we couldn't have the wedding ceremony there without having the reception there also. He then had a 10 minute conversation with himself while we stood there watching. At the end of " his" conversation he decided it would be "Ok". Note: none of this was written down while we were talking. Through the year engagement they went there 2 to 3 times & each time he didn't remember them or the specifics of their contract. He badgered them each time about them having their reception there. One month before the wedding we went there because the owner hadn't contacted them about chairs, how they wanted them set up & other specific details about the ceremony. When we arrived he made the comment "it's a good thing you guys came because I wouldn't have known how to set up the chairs". He also rented out the changing rooms that we needed for the wedding party to get ready to some one else for their graduation party. Then the day of the wedding when we got there, he said that the graduation party was over & we could use the changing rooms after all. We had gone & bought a bunch of dividers & other items to use so the girls could change & had to transport them down there - all for nothing. He yelled at people for bringing water bottles in because he sold them, but he never told us that before. He never offered help but was always there to yell at us if we did something wrong. Bottom line - the owner is an a**hole, doesn't communicate & is NOT a business man!!!!

If you are looking for a unique experience/activity to do with friends this might be just for…read moreyou... If you ever wanted to know the history of wine or you wanted to understand how to make wine. Eric the owner gave us a background on three wines and then we were able to sample each. After the sampling we chose as a group the wine we were going to make that night. This is a two day process. Which means you have the opportunity to spend time with the same people twice. When you come back 2 months later it is to bottle the wine. This place is a real gem and it was a really fun experience. I recommend this too all the wine drinkers out there. The only downside is that after you bottle the wine you have to wait 2 years to drink it...it has to age! The owner does have wine that was made onsite that you can purchase to tie you over.

Mr Rick was an excellent guide through the history of wine!…read more We spent a wonderful evening learning about wines and Making our own wine! From understanding the grapes, the process and even how to bottle it we now have a better understanding of what goes into making wine and it even helped us to open our minds to new tastes and adventures. We look forward to getting our wine and sharing it with friends! We booked our next adventure with Rick while we were there. Great atmosphere...great experience..great teaching and host.

We attended uneventful there on a Friday night, closed to others. Staff was great and it was a…read moresuper nice event. The food was catered in, I don't know if this was the doing of the founders or our by our event planner, but the food was crummy. I was told the eggrolls were the best and those were gone. so maybe the foundry could find a better caterer. the bar staff was great. my daughter (teen) was very particular about her shirley temples and the staff rumored her and her weird concoctions. overall i enjoyed the experience there.

We stopped here when we were in the area to utilize one of our Passport coupons and enjoyed the…read morestop. We both loved the atmosphere and the friendly staff. The drink menu is abbreviated, but the main choices are there and the bartenders do an excellent job of creating drinks based on your tastes. He made a Limeade (see picture) for me and it was great. Food: n/a Atmosphere: 5 Value: 3 Service: 5 If you found this review helpful, please click to show your support.

We were just passing thru from town to town and saw this new Cidery. Beautiful building!!! We…read moreordered 2 flights consisting of 4 tastes of the cider made there. They had music playing. Very clean. Cute merchandise and free popcorn. Many tables inside, couches and a loft area with seating too. You could also go outside on the deck and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Prices were very reasonable. And when we couldn't figure out an 8th cider for our flights they let us have a tiny sample. They do have crackers and meats and cheeses for purchase for snacking too. Outside there are 2 sand volleyball courts and a stage. They are closed for the season but have special dates they are open for pop up events, today 11/22/25 was their Bottle Extravaganza where all bottles were $1 off! We left with 3 bottles. Love the atmosphere here! We will definitely be coming back!

If you are a cider lover like me, you have to check this place out out of 8 cider I tried I took…read moremultiple home...would have done all but they were out

What a great hidden gem! If you go this way you must stop in! Great service/owners, great beer,…read moregreat locals! We really enjoy it all! Did a flight and liked everything I tried but the Funky Balls Chocolate Peanut Butter porter was my favorite! We went home with some. Thanks for showing us a great time and for having the Chiefs on when we stopped by! We will be back!!! Cheers

Beer is awesome!!! Atmosphere is casual and welcoming. We are from out of the area but felt…read morewelcomed! Clean and kind staff! No food was available when we were there, I will definitely go back!

Felt like I lived there. What a friendly, fam oriented place. All welcoming, very much above…read moreaverage brews.

Some of the best beer I've had since I've been Iowa definitely gonna stop next time I come though.read more