Prairie State Winery

I couldn’t have loved this place any more. The wine, the staff, the ambience… all of it was so perfect. I’m a sweet wine fan, and I tried all of the fruit wines and they were spectacular. My boyfriend loves red wine and he said they were unbelievably amazing. The girls behind the bar were so nice and fun to chat with. The outdoor garden is lovely. The upstairs with leather couches and coffee tables is so cozy. And we had some live music that completed it all. Can’t wait to go back!

Live music in Sunday afternoon with any great of wine, if you are not sure wish one — go through wine tasting and find your match! Patio is just gorgeous as well as service ! Thank you very much Gianna, we had a blast!

If you happen to be in the area or are looking for a little road trip I really recommend taking a trip out to this little winery. My brother and sister-​in law took me here for my birthday and I had such a nice time.
We did the wine tasting and each of us were allowed to pick out 7 wines from their assortment. I really was surprised by how good the white wines were as I am usually a red wine fan. Overall the «Snap» wine which is infused with ginger was my favorite. It was really refreshing and a great wine for summer.
I must say the workers are so nice here. Very patient and answered many of my questions. Overall, i will for sure be making another trip out to Genoa a little hidden gem.

This is a great place to visit with a couple or a bunch of people. They are always very welcoming. The new location is beautiful and I can’t wait for the expansion to completed. Went to a food and wine pairing for the first time. Food was excellent and was paired well with the chosen wines. Can’t wait for the next one. If you are planning on attending a wine down you may want to reserve your table ahead of time.

Prairie State Winery’s new location in Genoa is amazing. The outdoor courtyard is beautiful and perfect for a Friday Night Wine Down with a few girlfriends. I’m looking forward to hanging out inside this fall and winter, too! Bring your own nosh, drink some wine and enjoy the live music. Tons of options for all types of wine drinkers.

I LOVE this place. I have been coming here for years and the wine is great, cheap and the people who work here are amazing as well. We actually had our wedding of 50 people here on Saturday and it was amazing. The staff was so friendly and helpful and the wine was delicious, as always. I would HIGHLY recommend you visit sometime.

Nice winery! If you enjoy fruity wines this is the place! Love the apple but the Niagra is crazy amazing! Love sweet wine? Great choice! Nice folks, too!

Meh. This is a nice little winery in nowhere Illinois, but there’s nothing really noteworthy here, unfortunately.
I will have you know that I will drink some real swill when it comes down to it. Hell, I’ve been known to throw down a whole bottle of oxidized wine when needed (yes, sometimes it IS needed.). However, I DO appreciate a well made wine too. Prairie State Winery doesn’t really offer anything in the medium to full-​bodied or super oaky wine categories. The dryest, oakiest white that they had (the Oak Savanna) was decent at best, and the best reds they had were the heavier (ish) bodied oaked ones. I left with a bottle of the Illinois Chambourcin Reserve pretty much only because it’s a good red for summer and I like to try to drink local products when I can.
I will say this: I like the winery (it’s really cute and old general store looking and even has a comfy couch), the service is excellent, they have a really cool nitrogen pump system for the tastings so you can try any of their wines, they are cheap (I think the tasting was like 3 or 4 bucks and you try 8 pours (?) [TINY POURS but 8 pours all the same]), and I like that it’s a local Illinois winery with some cool history. For THAT, I will bump them up a star. There, don’t say I never did anything for my fellow man…

Okay place with just okay wines. Not worth the trip to Genoa.

We stopped in a on a weekday afternoon and had a great experience. Maria was a wonderful guide through the many varieties of wine available at the store. She did not rush us, and we felt like old friends after a short time. The store is very quaint and comfortable. We loved the Kishwaukee Blue and the story behind the label. We could have not been treated any nicer, and Maria gave us great information about nearby campgrounds also. If you enjoy wine, make this a place to stop.

This place is quite the shot in the dark that works out very well. Truth is, there is nothing special about Prairie State Winery itself. It doesn’t look spectacular, isn’t in an area which would attract many people, and is about as fancy as my college apartment. However, the place works .
The employees are extremely nice and there are «wine downs» (1 – 2 times a month) in which you can bring your own food to eat with their wine while listening to live music. What a novel idea; to have live music and invite people in to drink wine. For some reason, many wineries don’t do this and I have never been able to figure out why. People will come as they do to Prairie State. The place gets full and is very energetic. Side note, if you are a single male between the ages of 45 – 60 (I am not) then there is no reason not to like this place. It brings out the middle-​aged ladies for girls night out like no other. It does attract a younger crowd as well though.
Overall, I can’t give a reason not to try Prarie State. It has been fun each time I’ve been there.

Ok, so I generally don’t have high hopes for… well… anything in Genoa. Yet a Friday-​night visit to this winery has convinced me that there is at least one reason to make the trip.
The coffee-​shop-​style interior is quaint and inviting, including a large bar and tin-​style roof. They offer free tastings of 3 wines at the bar, and then you can of course purchase bottles to consume there or to take with you. As someone who loves sweet wines, I had all kinds of options – most of which were very affordable at around $ 12 a bottle. Our little group especially enjoyed the pomegranate wine, and I was also a fan of their winter mulled option.
Approximately twice a month (as was the case the night we were there), they also bring in bands to play on their small stage. The crowd that was there when we walked in was generally much older than us, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the cover band they hired was a) pretty good, for what I could hear in the loud restaurant area and b) a group that played current pop songs. Nice.
I might have given them 5 stars, except for the one problem – they fill up very quickly and generally suck at taking reservations. For our first visit, we called ahead several days and took numerous calls to even get ahold of anyone. Then the owner/​manager/​whoever answered the phone told us that the place has 25 tables, but they only take reservations for 8. First of all, this «system» (if you can call it that), makes no sense. Secondly, the place was packed when we got there (which was around 6 p.m., mind you), and there definitely were not 25 tables. We counted. With 5 people, it was challenging to cram everyone in most anywhere, and we ended up crowding around a tiny café table close to the chilly front door.
Food service of some kind would have also been a welcome addition. On the other hand, many of the people we observed there had planned to have whole parties there and had brought much of their own homemade food. Had we known this, it would have made for a homey twist on the traditional Friday-​night outing.

I especially love their Maria’s Sangria!

My husband and I always stop at Prairie State Winery on our way thru Genoa. Many different varieties from very dry to very sweet & fruity. They do not charge for tastings and since it was a slow day, let us try as many as we wanted. The prices are reasonable and I usually bring back my old wine carton to receive a discount. We have many that we like, but Kishwaukee Blue is always a favorite. The staff is knowledgeable and not pushy at all. I have bought many bottles of wine for gifts and everyone seems to love them and they come for more. It is worth the trip if you are in the Dekalb area. It is on Main street in a quaint downtown area. Have lunch at Crumpets next door after you shop at the winery.

Located on Main St in Genoa (Rt 72) in a cool little building, it has an impressive selection of locally made wines. I picked up 3 bottles at a reasonable price and received a dollar off.. Wine tastings offered as well.

Jill and I went to Genoa, IL yesterday for the sole purpose of tasting wine at Prairie State Winery. The winery is located in downtown Genoa. It is a very inviting place. As you enter beneath the wine barrel you are reminded of a general store that you might see in an old western movie or maybe Olesen’s Mercantile from Little House On The Prairie. Maria Mamoser, she and her husband Rick own the winery, was far from crabby Mrs. Olesen, however. She could not have been nicer and her knowledge of wine made it a very enjoyable experience.
They have 27 different wines you can sample (taste) all made locally with locally-​grown produce. They have a nitrogen system that allows them to offer tastes of all of their wines with minimal waste. They advise only to try six wines each time you visit because, as we were taught, the average palate can only distinguish six different tastes before the tastes become overlapping and it is difficult to distinguish between them. Prairie State Winery allows you six tastes at no charge and then there is a minimal fee for each taste after that. Acquaviva charged $ 6.00 for the tasting and they had no choice of the wines as they only had six. We tasted different wines, though we did taste a few of the same wines, and we ended up buying three bottles (Maria’s Sangria, Kingston Vines and Elderberry) and some cheese ball mix. They have many different and unique food items that you can purchase as well as the excellent wines they offer. I even liked the palate-​cleanser cookie/​crackers they had. They actually tasted like a cross between a cookie and a cracker; also far better than my only other wine tasting encounter.
The wines I tasted were: Maria’s Sangarita, Maria’s Sangria, Pomegranate, Prairie Berry, Elderberry and Apple.
I know a lot of you like to take weekend rides and several of you are wine connoisseurs. I highly recommend Prairie State Winery. According to their website (
) they have events called Wine Downs every second and fourth Friday of the month where they have live music and food to accompany your wine in the quaint room in the back of the store called The Barrel Room.
Regardless, if you like wine or are just adventurous like me and are looking for something different to do I suggest going to 217 W. Main Street, Genoa and sample some of the excellent wines made with local produce at Prairie State Winery. If your experience is half as good as ours was yesterday you will have a great time and will bring home some delicious wine.

Award-​winning wines at modest prices, production on-​premises, wine-​tastings, homemade fudge, small-​town charm, a gift for everyone on your list, and always something new to sample and take home. I enjoy my wines semi-​sweet, like a German Riesling. If you do as well, be sure to try Kishwaukee Blue… you won’t be disappointed!