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Located in the historic village of Amana, Iowa, White Cross Cellars is a new approach to the Amana Colonies wine industry. While the Amanas have long been famous for fruit wines, White Cross Cellars delivers a more traditional approach to the wines of the Amanas. We feature Award-winning wines from classic wine grapes as well as Midwestern varieties; producing a wine in the European or California style. Our specialties are white wines reminiscent of the traditional German and French styles, along with red dinner wines designed for beef and Italian dishes. Our wines are available in limited quantities and sold exclusively at our retail site in Amana. White Cross wines were born from a desire to handcraft a traditional grape wine for the visitors to the Amana Colonies. White Cross wines feature decidedly German, French, and California styles while using classic wine making grapes along with Midwestern varieties many grown at a vineyard within 20 miles from our shop. Our wines are designed and handcrafted to meet a particular palette. We determine the style of wine desired and then employ our winemaker to achieve that style. Our goal is to change the way our visitors think of wine from Amana. White Cross Cellars is setting a new standard in Amana Colony wines. Join us on facebook: at White Cross Cellars Visit our blog: The Gourmet Colony thegourmetcolony.tumblr.com/ as we celebrate food and wine from the Amana Colonies and beyond. Join us for our Vintner’s Dinners or take our Food and wine Pairings 101 class. Visit our website for more information. SEASONAL HOURS-Jan-Feb closed Monday-Thursday.  Please check if weather is questionable.

Ackerman Winery is proud to have the distinct honor of being the oldest operating winery in the state of Iowa. The Winery started in 1956 by Harry and Louisa Ackerman.   In 1974, their son Les Ackerman along with his wife Linda took over operations and carried on the family wine-making tradition for over 40 years.  In 2015, the Ackerman family handed down their long history of wine making tradition to another local family, The Wyants.  Bill and Rona Wyant, of Marengo, Iowa (just a few miles outside of Amana) have a long family history of agriculture in the area and started another local winery outside of Marengo in 2007.  The Wyant family is proud to continue the tradition of making high quality fruit wines. Ackerman Winery produces near two dozen varieties of fruit and grape wines ranging from our Raspberry and Blackberry wines to uniquely different wines such as Dandelion, Rhubarb and Mango. Discounts are available when you purchase more.  Save $5.00 on six bottles and $15 on twelve bottles.  Wine club members save even more! From California to New York state, Ackerman wines are entered yearly in several prestigious National and International Wine Competitions, where they regularly earn top honors and gold medals. They invite you to visit the tasting bar to sample their delicious wines. Enjoy shopping in the bright spacious store, where you will find unique wine gift items.  Afterwards, take a bottle to their outdoor Wiengarten or indoor Family Room and share with family and friends.

Some years ago, three Amana men decided to revive an art that hadn’t been practiced in Amana for years–the art of brewing beer. Carroll F. Zuber and brothers, James and Dennis Roemig had a dream of building a small brewery to produce small batches of hand brewed beer reminiscent of Europe’s finest brews. To brew the best they needed the best, so they called on one of America’s premier brewers, Joseph Pickett Sr. who helped in the brewery design and in development of the robust Schild Brau Amber. Currently Millstream brews 15 different beers throughout the year. In 1985 Millstream Brewing Company opened it doors-the first brewery to operate in Amana since 1884 and the first micro brewery in Iowa. So the Millstream Brewery was born and so it has come to be recognized as the home of quality brews of rewarding tastes. We start with pure water and the finest malted grains from America’s heartland. We add European varieties of American hops and our own Bavarian yeast. Unlike the big breweries, we can take the time to cold-filter our beer, giving you the clear, crisp, full flavors and resilient, creamy head characteristics of a well-made lager. We are still here in Amana, making beer the way it should be… and we have the awards to back it up. The Schild Brau Amber is an 16 time national award winner, the John’s White Ale has received 9 awards, the German Pilsner has received 4 awards, the Back Road Stout has received 4. For a total of 33 national awards! Visit our brewery in the scenic Amana Colonies. We are located just across from the Woolen Mill in Main Amana. Enjoy the gemutlichkeit of the hospitality room/gift shop and sample our beers and sodas. Viewing windows allow visitors to see the brewing and bottling areas, as well as the fermentation cellar. Then relax and enjoy a beer in our hop-covered biergarten.