It all starts with the first cork-May 9th, 2011

Our Nebraska Wine Tour Journey began with an impromptu trip to Lincoln on my part.
The stars managed to align just right to give me two days off of work in a row so I thought a trip to visit Jessi was the perfect way to spend my free time. It was her idea to use this fortuitous gift for the beginning of our epic wine quest. She got online to check out the passport and places that were close enough that could visit more than one in a shot. We plotted our path and set out.
The first stop on our journey was the From Nebraska Gift Shop. Neither of us really knew what to expect from a tasting room since we had only been to a few vineyards before. We walked in and I think the lady behind the counter could sense our trepidation because she left us to our own devices after greeting us. Maybe it was because we looked like two college students who were just window shopping in the Haymarket, but once we let our desire to begin the wine tour known, she was wonderful to talk to. She gave us the list of Nebraska wines we could try, let us pick out the ones we wanted to try, and offered her opinions on the wines offered. She also told us about some of the local vineyards and some of the events that they offered during the summer.
Jessi and I also told her about some of the vineyards that we planned on visiting during our two days and she gave us some great advice to make our quest more efficient.
After our tastings, we wondered willy-nilly through the rest of the shop checking out the products that they sell that were all (mostly) made in Nebraska. One in particular caught my eye. A tin wine bottle holder that looked like a medieval knight. There was no way I could pass that up ($17? are you kidding me?!) and he became our unofficial mascot for the wine tour. Sir Drunkalot now sits atop my bookcase, guarding our journey from afar.
The first stop on our tour was fun and we could not help but think that it was a good omen for the rest of our tour... and thus far, we have not been proven wrong.

From Nebraska Gift Shop Specs:
6 tastings for $5
Huge selection of Nebraska Wines including wine gift packages with glasses (they even ship!)
Fun wine related accessories including wine glasses, corkscrews, wine glass charms, wine racks, and more!