X plus 4: October 1, 2011

When we set out to visit 5 Trails Winery, we planned to get there shortly after they opened so we could do our tasting and get back on the road to get to our next stop on the tour… unfortunately, we forgot about the time change. We actually arrived to Paxton an hour too early so we decided to take Jenna out to Lake McConahay since she had never been there before. She was duly impressed by Nebraska’s largest man-made lake (although not too impressed since she grew up near the ocean). When we had killed enough time, we headed back to Paxton to check out what kind of wines the sandhills produced.

The tasting room was located on the main street in Paxton with the actual vineyard located a few miles outside of town. It was a nice open space full of tables and large windows. We were told to pick out a table and the owner brought us glasses while we made our first choices from the wine list written on large black boards hanging on the wall. Jessi and I explained our usual procedure to my mom and Jenna and shared some stories about our other wine stops. We all traded glasses when our wine arrived so we all got to try a lot of different options.

Looking back at my notes, I see that I liked the majority of the wines I tried. I rated their Brianna (no surprise) and Passenger blush, highest but Jessi and I were both rather disappointed with their Edelweiss. For a wine that we generally love, it was a sad discovery. Both Jessi and I agreed that if they had called it anything else, we probably would have enjoyed the light, bubbly wine, but as an Edelweiss, it left more to be desired.

5 Trails Winery was the first place that I was introduced to the Zork. It is cork/cap combo made out of a plastic/rubber type material. To open it, you peel back the tab (like old-style milk jugs) and simply pull it out of the bottle. No corkscrew needed. My corkscrew just shed a tear or two.

Once we had finished our tastings, Jessi and I purchased our glasses, mom and Jenna got a bottle or two, and we tipsily wandered our way across the street to visit Ole’s Steak House for lunch (it’s never a good idea to do a wine tasting on an empty stomach).

Our stop at 5 Trails Winery was a lot of fun. Usually, it’s just Jessi and I but it was fun to have a couple extra people along to offer new perspectives on the wine and new stories to share over a glass or two.

5 Trails Winery Specs:

5 tastings for $5

Food available to enjoy with the wine

Souvenir wine glass for $5