Wine Festival

by Jim Obert

Bring lawn chairs and blankets

Savor the fruits of the vines at Alto Vineyards in the picturesque town of Alto Pass in Southern Illinois. The vineyard is on Highway 127 south of Murphysboro and north of Jonesboro.

The annual Spring Wine Festival will be held Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 9. On Saturday, Carter & Connelley will provide music from 1-6 p.m. On Sunday, St. Stephen's Blues will entertain from 1-6 p.m.

Festival-goers will also enjoy seafood specialties such as jambalaya, catfish dinners and catfish sandwiches with hushpuppies and slaw. Hickory Creek BBQ and Catering will provide baby back ribs, and barbecue chicken and pork sandwiches.

It's a short drive to Alto Vineyards where you can taste some of the finest wines produced in the United States. The family-owned winery and vineyard are located in the foothills of the beautiful Shawnee National Forest, and a second retail wine shop and tasting room opened in Champaign, Ill., in December 2001.

Beginning with the first vintage in 1988, the wines have won more than 300 medals in national and international competitions. Alto Vineyards offers a wide array of premium wines that compare favorably to any other wine in the world.

Alto Vineyards boasts seven grape varieties in a 10-acre vineyard and currently produces 25,000 gallons of wine a year. The wines can be found in retail shops throughout southern and central Illinois. The wines are made from American and French-American hybrid grapes, harvested from the local vineyard or from select vineyards in the Midwest. There are wines to please all palates -- from dry to sweet.

Alto's premium dry wines and ports, which are aged in small oak barrels for up to 18 months, have gained recognition as some of the finest in the country. The wines have won over 300 medals in international competitions in the past nine years. Most notably, the Chambourcin has won over 15 gold metals in international and national wine competitions since 1989.

You'll enjoy the tasting rooms where you can sample a wide assortment of locally-produced wines. Then browse through the gift shops that feature regional art and crafts, gourmet food, gift baskets, tee-shirts and wine-related items.