Creekside Vineyard Inn and Tasting Terrace – a dream realized
On a hosted trip to the Quad Cities, I had a chance to check out Creekside Vineyard Inn and Tasting Terrace and Tasting Room. The vineyard and inn are located in the beautiful countryside outside of Coal City, Illinois.
It all began with a dream. Jennifer Mital and her husband John Mital wanted to open a vineyard and John’s parents Don and Bev wanted to open an inn. Sounds simple enough, but how many of us think up an idea then follow through on it?
Jennifer and her husband John, a microbiologist were living in the St. Louis area where they settled to be near vineyards. One day John came home and told his wife that he wanted to make wine, but not just as in a hobby, but as in a living.
Jennifer was working on her Masters to become a teacher. On top of all that, they had a toddler, but this didn’t stop them from following their dream. Today you can stay at the Creekside Vineyard Inn, take a wonderful view of the vines and taste their delightful wine! They pursued their dream in 2006 and the first wine was released in the fall of 2011.
“We were in St. Louis when Don and Bev, Jobn’s parents said they were looking for land,” Jennifer said about how everything came together.
The land at that time was just pasture ground and they began working the land with a 1930 8N Ford owned by Don. “When we started, there was no barn or building, we prepped the vineyard then first built the barn.”
Bev had owned a health care business and sold it and then they built the inn. With beautifully attired rooms upstairs and wine on the terrace from October to May, this is a wonderful getaway for people of all ages. “We have four rooms, each room has a desk and TV. There is also an outdoor hot tub. We offer a spa, golf and ski package,” Jennifer said.
The Mitals were not done, after building the inn and planting grapes, they then opened a tasting room in a nearby town. “Ten minutes away we have a 1940s building that was a service station and family diner. We opened a wine tasting room in 2015.”
Creekside Vineyard Tasting room is located in the small town of Preemption. “The town got its name before there were land rights by squatting rights,” Jennifer explained.
With the inn and wine on the terrace plus the tasting room, visitors have a choice of where to enjoy Creekside Vineyards wines. They partner with Parker Vineyards where there is a 100 year old restored barn. Often wedddings and events take place there and Creekside supplies the wine.
The wines they offer are all from Illinois grapes except for one. John Mital took to winemaking like a duck to water. When she is not teaching, Jennifer serves as the marketing guru and provided my daughter Allie to a tour of this wonderful vineyard, inn and tasting room. We loved the light taste, Moonbeam was my own personal favorite.
To learn more about this wonderful place, log onto www.creeksidevineyards.com.
