Prairie Berry Winery & Kitchen

The Prairie Berry story begins with our fifth generation winemaker Sandi Vojta’s great-great-grandmother, Anna Pesä. Before immigrating to the Dakota Territory in 1876, Anna made traditional European wines for our family in Moravia in what is now the Czech Republic.

Anna brought along a few essentials, including her winemaking supplies and the family’s Czech crystal wine glasses. But, when she arrived at her new home near Mound City, she found only prairie berries—chokecherries, buffaloberries, wild plums, and currants—and had to adapt her winemaking traditions to match the landscape.

At that time, winemaking was a means of saving each summer’s bounty to enjoy during the long, cold winter. Life wasn’t always easy, but the family easily found joy in sipping wine from their Czech crystal glasses.

Today, through the Prairie Berry family of businesses, we pay homage to our family’s winemaking history and to the beer-making traditions of the region’s early settlers.

Prairie Berry Winery became South Dakota’s second commercial winery in 1998 and was named after those prairie berries that Anna found growing in Dakota Territory long ago. Sandi handcrafts each wine on-site in the winery’s production area, often using passed down family recipes.

We released our award-winning Anna Pesä wines in late 2014. These are handcrafted traditional European wines that connect the beauty and heritage of our family’s past with the possibilities of today.

Many things have changed since the Prairie Berry family first settled in Dakota Territory, but not everything. We’re still handcrafting wines and craft beers following passed-down family and regional recipes and we’re still taking time to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.