Sleepy Creek Vineyard

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Sometimes, you find something interesting, worth visit in the most unexpected place.

By chance, I found this winery. (I was reading local newspaper and saw the vineyard's event calendar). Sleepy Creek is located between Champaign and Danville, IL. Basically, I called this region, the cornfield country. A vineyard in East Central Illinois? I got to check it out to fulfill my own curiosity.

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, I visited Sleepy Creek. It is a small but charming vineyard. The drive way lead me to a barn, which is the tasting room. I was the only guest when I arrived. The staff was very friendly and eager to show me their specialties. Unfortunately, several of their wines were already sold out due to popular demand. I tasted 3 wines:

Sour Puss: A dry white wine with flavor of citrus and apricots. I think the name is quite misleading. This wine was named after one of the cats in the vineyard.

Bull Headed: A dry red wine with hint of oak

Henpecked: A semi-sweet red wine with flavors described as “cherries and chocolate”.

They also served wine slush made with Henpecked, the best for a lazy hot Sat afternoon 😊

After wine tasting, I wandered around in the vineyards with a glass of wine slush. The vineyard was having a special art exhibit, "Spectacle" (individually designed scarecrows). I found Bill and Hillary standing in the middle of the vineyard (check out the photos) alone with some other scary, funny looking creatures. According to the staff, these scarecrows actually help disperse flocks of birds that can do lots of damages. To me, these scarecrows were functional, artistic and humorous.

Seven types of grapes grow in this vineyard. Of course, to me, they all look the same. The coming up weekend is the harvest. I was there in a perfect time to witness these grapes delicately hang on the vines. Vineyard always conjures up such a romantic feeling. Perhaps, that is just the natural effect of wine or perhaps because "A Walk in the Clouds" is one of my favorite movies.

Before I left Sleepy Creek, I bought two bottles of wine since this is the only place you can purchase their wines.

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Comments

[Rob_n_Lorenza]

the wine slush looks good on a warm day!

[Wendy Whipple]

former local
I grew up in cornfield country, about 15 minutes from where you sipped that wine. I, too, was surprised by a winery in the area where I once lived. I also found the place to be utterly charming, with the art gallery in the barn loft and very tasty wines (I sampled the Bashful Ewe slush - outstanding!). I was there for the 1st annual Salt Fork River Art Festival, the owners believe strongly in area conservation, and am participating in the 2nd annual. Please, everyone, take the time to visit this small local winery - you won't be sorry!