Where in the World?!?!

Where in the world am I ?!?

So a few folks might know.. but this summer I am in the Black Hills of South Dakota at Prairie Berry Winery for the summer! Once again I have landed in an “I can’t believe it spot”! With, I can’t believe it fellow work campers and job!!

As I type this I am sitting outside the RV looking at Black Elk peak, the highest peak in SD enjoying a lovely breeze and cool 70 temps!

A winery you say… I do say! Funny thing 4 years ago on the maiden adventure of Blazing the KT trail I came to the Black Hills and actually I even came to this winery! And yes I am very aware this is not a National Park, however it is on the circle route of Mount Rushmore, Needles Hwy, Crazy horse, Custer State park, the Badlands and so much more!! So…. It works!! LOL 

The winery got my attention when I was here 4 years ago, so it was exciting when it popped up as a possible opportunity! I have the spiel down pat now so I’ll fill you in! 

Sandi Vojta is our wine maker and owner with her husband Matt. She is 5th generation wine maker as her Great Great grandmother came over from Czechoslovakia in 1876 as part of the homestead act!  You see Great great grandmother, Anna Pesa was very use to making traditional European based wines as women were the wine makers back in the day. However, when she got plopped on the prairies of South Dakota and, well, there were no grapes, she and the children began combing the prairie to find other fruits to make wine with. And find fruit they did, what they found she called prairie berries which is really where we get the name Prairie Berry Winery! While searching the prairie she also picked wild flowers and would bring them back to the sod homestead and press them in her Bible! So fast foward a few years and Ralph, Sandy’s dad had Sandy making wine when she was 4! He loved rhubarb and they paired it with raspberry and eventually honed it to something they thought they could sell!  Humble beginnings in his basement is where it all began!  They decided they would call it The Razzy! They had begun a batch, the rhubarb was in the vat, Sandy asked her dad to add the berry’s and stepped out for a minute. Well he added the berries alright but as soon as he dumped them he realized he had poured in elderberry and not raspberry. He got very embarrassed and got very red in the face at his mistake, when Sandy came back and asked what had happened, well, he really felt like an ass! (his words not mine).  Well that batch of wine was dumped and lost as evidently rhubarb and elderberry is not palatable in the least and they started over. The next batch had the appropriate mix of rhubarb and raspberries and a new name… the Red ass, the flagship wine that started it all! While its a fun story and an eye catching billboard it is much more than that! It is the single most awarded wine of the winery’s over 1000 awards with over 120 national and international awards! Sandy began using recipes from Anna Pesa for fruited wines but she has brought it full circle and has created a wonderful line, the  “Anna Pesa Collection” which in true fashion are your traditional European style wines, dry red and white offerings. A special nod to great grandma includes every label of the collection has a native South Dakota wild flower press as it its label! For that matter, every label of the 18 current wines selections tells a story of family meaning or pays tribute to the area!  Sandy is also incredibly impressive, she is in league of her own really, she is 1 of only a handful of women who make wine at this level in the world, but she further stands apart as she is also the brewmaster for the brewery across our campus as well!

So to put it mildly I am having an incredible summer at work and in the winery campground! I know I know ……how do you find these jobs?!?!?!?

For more on how I find these incredible jobs check out….my post on Really Cool jobs!!