Know Nebraska: Feather River Vineyards in North Platte, Nebraska

Feather River Vineyards is a gem located in the beautiful Loess canyons south of North Platte. North Platte is a large trade-center for central Nebraska. The community is holding steady in population, showing 24,733 in 2010, with the 2015 estimate at 24, 194. It does face its challenges, but with a large regional medical center, community college, Union Pacific Railroad's Bailey Yard and the Wal-Mart Distribution Center as major employers, it has a good base to build upon.

Feather River is one of Nebraska's largest vineyards with 37 acres under cultivation. The first vines were planted in 2001, with the variety of grapes including Edelwiess, Seyval, Reisling, LaCrosse, St Pipen, Marechal Foch, Frontanec, St. Croix,  and Marguette. The owners, Jeff and Connie Brittan are very hands on - Dr. Brittan when he has the chance, and Connie acting as the wine maker. Jeff is an acclaimed stained glass artist, and you will find displays of his art in the tasting room, as well as used on the wine labels.

Since 2010, their wines have consistently won awards from competitions all across the country.

They have a wonderful, cozy tasting room that overlooks their harvesting, aging and bottling floor. The employees are longtime family friends who know their wines intimately and are more than willing to share their knowledge, as well as their warm regard for the owners and the business they are running.

Of course, in addition to their regular hours for wine tasting and purchase, they host regular special events, are open to group tours and is a wonderful site for weddings, receptions and all kinds of celebrations.

When you go: The address is  5700 East State Farm Rd., North Platte, NE 69101. It is just south and east of North Platte with good signage at the entrance off of State Farm Road. Check their website or their Facebook page for their regular hours. You can call (308)696-0078 or email info@feather-river.com for more information.