http://www.lavendercrest.com/In planning a trip, I found that we'd be passing a winery so we plotted it out that we'd stop here for lunch. This winery is western Illinois right outside the Quad Cities – Moline and Davenport being the most well known.
The winery is set up with a browsing area right when you walk in, a tasting bar to the left, and a restaurant straight ahead. The menu is mainly sandwiches and they do have recommended pairings.
The woman working the bar was the type who didn't seem to be thrilled with someone writings notes, so my apologies for these being somewhat useless.
Ritt's Reserve: plum and garbage on the nose. Light bodied, funky, earthy, decent acid, tart cherry, and spices – bay leaf perhaps. Somewhat Italian in style.
Colona Red: this wine both smelled and tasted sweet and grapey. There were some reasonable tannins and acid that gave it some balance but overall, blah.
Miche Sepi: black cherries were all over this one – I don't have better notes but I did buy a bottle so look for that in a while.
Catch of the Day: I found this light and crisp but the finish totally ruined it with a very woody quality – something some people may like.
Sweet Temptation: somewhat like a moscato, sweet and just a tad short on acid, though still fine.
There you have it. To me, Lavender Crest is certainly worth a visit if you're driving through the area or if you live within a reasonable distance. The sandwiches we had were quite good and the facility is very nice. The winery opened in 2004 and I feel it shows promise. The wines are not stellar – but that's something that should come with time. If you're driving along I-80 then you should definitely pull off and drop in.
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