CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (KOLN) – Prairie Creek Vineyard & Winery has become a destination in Central City, evolving from a family farm into a thriving business that draws visitors from across the region.
Owner Nick Ryan originally hoped to return home to farm after college, but the family operation wasn’t large enough to support two households.
At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he met viticulture professor Dr. Paul Read, who introduced him to grape growing. Ryan established Prairie Creek Vineyard in 2003, initially planning to sell grapes to other wineries.
“It didn’t take a whole lot of land, or a whole lot of water. That’s what we didn’t have, was land and water, so I started growing grapes,” Ryan said.
After several years of grape growing, the family opened the winery in 2007. For its first decade, the business operated from a small building near the farm and vineyard.
A decade in, the family moved the tasting room into Central City along Highway 30 and added a restaurant component.
“We came to realize we don’t have the natural tourism in Nebraska where people are going to go out and go wine tasting on a regular basis,” Ryan said. “We knew we needed a second reason to come and visit the winery, and so wine and food is a good marriage.”
Katie Benner oversees tasting room operations: wine tastings, wine club management, staff support and off-site events.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Benner said. “So, basically wine tastings, wine club management, making sure our team has the right things they need to succeed, and a lot of off-site events.”
The restaurant features a focused menu with ribeye steak, sirloin and salmon, plus burgers and mac and cheese. The salmon, served with stone-ground mustard and sweet onion cream sauce, has been quite popular.
“The salmon has been our best seller from day one, right here in the middle of Nebraska,” Ryan said.
The business emphasizes local products and has attracted customers from Kansas City, Omaha and Lincoln for wine club memberships.
“What really surprised us was how far people were willing to travel,” Ryan said.
The tasting room occupies a building with a varied past.
“It was the creamery in Central City; it was random in the 1950s and 1960s, but when I was growing up, it was our local sports spa,” Ryan said.
Today, the winery serves as a downtown anchor, showcasing the potential of rural Nebraska attractions.
“Don’t be shocked by how many great things are in rural Nebraska,” Ryan said. “We can compete quite well with the urban towns.”
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Dining and Cooking