James Arthur is where Nebraska wine started — established 1996, opened to the public in 1997, the state’s second winery and now its oldest operating one. The Ballard family built it on 400 acres of rolling hills and prairie grassland north of Lincoln, and nearly three decades later it’s still family-run, still the benchmark.
The range is the story: dry reds to the famously sweet Edelweiss (a Jefferson Cup winner featured in Wine Spectator), plus hard ciders — Nebraska’s first — and port-style wines. Then there’s the programming: world-famous murder mysteries, summer and fall music series, haunted hayrack rides, cabaret nights. Few wineries anywhere work this hard at the experience.
The From Nebraska tasting room at 8th & Q in the Haymarket brings the wines downtown, but the Raymond vineyard is the pilgrimage. Go for the wine; stay for the grounds.