What Prairie State Winery does

Prairie State Winery is a privately held craft winery, distillery, and tasting room operator founded in 1998 by former high school teachers Rick and Maria Mamoser in Genoa, Illinois. The company produces 35+ wine varieties made primarily from 100% Illinois-grown grapes bred for Midwest climates, with select wines co-fermented using California-grown varietals and flavored with natural ingredients such as ginger, key lime, elderberries, orange oil, and local honey. Beyond winemaking, the business operates an on-site distillery producing Barrel Proof Brandy, Apple Brandy, and Gin, and since 2016 has run a Wednesday-through-Sunday kitchen serving shareables, paninis, flatbreads, and desserts. The company has accumulated 3 Best of Shows, 4 Governor's Cups, and numerous Best of Class and Gold Medal awards across multiple vintages.

Revenue is generated across six streams: paid wine tastings (7 samples for $9) and wine flights (4 half-glasses for $19), bottle and spirits sales at the tasting room, handcrafted cocktails ($8-$9), on-site kitchen service, and a tiered quarterly Wine Club subscription priced at $45-$75 per quarter with Illinois-only shipping at $19.98 per box. Distribution extends beyond the Genoa tasting room through online ordering for in-store pickup and a network of 11+ Illinois retail partners including Hy-Vee Sycamore, Lundeens, multiple Liquor & Wine stores, One Eleven Wine Bar, and farm-and-grocer locations. The customer base consists of two segments: wine enthusiasts and foodies visiting the Genoa tasting room for tastings, dining, and events, and Illinois retail consumers purchasing through partner storefronts.

The business operates as a small, founder-owned craft producer with 5 employees, a single physical location, and full concentration within Illinois. The broader Illinois wine industry has expanded from 16 wineries at Prairie State's founding to over 100 today, positioning the company as a long-tenured participant in a regional category rather than a national or venture-scale operator. The founders remain involved, with a manager (Rob) handling wine-club operations, and the company has no disclosed external investors, M&A activity, or geographic expansion outside Illinois.

Name

Prairie State Winery

Legal name

Prairie State Winery

Website

https://prairiestatewinery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Prairie State Winery is a privately held Illinois craft winery founded in 1998 that produces 35+ wines from Midwest-grown grapes, distills brandy and gin, and operates a Genoa tasting room, on-site kitchen, and quarterly wine club subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Genoa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Wine Sales: Direct sales of wines produced at the winery, including 35+ different wines, sold by the bottle at the tasting room and through online orders for in-store pickup.
2. Wine Club Membership: Quarterly subscription program with three tiers (Sweet/Semi-Sweet $45-$50, Mix-It-Up $55-$65, Dry/Semi-Dry $65-$75 per quarter) offering 10% off bottles, 20% off cases, complimentary tastings, and access to member lounge and exclusive events. Shipping available within Illinois for $19.98 per box.
3. Spirits Sales: Sales of distilled spirits including Barrel Proof Brandy, Apple Brandy, and Gin.
4. Kitchen/Food Service: On-site kitchen open Wednesday-Sunday serving shareables, paninis, flatbreads, and desserts. Kitchen closes one hour before the store.
5. Wine Tastings and Flights: Wine tastings at the bar include 7 samples for $9 (purchase of 4 bottles waives the tasting fee). Wine flights are a series of 4 half glasses for $19.
6. Cocktail Sales: Handcrafted cocktails including signature drinks like Moonvine, Moonshine Sour, White Lightning Fashioned, and various Brandy and Gin cocktails priced at $8-$9.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Prairie State Winery is a craft winery and distillery that produces 35+ wines from Illinois-grown grapes co-fermented with California varietals, and distills Barrel Proof Brandy, Apple Brandy, and Gin. The company sells these products through its Genoa, Illinois tasting room, an on-site kitchen and cocktail program, a three-tier quarterly wine club, and wholesale distribution to independent Illinois retailers.

Product overview

Prairie State Winery operates as a unified winery and distillery with a portfolio of wines, spirits, food service, and experiential offerings. The core products are the wines (35+ varieties spanning dry reds, sweet, semi-sweet, semi-dry, and mix-it-up styles) and distilled spirits (Barrel Proof Brandy, Apple Brandy, Gin). The Wine Club membership adds a recurring subscription tier delivering quarterly three-bottle releases. Food and cocktail offerings (Kitchen Menu, Cocktail Menu) extend the customer experience, while wine tastings/flights and the wine garden with Music in the Garden events provide experiential engagement. The company has won multiple awards including 3 Best of Shows and 4 Governor's Cups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wines Portfolio of 35+ wines spanning dry reds, sweet, semi-sweet, semi-dry, and mix-it-up styles, crafted from 100% Illinois-grown grapes co-fermented with California varietals and flavored with natural ingredients such as ginger, key lime, elderberries, orange oil, and local honey. Sold by the bottle at the Genoa tasting room and through wholesale distribution to Illinois retail accounts.
• Spirits On-site distilled spirits including Barrel Proof Brandy, Apple Brandy, and Gin, produced and bottled at the Genoa facility and sold at the tasting room.
• Wine Club Membership Quarterly wine club subscription delivering three hand-selected bottles per release (February, May, August, November) with three tiers (Sweet/Semi-Sweet $45-$50, Mix-It-Up $55-$65, Dry/Semi-Dry $65-$75 per quarter). Members receive complimentary 5-sample tastings, 10% off wine by bottle, 20% off cases, 10% off merchandise and food, access to the Members Lounge, and invitations to exclusive events. Shipping within Illinois is available for $19.98 per box.
• Kitchen Menu On-site full-service kitchen menu featuring shareables ($6-$19), paninis ($19), flatbreads ($17), and desserts ($6), open Wednesday-Sunday and closing one hour before the store. Items include Mediterranean Hummus, Brown Sugar Ham Sliders, Seasonal Cheese Tray, Turkey Pastrami Panini, Raspberry Calabrian Chicken Panini, Tuscan Turkey Panini, Bruschetta and Burrata Flatbread, Sausage Rustica Flatbread, and Chicken Artichoke Flatbread.
• Cocktail Menu

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lynfred Winery: One of Illinois's oldest wineries (founded 1975) with tasting rooms and a wine club; comparable to Prairie State as a multi-generational Illinois winery with a tasting room and recurring wine club revenue.
• Galena Cellars Vineyard & Winery: Illinois-based family winery with multiple tasting rooms producing estate-grown wines; directly comparable to Prairie State as a regional Illinois winery competing for DTC tasting room visits, wine club members, and Illinois retail shelf space.
• Wollersheim Winery: Wisconsin-based winery with a large tasting room, wine club, and on-site distillery; directly comparable to Prairie State on producer + tasting room + distillery + wine club model in the upper Midwest.
• St. Julian Winery: Michigan's largest and oldest winery producing still and sparkling wines, brandies, and spirits; comparable to Prairie State on Midwest producer + brandy/spirits diversification model.
• August Hill Winery: Illinois winery in Utica with a tasting room and wine club; comparable in scale, Illinois geography, DTC model, and reliance on regional retail distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants: Multi-location winery-restaurant chain combining on-site winemaking, full-service dining, and a large wine club; comparable business model to Prairie State but at materially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Others

• Illinois Wine (industry association): Industry association representing Illinois wineries; not a direct competitor but a relevant ecosystem participant that Prairie State would engage with for distribution, marketing, and competitive benchmarking.

Regional players

• Door 44 Winery: Wisconsin winery using cold-hardy Midwest grapes with a tasting room and wine club; comparable to Prairie State on Midwest grape sourcing and DTC tasting room model, though operating in a different state.
• Von Jakob Vineyard: Southern Illinois winery with tasting room, bistro, and event programming; comparable to Prairie State on combined wine + food + events model, though operating in a different Illinois region.

Emerging players

• Blackberry Farm Winery: Smaller-scale Midwest winery with fruit-forward wines and a tasting room; partial overlap with Prairie State on regional DTC wine positioning and use of local fruit in winemaking.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Prairie-State-Winery
• Instagraminstagram.com/prairie.state.winery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prairie-state-winery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prairie State Winery