Stone Cliff Winery sits in the fertile hills of eastern Iowa, near Dubuque. It's where the winery's owner, Nan Smith, grew up, and the place where she and her husband decided to buy a farm and raise their daughters. But their original thoughts of conventional farming turned to winemaking; so in 1996, they planted their first 2,000 grapevines on the property, and the winery has been thriving ever since.

Today, the Smiths and their team craft wines ranging from classic cabernet sauvignon to a fruity apple-cranberry wine. Customers can even adorn the bottles with personalized labels to commemorate a special occasion. And patrons don't have to climb Dubuque's hills to sample the winery's vintages—they can visit the tasting room in the historical Star brewery building, on the banks of the Mississippi River.