Omaha Exploration

Nebraska had a history of being a pretty good place for growing grapes and wine making in the years before prohibition. Like the brewing industry, the onset of prohibition killed the commercial wine industry in Nebraska for decades even after it was repealed. Fast forward a half century and in the 1980s the Nebraska Legislature passed the Nebraska Farm Winery Act allowing farm wineries to operate in the state.

In 1985 Ed and Holly Swanson planted vines at Cuthills Vineyards in Pierce, Nebraska. They opened the doors to Nebraska’s first post prohibition winery in 1994. Its award winning wines could be tasted in a restored 1927 dairy barn that was surrounded by seven acres of vineyards.

Omaha’s second winery and currently its oldest after Cuthills closed was started by James Arthur Jeffers. James owned Quality Pork International, an Omaha deli meat manufacturing plant before selling it and starting Lincoln Aviation Sales. 

In 1992 he bought a few hundred acres of land near Raymond for his family to enjoy. He first planted apples but came to the realization that there were too many apple orchards in the area. He then planted 100 vines on the land as a hobby at the suggestion of his son-in-law Jim Ballard in 1994. Once they discovered the vines were still alive after the winter, they planted several hundred more. 

They planted test plots with French-American hybrid vines, consulted with the state’s only other vineyard at Cuthills in addition to grape growers in Missouri. James attended seminars at Michigan State University and purchased modern wine making equipment. Lastly he hired an expert winemaker, Tim Davis, from the University of California – Davis. James Arthur Vineyards was officially established in 1996 and opened its doors as Nebraska’s second winery in 1997.  

Among its first Nebraska wines were Pommay – a fruit-infused semi sweet honey wine made with 80% honey wine and 20% apple wine, Exquis – a fruity semi sweet wine blended with cherries and Rock Bluff White – an informal semi dry white wine with touches of floral, spices and apricots. Its 2009 Vignoles was named the best white wine at the Monterey Wine Competition in Napa Valley as well as the best-of-show prize at the Florida State Fair International Wine and Grape Juice Competition. In 2014 its Sweet Charlotte was named best American hybrid at Monterey. In 2012 James Arthur received the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association’s highest honor, the NWGGA Pioneer Award.

James Arthur Jeffers, the founder of the winery that bears his name passed away in 2021. Today his daughter Barb and son-in-law Jim continue to operate James Arthur Vineyards. It is the state’s oldest and largest wine producer with 32 varieties using grapes grown on its property and from other producers around the state. They have since added apples and other fruits, a line of hard ciders called Curveball and opened a tasting room in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District at 8th and Q Streets.

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