Stone Cliff Winery

Stone Cliff Winery is a wine producer based out of the Dubuque County, Iowa community of Durango. The winery is about 10 miles north of Dubuque, Iowa on U.S. Highway 52. The company was founded in 1996 by Bob and Nan Smith. In 2005, the company produced approximately 55,000 bottles of wine.

History

On the night of June 30 and the morning of July 1, 2005 "Stone Cliff Winery" was vandalized when a person or a group of people used pruners to cut away a number of vines. The damage was estimated to have cost the company about $10,000. A reward was put up by the Smith family. Police also had several leads at one time, but those leads did not pan out, and the case still remains unsolved.

Stone Cliff again made news on March 23, 2006 when it was announced that it had signed an agreement with Ports of Dubuque LLC to lease a 10,000 square feet section of the Dubuque Star Brewery. This agreement is contingent with Ports of Dubuque LLC and the city of Dubuque, Iowa coming to a development agreement concerning the brewery, which the city currently owns. Stone Cliff attempted to purchase the brewery in 1998, but the building was part of an ownership dispute at the time - which was resolved when the city used eminent domain to acquire the building. If Ports of Dubuque and the city are able to come to agreement, Stone Cliff intends to use the space for a tasting room and to help expand production.