Hickory Ridge Vineyard & Winery

In the Summer of 1995, the owners of the first three wineries in Southern Illinois, Alto Vineyards, Pomona Winery, and Owl Creek Vineyard recognized that their wineries had untapped tourism potential. With this in mind, they worked together with Debbie Moore, executive director of the Carbondale Convention & Tourism Bureau and Cindy Benefield of Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau, and the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail was born. It was the first wine trail in the state of Illinois.