The Riverhouse: Ambiance at new winery not hard to find

SCOTT CITY -- There aren't many places where people can sit along the Mississippi River and watch the trains and barges go by, with eagles flying overhead all while having a glass of wine. Unless you are visiting The Riverhouse.

The Riverhouse is a new winery and restaurant found at the end of Route N in Scott City. The building is at the end of a gravel road where Route N ends and sits alone overlooking the Mississippi.

Owned by Derek and Debbie Wilson, and ran by their children Whitney and Lauren, the winery has a wraparound porch with outside seating allowing visitors to view the barges going by and the history that surrounds the business.

Patrons to The Riverhouse can sit inside with their bottle of wine and look out over the Mississippi River. (David Jenkins, Staff)

Patrons to The Riverhouse can sit inside with their bottle of wine and look out over the Mississippi River. (David Jenkins, Staff)

"We are mighty proud of the fact there is a lot of history here," said Derek Wilson. "It still amazes me Lewis and Clark floated down this little stretch of river here and camped somewhere right in this vicinity."

The Thebes Courthouse in Alexander County, Ill., where legend says Abraham Lincoln practiced law and where Dred Scott was rumored to have been housed at one time, can be seen across the river. Besides the courthouse, patrons can see trains traveling over the Mississippi by bridge.

"The old railroad bridge was built in 1905 and it is still being used by trains today, 110 years later," Wilson said. "An average of one every 11 minutes goes across the train tracks."

There is also an eagle nest nearby and the majestic birds fly over four or five times a day, Wilson said.

The Wilsons bought over 200 acres in 2005 and began a subdivision before starting on the winery about three years ago. The ground for the building had to be built up and now sits three feet higher than the historical high flood mark of 46 feet. Once that was completed the building was constructed and the winery opened seven weekends ago.

"We plan on expanding and putting something down on the riverfront in the next year or two so people will have a place to go sit down on the river's edge whenever it is not flooding," Wilson said.

The view is also good from the inside seating, where Wilson put plenty of personal touches when building. The cypress wood came from Cape Girardeau and the main table called "The Harvest Table" was made locally as well.

"The mantle on the bar was refurbished from an old building we tore down in Charleston," Wilson said while the bar was built from hand locally.

The Riverhouse has more than just ambiance with many different types of wines, including a semi-sweet red wine and a semi-sweet white wine that was bottled locally.

"We went over there and told them how we wanted it blended and Whitney, my son and I, went over there and bottled it, put on the label, put the cork in and seal on the top and put it in the boxes with their help," Wilson said. "We are pretty proud of that."

The Wilsons plan to add some grapes and construct a building to produce their own wine in the future.

Besides the in-house wines, the winery offers selections from around the country.

"One of the things we wanted to do was not just have our wines but wines from all over the country because there are a lot of good wines in California, Washington and Oregon," Wilson said.

The Riverhouse also has six different craft beers and three domestic beers as well as a full menu.

"We have appetizers, sandwiches, salads, pizza and desserts," said Debbie Wilson. "We also have live music on the weekends."

The Riverhouse is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and the plan is to keep those hours even as the weather cools, with the possibility of enclosing the outdoor seating and adding heaters.

For more information, The Riverhouse can be found on Facebook.