Blue Dog Wine Co. Thrives in Rural Linn County
Behind every good business name is a story. For Blue Dog Wine Co. in rural Linn County, it's a personal one.
in 2019 at their property north of Mound City.
"If you're a dog person, you know there's that one dog that no other dog can compare to, right?" asks owner Sarah Johnson. "Well, that's our blue dog – that’s where the name stems from."
Sarah moved from Canada to the region in 2004, eventually settling with her husband Tracy on 25 wooded acres between Mound City and LaCygne on Heartland’s lines. She'd been teaching high school special education when she discovered she had celiac disease.
Beer was off the table. Wine wasn't.
Sarah began experimenting with winemaking and discovered a knack for it. She began laying groundwork to turn her new hobby into a business in 2019, and by 2020 had converted a 16-by-24-foot shed on their property into a production space with picnic tables out front.
"Ground up, sweat equity, savings account is what started it," she says.
When the pandemic hit and Governor Kelly sent students home, Sarah decided to walk away from teaching and kick her wine operation into high gear. The outdoor, reservation-only setup was a natural fit for the times.
"Everything was outside, and so it gave people a safe place to meet up with their friends," she says.
With youth sports and community events on hold, early customers had the time to discover something new – and they liked what they found. What started with six wines has grown into 16 varieties — small-batch, hand-bottled, hand-labeled, hand-corked.
Blue Dog wines are now carried in about 30 liquor stores across the region and have taken home competition awards. But prestige isn't the point.
"We are your everyday wine," Sarah says. "You have a day, you go home, you're like, 'I'm going to grab a bottle of Blue Dog.' That's what we are."
In a major expansion of the business, Sarah opened The Coyote Tasting Room at 509 Main Street in Mound City in January 2023.
The Coyote isn't a bar — it closes by nine. Events include trivia, bingo, and live music, with wood-fired pizzas and charcuterie boards on the menu.
“We want to provide an elevated experience for our local community and draw from Johnson County and bring down to try to help grow Mound City,” Sarah says. “Anytime any of us local businesses can pull outsiders in, it helps all of us.”
It's the same instinct that drives everything at Blue Dog.
"We are stronger as members together than we are individually apart from each other," she says. "Same thing with the co-op."
In the summer months, Sarah says she makes conscious choices to shift or reduce energy use on Peak Days when she can.
"I love the incentive to make better choices," she says. "That's the purpose — to save everybody money."
Blue Dog Wine Co.'s Coyote Tasting Room is open Fridays and Saturdays in Mound City. For more information, find them on Facebook or online at www.bluedogwineco.com.