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The Midwest is better known for its flat lands than for its vineyards. Despite this perception, the Chicago and Southern Wisconsin region claims a number of special, award-wining wineries. What's special about Midwest wines, especially wines from this region? Midwest wineries can afford to experiment, because most people would never think of the Midwest as a place for wine. The terrain varies throughout the region from flat land, to bunny hills, to deep slopes.
The knowledgeable wine makers in the region, whose craft goes back generations, create some of the most versatile wines in the States. These wineries produce some exquisite fruity and spicy wines, with amazingly creative and unique flavors.
Chicago
Just outside Chicago, in Roselle, Illinois, Fred Koehler and his wife Lynne turned a passion for creating wines into the Lynfred Winery. Lynfred is the oldest and largest continuously-operated winery in Illinois, founded in 1979. With over 50 varietals, it makes about 25,000 cases a year.
Among Fred's top sellers is the medium-bodied Riesling, which boasts a creamy aroma of tropical fruits like apricot and pineapple, and a hint of apple at the finish. The Heritage Cabernet Sauvignon is a medium- to full-bodied wine that contains all five Bordeaux grapes used to make red wine, and a nice balance of tannins. It starts with a taste of dark berry, cassis, cherries, and toasty oak on the palate, and finishes with a bit of chocolate. Among the fruitier wines in their collection, the medium-bodied Wedding White Wine emits scents of toasted apple and pear, and bursts with apple-like flavor.
Lynfred Winery offers evening tastings and tours through the winery that last about two and a half hours, and daytime tastings and tours lasting around 75 minutes; and if you want to go for just a taste their tasting room is open seven days a week.
Southern Wisconsin
Generally, beer is the first thing a person thinks of when they visit Wisconsin, but the Badger State is quickly becoming as well known for its wines, too. Wisconsin is ranked fourth in the United States for per capita alcohol consumption, so it should be natural for the badgers to become wine connoisseurs.
In Cedarburg, Wisconsin, just a half-hour north of Milwaukee, you'll find the Cedar Creek Winery. Established in 1991 by the Wollersheim family, the wines' unique taste comes from being stored in aged oak barrels in underground limestone cellars.
The Wollersheims are well known in the local wine community for the vast collection of awards they have collected. Their 2005 Pinot Grigiot won Gold in four separate competitions for that year. This classy and fun semi-dry wine has a nice highlight of grapefruit mixed with tropical flavors. The 2004 Syrah features flavors of blackberry, plum, and - surprisingly - grilled sweet red pepper. This wine finishes with a spicy oak flavor, a result of aging in American oak. With hints of juniper berry, it's no surprise that this rich, opaque, deep-purple wine also won Gold.
Tours of Cedar Creek Winery are offered three times daily, last about 45 minutes long, and conclude with a wine tasting. While the tastings are free, there is a small fee for the tour.
Cedar Creek Winery receives its grapes from the Wollersheims' main vineyard, in Prairie Du Sac, a bit northwest of Madison. Situated on 23 acres of land, and established in 1972, this vineyard also feeds the Wollersheim Winery, located nearby. After the death of Bob Wollersheim in 2005, the family sought extra help from their French-born winemaker Philippe Coquard. His vast knowledge of viticulture and winemaking has made their main grape, the Marechal Foch, very versatile. This type of grape is known for its high acidity and berry flavor.
Five wines have been developed on the vineyard. Some of the best among those are the Prairie Red - a chill-able red with a strawberry undertone, that is grown on a flat parcel which allows the taste to evolve into the crisp grapey tone it's known for. The Ruby Nouveau is a dry red with raspberry, black cherry, and banana undertones. The wine is released the same fall the grapes are picked, which together with the uncrushed fermentation, gives the wine a nice fresh taste.
Tours of Wollersheim Winery run hourly on the quarter hour after 10:15 A.M., they last approximately one hour, and conclude with a wine tasting.
Wineries in Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells, Madison
Wineries
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