Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Monday, September 01, 2008

Wineries offer a taste of Wisconsin vineyards

By CHRIS HARDIE | River Valley Newspapers

Would you like a little Wisconsin wine with that cheese?

While corkhead hats are no threat to supplanting cheeseheads, there are more than three dozen wineries in Wisconsin.

Visiting any of them is fun, but it’s a pleasant day trip to experience two of the state’s largest and oldest wineries and vineyards — Woller-sheim Winery near Prairie du Sac and Botham Vineyards near Barneveld. Both have vineyards and have beautiful settings worth the trip.

Wollersheim’s Julie Coquard said in 2000 there were 15 wineries in Wisconsin. Now there are 37, she said.

“There’s a lot of interest in the wine,” Coquard said.

Wollersheim

Wisconsin’s largest winery traces it roots to Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy, who established an estate in the 1840s and planted grapevines on the southern slopes of the Wisconsin River.

Haraszthy soon discovered what Wisconsinites know-all-too-well — our winters get very cold, much too cold for European wine grapes. Haraszthy left in 1849 and moved to California, where he is generally credited for being the father of the California wine industry.

As an interesting side note, Haraszthy did plant the first hops in Wisconsin and the crop prospered, so the count also helped start a beer industry that took a better hold in the state than wine.

Robert and JoAnn Wollersheim bought the former vineyard in 1972, planted winter hardy French-American hybrid grapes and restored the working family winery. Winemaker Philippe Coquard came from France in 1984 and married Bob and JoAnn’s daughter Julie. Bob Wollersheim died in December 2005, but the winery remains in the family under the Coquards. This year Wollersheim will produce about 225,000 gallons of wine.

Julie Coquard said more than 100,000 visitors come each year to visit the hillside vineyards with the picturesque buildings. To better serve those customers, this summer Wollersheim opened a $1.5 million, 15,000 square-foot addition that includes new tasting and shopping areas. There also is an outdoor shelter for picnics or to enjoy a bottle of wine.

The addition was built in the same stone fashion and incorporated the same window style as the original 1858 building. It caps off plans that began under her father, Coquard said.

“We had been thinking about and planning this expansion for years,” Coquard said.

The new tasting area has a barrel-shaped counter with redwood siding and a cork top. A larger meeting room for groups is on the third floor. The former shopping area in the barn has been turned into museum space.

Even though visitors will have a more enjoyable experience at the winery, the focus will remain on the wine, Coquard said. Wollersheim produces 20 different wines. There are five different estate grapes, but production on the 25 acres of vineyards is maxed out, Coquard said.

The mainstay of the vineyards is Marechal Foch, a red variety that is used in five different Wollersheim wines, Coquard said. The grape does well in the Wisconsin River microclimate Wollersheim enjoys. Prairie Blush and Prairie Red come from the young vines on the flat vineyards. Ruby Noveau and Domaine du Sac come from the medium slopes and Domaine Reserve from the steepest slopes and the oldest vines.

The wine Prairie Fume’ — a citrus, semi-dry white — is Wollersheim’s best-selling wine, Coquard said.

Botham Vineyards and Winery

About 25 miles southwest of Wollersheim, Peter Botham also grows Marechal Foch, which is the backbone of his two estate red wines.

Botham planted the first grapes on his family farm in 1989 and made his first wine in 1993. The tasting room opened a year later in a barn that was built in 1904 with oak and limestone that came from the land.

Botham said he is good friends with Philippe Coquard, but he said they have different philosophies on winemaking. Botham said he uses less oak than Coquard in his Foch wines, but admits that the choice is with the consumer.

Botham said Bob Wollersheim was a great resource to helping Botham get established.

“Bob Wollersheim is the father of the Wisconsin wine industry,” Botham said.

Botham expects production this year of about 25,000 gallons or about 10,000 cases, a slight decrease from 2007. He has capacity for up to 50,000 gallons and makes the wine in an outbuilding on the farm. While he has some estate wines, like Wollersheim most of the wine comes from grapes he purchases. Much of those come from the Finger Lakes region of New York State.

Botham’s best-selling wine is Big Stuff Red, an estate-grown, semi-dry red that Botham says appeals to a wide spectrum. The label features a picture of his son Mills when he was 14 months old. His newest wine is Vin X, the 10th label produced at the vineyard.

Botham’s father bought the farm in 1967 and raised registered Herefords along with crops. Botham, who has a history major from the University of Wisconsin and a degree in art from the Maryland Institute of Arts, said he saw viticulture as a chance to combine farming, nature, wine and art. He practiced his skills in northern Maryland before returning home.

Botham pays close attention to the chemistry of winemaking and believes the less you manipulate the grapes the better the wine. “Using the fruit for what it’s good for is the key,” Botham said.

Botham’s approach has earned more than 250 medals in national and international competitions in the past 12 years.

Botham believes the rapid growth in Wisconsin’s wine industry is because the state supports local people who make local products. “I can put grown, produced and bottled by on our own labels,” Botham said. “That is huge. There’s a lot of pride in that.”

If You Go

WollersheimWinery, Prairie du Sac