3-5-16

Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac is our favorite winery. Our last visit was in June 2013 so it was time go back to see the latest developments. The open house is only once a year, and you get to take a self-guided tour, going into areas that you normally wouldn’t see.   The biggest development since our last visit, the new Distillery building. It was built in 2015. The winery has now expanded to include brandy in its offerings and the new building makes this possible. This building was part of our tour too.

Our tour began in the main building, we arrived just before they opened so we joined the first group.  We were never here in the winter before and it looked quite pretty.

We began our tour upstairs, at stop #1 you could try a sample of one of their most popular wines, Prairie Fumé.

There is also a cow painted with winery scenes, cute!

We then walked outside and around to the back of the main building where Station #4 was located, the Fermentation Room.  Another wine sampling station is located here.  Our first time inside this room, the size of the tanks were amazing!

The Big Room (#6) is accessed through a door on the left.

And it is big, we felt small as mice next to these fermenting tanks.

We also got a look at the Still House where they make their fine brandies. Such beautiful copper.  This is a Vendome Still, made in Kentucky.  They can also make Gin with these stills.  A photo-op with this still was a must!

Here is the “Little Pot”, looks a little like BB8  from Star Wars, The Force Awakens  🙂

The Bottling Room was mesmerising, very interesting to see how the bottles are filled.

The Grainery and Mill Room, where the unprocessed grains are stored.

We finished our tour in the upper floor of the Distillery building, the windows offer a panoramic view of the whole winery, including a patio to enjoy in the summer.

Be sure to go to the wine cave. Information boards show the history of the winery going all the way back to the 1800’s.  There are also some early artifacts in the back of the cave.

A great tour was had by all,  we toast you to an exciting future!