a local Wisconsin winery

I had no idea we had a local winery near the family farm where I grew up. One of the highlights of our WI trip was the TENBA RIDGE WINERY near Blair, Wisconsin. (check out the winery here) For three glorious hours we literally felt tranported to another country. What an amazing experience!



My sister-in-law Debbie made an appointment with the owner John for Randy & I to experience our first wine-tasting and tour of the winery. Sooo interesting! John does not filter his wines and unlike the store-bought wines that take a mere 45 days from start to finish, his wines take over four years! We brought home 2 dry reds, also a cranberry-apple sweet and a blackberry sweet. They are all exceptionally smooth and bursting with flavors. Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about now!!

John has been making wines since 1952 and started this winery in 1989. His children own wineries and vineyards in Sonoma Valley and other parts of the country. What a fascinating man. After the wine tasting and tour we all went out on the veranda with our cheese & crackers and chocolates, sipping wine and taking in the gorgeous countryside.


He does not do any shipping, nor does he sell his wines in any stores and still sells over 15,000 bottles from his winery each year.

So, I can now check off one of the things I wanted to do before it's too late... and that was to go to Napa Valley. This was just as thrilling... truly a delightful surprise! One we will be 'savoring' for a long time.