Wisconsin wine

Wisconsin wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin shares acreage of the nation's largest American Viticultural Area (AVA), the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA, that encompasses southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and northwest Illinois. The state also entirely contains two established viticultural areas, the Lake Wisconsin AVA and the Wisconsin Ledge AVA.^[1]

Wisconsin

Wine region
Official name	State of Wisconsin
Type	U.S. State Appellation[1]
Year established	1848
Country	United States
Sub-regions	Lake Wisconsin AVA, Wisconsin Ledge AVA, Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA
Climate region	Continental
Total area	54,158 square miles (34,661,120 acres)[2]
Grapes produced	Baco noir, Chardonnay, Concord, Frontenac, Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Seyval blanc, St. Croix[1]
No. of wineries	60

The Wisconsin Winery Association is a statewide organization that promotes wine making in the state.

History

The first wine grapes were planted in Wisconsin by Agoston Haraszthy in the mid-19th century. Before he migrated to California and helped to found the wine industry there, he established a vineyard, winery and wine cellars overlooking the Wisconsin River at what is today the Wollersheim Winery near Prairie du Sac. Although Haraszthy found the climate of Wisconsin difficult for wine grape production, later German settlers produced wine using both European and native American grape varieties.^[3]

The first modern winery in Wisconsin, the von Stiehl Winery in Algoma, opened in 1967.^[4] Today over 110 wineries have commercial operations in Wisconsin, with most making wines from other fruits in addition to grapes.^[5] Some Wisconsin wineries rely upon vineyards in other states for all or part of their grape sources.

The first annual professional wine competition in Wisconsin was held at the Wisconsin State Fair in 2011.^[3]

See also

• American wine
• Lake Wisconsin AVA
• Upper Mississippi Valley AVA
• Wisconsin Ledge AVA