Posts Tagged ‘Wisconsin winery’

On a recent trip to Milwaukee to visit my BFF, we took a 25 minute ride outside of the city to Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Cedarburg’s historic town center has a main street lined with quaint shops at the end of which is the Cedar Creek Winery.  We joined a group of about 20 people for a guided tour.  A very engaging tour guide shared the history of the winery and guided us through a tasting of Cedar Creek’s white and blush wines.

Vintage cask used by the Winery in its early days

More than the wine, the story of the winery made an impression on me.  In 1972, Cedar Creek Winery was founded by a young man with a love for wine and a dream.   Jim Pape bought an old dilapidated building (formerly a wool mill) and turned it into Cedar Creek Winery.  Although the wool mill was abandoned in 1969 and soon to meet the fate of a wrecking ball, Jim had the vision to see that it was the perfect site for a winery.  The building was built in 1864 and had a great basement with super thick walls that maintained a constant cool temperature—perfect for a wine cellar.  At the age of 29, Jim and his wife, Sandra, turned the dilapidated and badly vandalized building into what is now a lovely winery.  The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

White and blush wines

Cedar Creek Winery produces a lot of sweet and fruit infused wines—not my style but it appeals to the local area residents.  When the winery first opened it only produced cherry wine.  At that time, the Cedar Creek area was a huge producer of cherries, so the winery made wine with the surplus of cherries.   It’s no surprise, then, that the winery takes a sweeter, fruiter approach to wine making.  Its most popular wine is Strawberry Blush—Seyval Blanc infused with strawberry juice—which tastes just like a Capri Sun.  Even Cedar Creek’s Pinot Grigio tasted like an apple Jolly Rancher.  During the tour, we tasted an array of sweet and fruit juice infused white or blush wines, but red wines were only available for tasting in the winery’s tasting room.  After a quick taste of the reds, it was clear that sweet and fruity wine is what Cedar Creek does best.

If your travels ever take you to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, it is worth stopping by Cedar Creek Winery for a taste of white wine and some Wisconsin cheese whiz that they serve alongside it.