Wollersheim Winery

We had to check out of our resort today so we booked a hotel room in Madison near the airport for the night. We left the Dells in the afternoon and headed out to explore some of the areas I thought would be interesting and educational.

The girls were quite excited.

The drive to Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac was all rural with acres upon acres of cornfields and farm animals. I took quite a few pictures on my quest to becoming a farm photographer.

We arrived at the Winery right at the start of the tour. The vineyard is located on a hillside overlooking the Wisconsin River outside of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The tour started with a DVD of the history of the vineyard.

The first owner was a wealthy Hungarian Count who eventually sold the vineyard after experiencing too many harsh Wisconsin winters. Peter Kehl, a German immigrant, took over the property and built the present buildings during the Civil War. He planted grape varieties and sold his wine in small barrels. After his son's death, the family converted the farm to produce more conventional crops.

In 1972 the Wollersheim family purchased the property and began restoring it into the present-day vineyard.

The next part of the tour led us up the hillside to the grapes. Here the grapes receive good sun exposure and a nice airflow from the breezes off the river. Because the hill allows good water drainage the grapes due well. Each row of grapes represents the five different varieties that eventually become the wines. The grapes were quite plumb, but it usually takes 4 years from the first planting for the grapes to be ready.

From there we hiked down the hill and viewed the stainless steel tanks that hold the grape juice as it ferments. We watched another DVD that explained the winemaking process. After the grapes are picked by hand they are put into a machine that squeezes them and stores them in the tanks below. The tanks are temperature-controlled and are checked frequently.

Once the wine is ready it is stored into oak barrels for aging. We trooped down into the limestone cellar to view the barrels and listen to the history of barrel making.

The barrels are used about four times each and because red wine stains the inside of the barrels white wine is stored in the first year.

After viewing the sleeping wine we went upstairs to the tasting area. There we tasted five of the wines that are made on the property including their famous Prairie Fume. We were introduced to the art of wine tasting first eating dry crackers to clean the palate. Secondly, we learned how to hold the glass at the stem, how to tilt the glass to check for color and clarity, how to smell the wine, and how to taste it. We graded the wine on a card so that we could purchase those varieties that we enjoyed.

I didn't much care for the Fume, but Tom gave it the highest rating of 5. I preferred the Prairie Blush and I enjoyed the other reds that I tried.

Our tour guide allowed us to taste any of the wines that Wollersheim makes, and she encouraged us to lastly try the port. We weren't really expecting to enjoy it, but we loved it. Unfortunately, because we were flying we weren't able to purchase any wine to bring home. Planning on checking out the website when we return.

We strolled through the wine store and sampled some of the cheeses and dips that they also produce and left with a slight buzz. Darcy and Madison weren't able to sample the wine, but they had several bags of crackers and sampled the non-alcoholic grape champagne, which I also thought was delicious.

We left the vineyard in the late afternoon and headed out to drive to our next adventure.

Weekend Memories

1. It was the actual day of his birthday and we had brought some small gifts for him to open. Then we took him out to explore the resort, and we all felt happy to be together.


2. The three girls were determined to make it across the water pulling on the rope and standing on the fake tree stumps. They took turns each one watching the other as they made it from one stump to another. I watched too. First the youngest (Olivia), then the middle girl (Darcy), and then the oldest (Madison), her lean body too tall, her head sticking through the rope, and I remembered my girls as Olivia is now. It goes by so fast.

3. Mostly Eli rode down the slides with one parent or the other. When we got to this waterpark he didn't need anyone. He could ride alone and the joy was immense.

4. They came down together both of them laughing and screaming as they hit the water at the bottom.  A family on vacation.

5. The food was edible, the drinks were flowing, and the cousins were together. It was important. It was family.

Day 5 - Mirror Lake

JP, the resort man, recommended a trip to the Carr Valley Cheese Factory Farm. We headed over there this afternoon to see how Wisconsin cheese was made. Unfortunately, we were too late for an actual demonstration, but we watched an interesting video and got to sample several different kinds of cheese at various stages of aging. We also examined, felt, and tasted fresh cheese curds. The drive to this place took us through two towns with a population of less than 300. Beautiful scenery.

From there, we went to Mirror Lake State Park which isn't far from our resort.  This too was another JP recommendation. We drove in and hiked to this area where we rented two canoes to tour the lake.

Madison, Beth, and I rode in one canoe while Tom took Darcy and Teddy in the other. Our canoe took off first from the dock and we didn't meet up with the other canoe for over an hour. Teddy had a fishing pole so they did a lot of cruising so he could fish.

Madison loves to paddle so she was our frontman. Beth took the back for the first half of the journey and then I took it for the second half. We canoed for a little over 2 hours and covered over 3 miles.

At the changing of paddlers, we stopped at a sandy area just before the dam and got out to explore the wooded area. The rocks are very porous and soft so that trees are able to grow right out of the rocks. We posed for photos, dipped our bodies in the lake, and then headed out to find the others.

We ended the evening with yet another JP recommendation. This restaurant was one in the park that we canoed past early on, but we drove to get to it for dinner. It is the Ishnala and it is now famous for being one of the sets for Johnny Depp's movie Public Enemies.

The food was fabulous if not a tad pricey, but we enjoyed it. It made for a nice ending to our Mirror Lake day.

Day 4 - Lake Delton

Today's list of activities:

• We visited the Go-Kart in our resort. The younger boys rode the smaller track while the girls and the men tried the larger track. Madison was quite adept at negotiating the turns and passing the other drivers. The younger girls were more cautious and were told they "drive like their mothers."

• We hung out at the waterpark enjoying the different attractions. Darcy and Olivia liked to hang out at the play areas where they could climb and ride a variety of animals and play structures in the water. Madison and the men raced down the four-lane slide on their bellies. I hung out at the lazy river which is a two-tier river with an upper and lower area. To get to the upper level you ride your tube up an escalator. To get back down you ride through a tube slide. The river has many rapids, waterfalls, and forks.

• We took the Wisconsin Duck tour at the Dells. This tour was an hour drive through the Wisconsin wilderness and then through the Wisconsin River and Lake Delton. Last year in July there was a breach and Lake Delton emptied completely into the River. This tour took us to that sight and beyond. Our driver, Trevor, was a hoot, not to mention nice to stare at, and we learned a bit more about the history of the Dells.

• We had dinner at Buffalo Phil's where I had a lovely strawberry margarita and we said good-bye to Nancy and her crew who had to head back home to Chicago.

• We then welcomed Tom's sister Beth and her son Teddy. Fresh off a baseball tournament, they were ready for some relaxation. We decided we'd end the evening with a cheesy show at Tommy Bartlett's water ski show. This is a big event in the Dells, but I haven't a clue why. The ski show skit was contrived and poorly acted. The skiing was amateur. The only saving grace was the second half of the show where we watched a daredevil couple, a juggler, and the best horn player ever (google Dave the horn guy).

Day 3 - Wisconsin Dells

Today started out sunny, hot with 100% humidity. I've been told that this is the hottest it has been in Wisconsin this summer. Of course, it is. I chose Wisconsin, the Wyndham farthest to the north in the US, for cooler weather, and I get 90 degrees and humidity.

We had coffee on the balcony and watched a group of people zipline past our unit. The zipline is scheduled to open later in the week, but the crew was trying it out this morning in preparation. As I sat watching, sipping my coffee and glancing at the paper I thought how I might venture out of my comfort zone and give it a try. That lasted until one of the crew members couldn't make it to the tower, zipped back, and stopped, hanging in the middle of the zipline suspended over the parking lot. We watched the rescue and all of us clapped when he made it to the tower.

We left the resort and heading into the Dells to ride a jet boat down the Wisconsin River, which Nancy told us was tons of fun. The 50-minute ride covered 12 miles of the river and traveled in excess of 40 mph.

We were seated in the third row behind the front of the boat which sported a huge sign that read, Hold on to the railing. Our captain told us he would do the following:

• Periodically slam on the brakes (so to speak) so that the boat would come to a stop giving us a good soaking to either wake us up or relieve us from the heat. 
• Spin us around so that the back of the boat would catch the front of the boat. 
• Educate us on the history of the upper dells. 

He was a man of his word. Although his spiel about how he didn't believe we would get very wet because "there wasn't a breeze" turned out to be false. We were thoroughly soaked at the end of the trip.

The views of the river were beautiful and the boat ride was awesome. I love being on the water and I really love being on the water where there are zero alligators!

After the jet boat ride, we had lunch at the snack shop adjacent to the tour shack. It was probably the best meal we have eaten since arriving. The sandwiches were toasted and handmade and we all raved about them the rest of the day.

We left the Dells and returned back to the resort where we hit the rest of the waterparks. Each park offers something different. This third indoor waterpark, with a special roof designed to tan indoors, was a wave pool. You could ride on rafts or swim free every half hour while the waves rolled.

There was also a family tube ride with up to four riders that carried you through tubes that went outside the building, back inside, looping you around at a rapid speed until you spit out into the whirlpool at the bottom. I rode with Madison and Joey and got seated going down backward which was fine with me as I don't like to see what horror is coming next. I thought the ride was quite tame compared with the other rides I'd experienced, and I was enjoying myself until I saw Joey's eye widen and we went airborne for what seemed like an eternity.

The third outdoor waterpark, The New Frontier, had 110,000 square feet of water rides with a lazy river, several slides, a play area, and three pools. The slides at each pool were either tube slides or body slides, and despite my better judgment, I did attempt several rides. By the end of the day, I was a tad sore from all the riding around and was quite thankful to rest in the waterpark with the massage pool area complete with a water bench and jets to soothe aches and pains.

I left the parks earlier than the rest of the crew, showered, and made a spaghetti meal which we enjoyed outdoors on our balcony. Nancy and I watched a movie, Tom listened to the Rays game, and the rest of the clan passed out by eleven. Another relaxing, yet entertaining day.