Wine tip:

If you are a novice wine drinker and are overwhelmed at the choices at the store, here are some consistently reliable and inexpensive wine labels ($5 to $8) that we recommend:

Columbia Crest
Chateau Ste. Michelle
Lindemann's
Banrock Station
Fetzer
Local attractions

Make sure when you stay with us to visit Tenba Ridge Winery (May through December) and Buzz & Brew, a shop in Black River Falls for home wine and beer-making enthusiasts.

Also nearby is Garvin Heights Vineyards in Winona, MN and the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls. Both are open for tours and tastings.

If you're heading to La Crosse, be sure to stop at The Wine Guyz a full-service wine bar on King Street downtown for some excellent wines.

 

Great River Wine Trail

we're located in the middle of the Great River Road Wine Trail, which features nine wineries with a passport program that allows guests to earn a wine glass once they have visited and received stamps from each of the wineries. No purchase is necessary, and completed passports may be turned in at any time.

Wineries on the trail include the Seven Hawks in Fountain City, Wisconsin. Vernon Vineyards in the scenic hills of Vernon County in upper Newton Valley.

Other Wineries on the trail are           Valley Vineyard in Prescott, WI, Vino in the Valley in Maiden Rock, WI, Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery in Maiden Rock, WI,      Danzinger Vineyards in Alma, W,   Garvin Heights Vineyards in Winona, MN, Scenic Valley Winery in Lanesboro, MN and   Eagles Landing Winery in Marquette, IA

Visit the website for more information, printable brochure, maps and more!

www.greatriverroadwinetrail.org

 

Wine enthusiasts

Brambleberry is a great bed and breakfast for wine lovers. Your innkeepers Chris and Sherry are enthusiastic wine connoisseurs. We write a weekly wine column in the La Crosse Tribune and Chippewa Falls Daily Herald. We offer a selection of great tasting, quality wines for guests to enjoy. We also make our own wine from organic fruits we grow, including Raspberry Rhapsody, Bodacious Blackberry, Sinful Strawberry and Racy Rhubarb.
For wine novices wanting advice, Chris and Sherry will guide you to wonderful selections at affordable prices that you can find in your own local grocers or wine store.
Big, bold, earthy Italian reds and French Bordeaux are among Sherry's favorites. She detests white zinfandel, thinking it a very poor excuse for a wine. There are many, much nicer affordable wines like gewurztraminer, riesling or muscat.
Chris also enjoys the hearty reds and is particulary fond of petite sirah and Italian red.
Most people who regularly read our "wine of the week" column have come to realize that Sherry is the more discerning of the wine tasting duo. Chris pretty much likes ANY wine that someone else has paid for. But when it comes to discerning beer taste, Chris has the leg up.
We enjoy sharing wine, but state law restricts us to serving one glass per guest, so feel free to bring your own wine and cocktails too. We have openers and glasses you may use.

Our weekly column introduces people to the different varieties of wine that we ourselves would drink. We rate each wine on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, but never feature a wine below 2.5 stars, because if we wouldn't drink it, we won't write about it. The wines we feature are mainly between $7 and $15. ( To read our columns starting in 2007 go to the Wine of the Week archives. For a newspaper archive search of some of our wine columns, go to Wine of the week).


A must visit on weekends May through December is the Tenba Ridge Winery. John Gill offers a variety of award-winning and unique wines. For a story Chris wrote about Tenba Ridge when the winery opened in 2002, click here.
Click here for a video tour of Tenba Ridge.
 
   
 
Guests on the their way from Madison or Chicago along I-94 should stop at the Burr Oak Winery at N5873 Hwy. 12/16 located between New Lisbon and Mauston. Also stop at Carr Valley Cheese along Hwy. 12/16 in Mauston for some of Wisconsin's best artisan cheeses.

 
The historic and beautiful Wollersheim Winery near Prairie du Sac is Wisconsin's largest and is credited for launching the state's wine industry. For a feature story written by Chris about Botham and Wollersheim, click here.

Featured wine of the week

 

Hess Select Lake County Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Some wines are like fashions, falling in and out of style as consumers tastes change. Sauvignon blanc was first planted in California from French cuttings in the 1880s, when it was made in a sweet dessert style.

The grape re-emerged as a dry wine with the name fume΄ blanc in the 1960s. Since then the grape has become more popular as a white wine alternative and styles range from the dry French variety to the grassy and citrus version favored by New Zealand winemakers.

This wine falls somewhere in between, with floral and herbal aromas, flavors of citrus and tropical fruit in a medium body and a zesty finish. 

Sherry: “Fruity and citrus, with lemon, lime and grapefruit flavors.” (3 stars)

Chris: “Herbal fragrance with flavors of pineapple, lemon and grapefruit.” (3.5 stars)
Available locally for about $10.

Coming next week: New Age White

Visit our Wine of the Week archives

Another fine Wisconsin winery in the Madison area is Botham Vineyards located west of Madison near Barneveld. For a feature story written by Chris about Botham and Wollersheim, click here.

 

Garvin Heights Vineyards near Winona, MN offers a sampling of four wines and has other cold-climate varieties they grow for sale.