Burr Oak Winery--a Big Find in Small Town Wisconsin

I have passed Burr Oak Winery about 100 times on the way to my grandparents home in Wisconsin.  Almost every time I visit, my grandfather asks me, "Have you been to that barn winery, yet?"  (Of course, he probably doesn't remember that he has asked me before, but that is another story.)  Finally, my husband and I decided to give it a try.



Burr Oak Winery is located in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, which is about half an hour northwest of the Dells.  Upon arriving at the winery, you will notice the grapevines--a good sign that the winery uses local grapes.  We have been to wineries that use local grapes, have their grapes shipped in, and a mix of the two.  I prefer wineries that primarily use local grapes so that I can get a real taste of the region.  Burr Oak mostly uses grapes from Wisconsin.  They do receive a few from Pennsylvania, but, for the most part, when you are drinking a Burr Oak Wine, you are drinking a truly Wisconsin wine.
The tasting room is not actually in a barn.  (I am not sure that I will disappoint my grandfather with this detail.)  Rather, it is in a cute brick building complete with gorgeous stained glass windows.  According to the website, these windows are over 100 years old and were bought at an auction.  Cool!  The tasting area is roomy and the proprietor was very friendly and knowledgeable.  For $5, you are able to taste all of the wines and go home with a souvenir glass.

Now on to the wine---we actually found a dry white, the Vidal Blanc, that my husband enjoyed.  Since that doesn't happen very often, I had to buy a bottle.  Some of the wines had some very unique flavors to them.  For me, the stars of the winery were the fruit wines.  I really liked the raspberry wine because it was not overly sweet and retained some of the tartness of the raspberries.  Most wineries are making their fruit wines too sweet for my palate, so I was impressed.  I also liked the cranberry wine.  The cranberry wine is very addicting and can be dangerous!

Burr Oak Winery is open January 1 - April 30, Wednesday - Sunday, 11:00-5:00.  From May 1 - December 31, it is open seven days a week, 11:00-5:00.  The winery hosts many festivals throughout the year including a chocolate and wine trail festival on Memorial Day Weekend.  Maybe I will head to Wisconsin for that!