Door Peninsula and Stone's Throw Wineries

Both of these wineries are located in Door County.

Stone's Throw is located about dead center in Door County, at 3382 County Road E (where it intersects with Cty Rd A) in Egg Harbor. http://www.stonesthrowwinery.com/

There is no tour, but there is a small dining area to enjoy some wine and food. The tasting costs $2 for "5 or 6" or "6 or 7" wines, depending on your server. It was packed when we went, so we had long waits between samples. The wines were so-so. I did not taste any that jumped out at me other than a really expensive Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, all of the wines are fairly expensive (5% discount for buying 6, 10% for buying 12). The whites are much better than the reds at this place.

My recommendation is if you're bored, go here, but otherwise just avoid it.

The other winery we went to was Door Peninsula, 5806 Highway 42 in Sturgeon Bay. http://www.dcwine.com/

This place was fabulous. Converted from an old school house, the winery is large and modern with a historic feel. The wine sampling is FREE, and they have dozens of wine from which to try. You will mostly find sweet wines, such as mango, peach, apple, cherry, etc. They are very delicious and inexpensive ($6.99 each). (The reds are not too bad either.)

The tour was nice; it cost $2 and lasted about 15 min. A tour begins every 45 min. There also is a restaurant and wine bar, and you can play host to your own wine and cheese party there.

The store itself has a large selection of gift baskets, tools, food and more. You get a 10% discount for buying six bottles, 15% for buying 12 (the best deal of any wineries I've heard of). If you're ever up in Door County, make sure to stop by this place.


P.S. There were two other wineries in Door County, but we didn't have a chance to visit. One was closed on Sunday when we drove past.

Wollersheim Winery

Wollersheim is a popular local winery, located in Prairie du Sac. It's only a 40-minute drive from downtown Madison, depending on Hwy. 12 traffic. (Take Hwy. 12, exit on Hwy. 188, follow for a couple of miles until you see Wollersheim, which will be on your right.)

The winery is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. year-round, and it has daily tours at 10:15, 11:15, 12:15, 1:15, 2:15, 3:15 and 4:15. Each tour is $3.50 and lasts about 45 minutes (it includes free wine tasting at the end).

We had about a dozen other people with us on the tour, mostly people in their mid-20s. After watching a 15-minute video on the history of the winery, we walked to the field and checked out a cave (from the outside) and the vines (not up close, however). Then we went to the distillery, watched another video, went downstairs to where they keep the barrels of wine for aging, then drank.

You can drink at a faster rate when there are less people in the tour with you (sometimes there are 25+). In August, they didn't have as many wines available, so we only sampled around eight or so. Apparently in February, patrons can sample a lot more (the tour guide says you would be drinking about 2/3 of a bottle, which I doubt).

It was nice to sample the varieties; it helped in the purchase process. Buying the wine here is slightly cheaper than in the liquor stores, plus if you buy six or more bottles, you get a discount.

Besides shopping and the tour, Wollersheim is a nice place to hang out and enjoy some wine. There's plenty of seating in the area, although no music or anything is played.

For more info, check out www.wollersheim.com.