Our daughters' birthdays are coming up later this month so, before it becomes all about them, I decided to take a day off and do something with just my wife. We wound up taking a day trip to three of Wisconsin's wineries.
It wasn't originally going to be three. I had only planned on going to Baraboo Bluff and Balanced Rock wineries in Baraboo. However, it's road work season and when we got to Portage, we discovered getting to Baraboo required a major detour. As a result, our return trip went through Sauk Prairie and since it was right there, we made a return visit to Wollersheim.
I think it ended up being a fun trip despite the unexpected detour. We had brunch at Log Cabin Family Restaurant in Baraboo, which was very filling. I had some of their fresh-squeezed lemonade along with a western omelet, hashbrown casserole and a giant cinnamon roll that I shared with my wife (half of it still came home with us).
Our first stop after brunch was Balanced Rock Winery since it was only a few minutes away from the restaurant. My wife got the 4-sample flight, and we enjoyed the view from the patio while she tried the selection.
We wound up purchasing a bottle of their Brianna wine.
The next stop was Baraboo Bluff, which proved to be a bit of a drive but worth the trip just for the scenery.
Like at Balanced Rock, my wife got a flight of four wine samples. After much consideration, she picked the Girlfriend Apple Pie, which we purchased a bottle of. She's drinking a glass of that as I'm writing this, following the advice of the bartender and adding some ice cream and caramel and making it a dessert. It's apparently a good wine to serve warmed up with some cinnamon as well.
As I mentioned, Wollersheim was the last-minute addition to our trip. Unlike the other two, which we visited for the first time today, we've been there before, but it was still worth it.
Because we have been there in the past, the 4-glass wine flight had some samples she's tried in the past and one we even already have a bottle of. However, she did find one she wasn't familiar with and enjoyed, their Carignan wine, which they make in honor of the Hungarian immigrant, Agoston Haraszthy, who founded the winery in the 1840s before eventually moving to California and becoming one of the people who developed that state's wine industry.
Needless to say, after three wineries, 12 generous samples and the mimosa she had with her brunch, my wife was just a little bit drunk by the time we drove home (I didn't drink, ensuring one of us was able to be behind the wheel). In fact, she wound up taking a nap not long after we got here. We will, however, be planning another trip like this in the future since there are a few more wineries within a reasonable driving distance, assuming the roads aren't closed because of repairs.
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