Are you a Milwaukeean longing to get out of town and relax with a good cocktail? You’re in luck! Wisconsin is home to many fine craft distilleries, and we’ve chosen three close enough to town to fit into a driving daytrip. In this article, we feature just one spirit from each distillery. Take the trip yourself to experience the much wider gamut of options on offer!
Start your day at Driftless Glen Distillery in Baraboo. Owners Brian and Renee Bemis chose the location for its unique natural features, including a superb aquifer, sandy soil and bogs perfect for grain production. The establishment, which opened this past April, features a fantastic restaurant, flavored olive oils and vinegars for purchase, gorgeous riverside patio, rentable tasting room and, of course, fine craft spirits. Although Driftless’ operators plan to distribute their products (vodka, gin, moonshine, brandy and whiskey) in the future, for now you’ll have to make the trek to go home with the goods.
Our featured spirit here is WisconGin, an exceptionally smooth, well-balanced liquor in which the traditional juniper infusion is tempered with Wisconsin botanicals, including spearmint, ginger and ginseng. Driftless’ cocktail menu pairs WisconGin with elderflower tonic for an effect one customer described as “a walk through the meadow.” Sweet tooth? Try gin and tonic-infused sorbet for a real kick in the mouth.
Sauk City’s Wollersheim Winery and Distillery has a rich history stretching back to the 1840s when Hungarian nobleman, Sauk City founder and “father of the California wine industry” Agoston Haraszthy decided the property’s sloping hills made an ideal vineyard. A visit to Wollersheim presents many possibilities: Enjoy the winery tour, visit the 19th-century carriage house and dance hall, check out the “cave” (historic site and museum) and relax in the wine garden.
Headed by principal winemaker Philippe Coquard and son-in-law Tom Lenerz, the distillery celebrated its grand opening in August, but production of Coquard Brandy—the establishment’s signature liquor and our featured spirit—began shortly after a Prohibition-era law changed in 2009 allowing wineries to distill spirits. Now in its third batch, the cognac-style Coquard Brandy is distilled from grape wine and aged for two years in charred oak barrels. The wine used in distillation comes from hybrid grape varietals St. Pepin and La Crosse, which were specially developed to withstand Wisconsin’s harsh winters. With a toasty bouquet, smooth mouthfeel and slightly woody flavor, this brandy is meant for sipping and best served neat.
Conclude your daytrip at Madison’s Yahara Bay Distillers, Wisconsin’s second distillery (after Great Lakes), operating out of its current location since 2007. Owner Nick Quint offers 42 different products available in 20 states and abroad. Many specialty products are available (think vodka infused with eight different kinds of pepper). Quint’s wife and Yahara’s co-owner, Catherine Forde, manages a commission-free art gallery out of the distillery featuring different local artists each month. The distillery opens its doors to the public each Thursday from 5-10 p.m. for tours, tastings, live music and food.
Featured here is the Premium Vodka. The spirit is slow distilled and filtered through carbon derived from coconut shell, a product used in the most upscale water filtration systems. Quint aptly describes the liquor as “smooth, clean and crisp enough to drink over ice.” Little wonder that, even among a host of novel offerings, this classic is still Yahara’s top seller.
Total mileage: 248
Total time: 12 hours, 45 minutes
Tour/tasting information:
Driftless Glen, 300 Water St., Baraboo
Offered: daily, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Cost: $10
Notes: See the distilling process and taste five to six spirits, three olive oils and three balsamic vinegars; take home a souvenir glass.
Wollersheim Winery and Distillery, 7876 WI-188, Sauk City
Offered: daily, 12-5 p.m.
Cost: $5
Notes: Sample three spirits; take home a souvenir glass. Winery tours also cost $5 and run daily, 10:15 a.m.-4:15 p.m.
Yahara Bay Distillery, 3118 Kingsley Way, Madison
Offered: Thursday, 5-10 p.m. or by appointment
Cost: Free
Notes: Tour the facility and sample available and in-development spirits.
Nearby dining options:
* DeForest Family Restaurant, 505 W. North St., DeForest
* Liliana’s Restaurant, 2951 Triverton Pike Drive, Madison
* Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry, 317 N. Frances St., Madison
Driftless Area attractions:
* Cascade Mountain, W10441 Cascade Mountain Road, Portage
* Circus Museum, 550 Water St., Baraboo
* Devil’s Lake, S5975 Park Road, Baraboo
* Wisconsin Dells
