At the Wisconsin State Fair, you can experience all that Wisconsin wine has to offer without driving across the entire state. The Wisconsin Wine Garden at the Wisconsin State Fair features 20 wineries and endless tasting opportunity.
Jessica Bell is the executive director of the Wisconsin Winery Association, a position she took on at the start of the year. And for the first two weeks of August, Jessica is dedicated to the Wisconsin Wine Garden at State Fair Park in West Allis. She welcomes you to talk to winemakers and explore Wisconsin flavor in the air conditioning during the best 11 days of summer.
Bell says fairgoers can purchase wine flights, wine by the glass or wine by the bottle. It’s often the case that the wine maker or grape grower is the one pouring your portion. This is because in order to be a part of the wine pavilion, they must work a shift.
Bell, a sommelier by trade, says Wisconsin wine can very well compete with wine from other regions of the country and the world. They also offer wine enthusiasts a tasting experience that they can’t find anywhere else in the world.
“We have novelty. We have brand new grape varietals that no one has ever tried,” she says. “The reason for that is they need to be cold-hardy. We are learning which grape varietals to well here, how to grow them, and then how to make them into wine.”
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