Vines & Rushes: The Prellwitz Family Farm
THE PRELLWITZ FAMILY FARM, about four miles north of Ripon, has been putting food on the table since the 1940s. “This is a continuation of the farm that my grandparents Ray and Alice started,” said Ryan Prellwitz. “My dad took over when he was 19 and ran a dairy and cash crop operation; also adding strawberries to the production."
After stepping away for a few years, Ryan returned and decided to establish a vineyard. The first grapes were planted in 2007 and the winery was founded in 2012.
“We’re really focused on locally sourced product,” he said. “Almost 100-percent of our wine comes from Wisconsin-grown grapes. We have a couple wines where we use some strawberry concentrate but everything else we do is Wisconsin grown. We have a couple ciders which are Wisconsin grown. We produce everything from dry to sweet red wines and a couple dessert wines and port style and a few sparkling wines. We’ve been at it for a little over 10 years now and we make somewhere between 10 and 20 thousand gallons per year.” The vineyard produces Marquette, St. Pepin, Petite Pearl and Verona grapes.
“Those are the varietals we grow and my preference is for dryer-style wines but we know that we need a broad range to meet customer preferences,” Prellwitz shares. “Our best-selling wines are our sweetest wines which match the Wisconsin palate.”
Prellwitz said their prime market is tourism visits.
“We’re very much a destination,” he explained. “We see a fair number of tourists and we’re close to Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. We’re about an hour and 15 minutes from Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee and Stevens Point, so we’re kind of in the middle of everywhere.” As a nod to local history, Prellwitz said they like to include a link with their wines. For example. “Little White Red” commemorates the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon where the Republican Party was founded in 1854.
The winery hosts music events throughout the season and offers wood-fired brick oven pizza. For full details, wine list and events calendar visit www.vinesandrushes.com
