A Missed Turn Leads to Wine Tasting

Since there wasn't much on our agenda to hit in Kenosha, Stacy and I decided to go explore Bong Recreation Area. I've seen the signs for years as we would drive to Illinois and wanted to check it out. Well it didn't have a very clear address and we missed our turn. As we turned down the next road to turn around we saw a sign for AppelTreow Winery. Stacy heard good things about it and we decided to check it out. Why not? A random winery sounded good to me.

Appeltreow Winery is a small winery that produces small batch ciders, perrys, wines, and spirits. It is literally in a barn. The tasting room is probably no bigger than my bathroom but it fits the uniqueness of the winery. The apples came straight from their orchard and other local orchids. Just about everything is fruit based. It is only open seasonal as well. The ciders are all named after birds.

For free, we each got to taste up to five wines, ciders, or spirits with a limit of one spirit. You could taste the entire menu for $10. They do not offer a large selection but just enough of a variety to have something for everyone.

I chose three wines and two flavored ciders. I was advised to stay away from the spirits since I'm not much of one for straight liquor.

My samples included

Cyser Rose -- Crabapple Mead. I found this one a bit dry. It wasn't bad but too dry for my taste. It might have been the crabapples.

Pear Wine.  This was good. It had enough sweetness that I would bring a bottle home if I was looking for some more wine.

Summer's End -- Apple Wine. This was another good choice. It was also on the sweeter side but not too sweet. If I had to choose between the pear and apple wine, I would take the pear for something a little different.

Siskin Scrumpy -- Farmhouse Funky Cider. This was pretty good. I liked the name so that's why we tried it. It is a traditional cider.

Blackbird -- Black Current Elderberry. This was really good. This one would be coming home with me.

If we never missed our turn, we would have never found AppelTreow Winery. I am glad we did and I am glad we postponed girls' weekend until September because it probably wasn't open in June. I would definitely stop again next fall to pick up some wine or cider.