Photos: Wollersheim Winery

Thirty acres of hillside vineyards surround the headquarters of Wollersheim Winery in central Wisconsin. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Tribune

Nov. 1, 2016 8:36 AM PT

Wollersheim Winery is the largest in the state, turning out a quarter-million gallons of wine — enough to fill about 1.1 million bottles — each year.

Four winter-hardy varieties of grapes are grown on Wollersheim’s hillside vineyard in Wisconsin. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Sister and brother Celine and Romain Coquard carefully guide a new batch of red grapes from Washington state into the crusher. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Bunches of syrah and cabernet sauvignon grapes are dumped into a 35-foot stainless-steel crusher, as winemaker Philippe Coquard checks equipment. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Growing grapes in Wisconsin and other Midwestern states was a losing proposition until cold-climate hybrids were developed in the 1970s. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

With a history that dates to 1847, Wollersheim Winery bottles 20 varieties of wine and operates a distillery in central Wisconsin. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Wollersheim Winery is near Prairie du Sac, not too far from Madison, Wis. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)

Wollersheim wines made from locally grown grapes and aged in Wisconsin oak barrels are known for having a smoky “terroir,” a flavor derived from the environment where the grapes and oaks grow. (Kurt Chandler / Chicago Tribune)