Midwest Wine Press

Wollersheim Harvests As Harazthy Turns 200

by · August 31, 2012

Wisconsin wine pioneer Agoston Haraszthy is having a 200th birthday celebration in Sonoma, California this week.  Count Haraszthy, as he is sometimes called,  came to Wisconsin in the 1840’s from Hungary to plant grapes at the current location of Wollersheim Winery is Prairie Du Sac.  Some of Haraszthy’s original structures still stand at Wollersheim.   Haraszthy later moved to California where he is credited with starting the California wine industry.

For more information about the Haraszthy birthday celebration see:  California’s Oldest Winery Reborn

Meanwhile at the modern day Wollersheim Winery, the harvest was down 26% from last year due to frost and drought damage, according to a news report from the winery.   Wollersheim grows 27 acres of hybrid grapes in Wisconsin that are used in wine production.

However,  the lower yields were offset by exceptional fruit quality. ‘The quality of this year’s fruit is some of the best I’ve ever seen in the 28 years I’ve been here,” owner and winemaker Philippe Coquard said. ‘We have a highly concentrated fruit that is the sweetest we’ve ever had.”

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Mark Ganchiff

Mark Ganchiff is the publisher of Midwest Wine Press, the leading source of news on the growing wine industry in the central United States. Mark has been a wine judge at the 2012 and 2014 INDY International Wine Competition, the 2014 Cold Climate Wine Competition, the 2013 Mid-American Wine Competition, the 2012 Illinois State Fair Wine Competition and the 2013 Michigan Wine Competition. He also enjoys speaking at wine events including the Cold Climate Wine Conference, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Annual Meeting, the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference and the Wisconsin Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Mark's articles about regional wine have appeared in Vineyard & Winery Management, WineMaker and several regional magazines. Mark is a Level One Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers. He lives in Louisville, but also has a residence in Chicago.

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