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Wyldewood Cellars

Monday, April 15, 2013

From a Family Farm to the World Stage of Wine
Founded in 1995, Wyldewood Cellars began as a heartfelt mission to make the family farm profitable — and evolved into an internationally recognized winery with over 600 international awards and titles to our name by 2022.

This family-owned venture was started by Dr. John Brewer, his wife Beth, and his sister Merry Bauman. What began as a passion project rooted in science, agriculture, and nostalgia has grown into one of the Midwest’s most awarded wineries.

Leading the Elderberry Movement
Our journey began with the wild elderberries that grew abundantly on our mother’s ranch in Eastern Kansas. In 1988, even before the winery opened its doors, we began cultivating elderberries commercially. What some called a “noxious weed,” we saw as a goldmine of potential.

In collaboration with Kansas State University, University of Missouri, and local farmers, we pioneered elderberry farming as a sustainable, alternative cash crop. Our efforts culminated in hosting the first International Symposium on Elderberries in 2013, and the development of four new elderberry varieties — including Marge, the first successful cross between European and American plants.

Hardy, productive, and suitable for machine harvesting, Marge is paving the way for large-scale elderberry production in the U.S.

Science Meets Craft
With two professional wine judges and winemakers on staff — Dr. John Brewer and his nephew Shawn Ramos — we blend scientific precision with creative flair. John’s background in science and winemaking laid the foundation for quality, consistency, and innovation in every bottle.

A Taste of Wyldewood
The best part of visiting our winery? Free wine tastings — every day during regular business hours. No appointment needed, just come in and sip! You’re guaranteed to find something that suits your palate, whether you love sweet, dry, fruity, or bold.

Wyldewood Cellars — From the Farm to You
From our family roots to your glass, every bottle tells a story of passion, perseverance, and purpose. Whether you’re here for the nostalgia, the novelty, or just a really great glass of wine — welcome to Wyldewood.

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The Florida Winery

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

It won’t take long for you to realize that we do things a little bit differently around here. We refuse to accept that wine must taste of grass, tobacco, or dirt. Around here we like our wine like we like our women and ice tea…sweet! We don’t mess around when it comes to wine either, just check out the over 50 awards and medals we’ve won in our first four years!

All talk and no walk you say? Well pony up to our tasting bar and we will let our stunning selection of highly enjoyable libations walk all over your taste buds. Relish in pure unadulterated pleasure without worrying about how your swirling the glass. Sit back, Sip, Enjoy, Relax, Repeat…responsibly of course.

The winery is where the magic happens. All of our wines are made right here in house, just steps from the beach, where you’ll find the most unique winery on earth. Beach real estate isn’t cheap, s0 we squeeze a lot of wine out of a small space: about 900 square feet! We use three 2,000-liter jacket fermentation tanks and nine 2,000-liter racking and aging tanks. Filtering is handled by our 40-plate plate & frame filter, and all the bottling is done by hand right in the front window.

It’s not a lot of room, but it’s enough for us to create the most amazing libations known to man.

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Volcano Winery

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Aloha! Wine tasting in Paradise is just a sip away at Volcano Winery. We’ve been creating unique wine and fruit blends on the southern slope of Mauna Loa Volcano on the Big Island since 1986, making us the United States’ southernmost winery.

We gather local tropical fruits like the yellow guava and the jaboticaba berry and blend them with traditional wine grapes to create local wines inspired by volcanic fire and the bounty of the island. Our location near the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park lets us make vibrant wine that captures the playful spirit of Hawaiian paradise — and our relaxed, laid-back atmosphere.

In fact, our fruit -blended wines were so unique that the federal government (BATF) had to come up with new category designations to classify them!

We’ve seen many changes in our 25+ years, but the commitment to produce special, award-winning wines made with Aloha has always remained in our hearts.

If you plan on visiting the winery, you can enjoy a tasting with one of our fun and knowledgeable staff members and even drink wine by the glass out in the picnic area. Come relax and sip into “Hawaiian time.”

We’re open every day except for Christmas, from 10 to 5:30. Aloha!

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Linganore Winecellars

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

In 1972, amidst rolling hills, dairy cows, and cornfields, a small vineyard was planted in the fertile soils of an old dairy farm. That one small vineyard has proudly become Linganore Winecellars. Now operated by the founder’s children, we welcome you to share in our growing family tradition.

Linganore Winecellars cordially invites you to partake in an enjoyable and relaxed afternoon tasting our award-winning wines produced by our fertile soils, abundant sunshine, and skilled winemakers.

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Tieton Cider Works

Monday, April 2, 2012

The fruit that is used in Tieton Cider Works Cider comes from Craig and Sharon Campbell’s Harmony Orchards. This land has been in our family since the 1920s, when our grandfather homesteaded it here in Tieton, Washington. It has been farmed organically for the last 25 years by an appreciative grandson.

The orchard is perched above the confluence of the Tieton and Naches rivers at an elevation of 2000 feet, considered high for a growing region in Washington State, giving us the advantage of growing our fruit at slightly cooler temperatures. The long sunny days, cool nights and fertile soils craft exceptionally great tasting apples, pears, cherries and apricots.

As a third-generation Yakima Valley farmer with a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and 33 years’ experience in marketing produce, Craig has always been curious about the back-story: the history, production, science, and industry of food. From his unique vantage point, he has studied what consumers are looking for in an apple. Growing new varieties of trees is truly what makes Craig happy.

Ten years ago he started looking for niche apple varieties that weren’t being overproduced in the commercial market. As a result, land that was once predominantly planted with Red and Golden Delicious now has blocks of Ambrosia, Honey Crisp, Jonagold and Pinova Apples. Four years ago Craig started planting cider apples, those gnarly, inedible wild apple varieties needed to make great cider. We now have one of the larger acreages of cider apples and Perry pears in the state.

A love of land, food and drink has inspired us to make cider with the fruit we are growing at our ranch, Harmony Orchards. We know the ciders we make are an expression of the harvest and reflective of the fruit and the place that it is grown.

We are excited to present these ciders to you. They are a blend of our own organically grown dessert apples and full-bodied traditional cider apples. Most of all we are thrilled to be involved in reinterpreting the tradition of cider making.

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Finnriver Farm

Friday, March 16, 2012

“At Finnriver we gather and ferment the flavors of the land to offer you hand-crafted sparkling hard ciders and spirited fruit wines. We are inspired by the allure of the fruit, the ancient history of the craft of fermentation, and the lively traditions we now seek to revive.

“Note: We use the term “cider” as it is used in Europe and in the blossoming cider revival in the United States, to mean a fermented apple beverage. Some folks call it “hard cider.” Our ciders are alcohol.

“Our Certified Organic family farm and Cidery is located alongside a restored salmon stream on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The process of creating our products begins in the spring blossoms of organic fields and orchards. Bees work their magic, fruit ripens in the sun and come autumn, when the rain-washed air of the mountains turns crisp, we gather our families and farm crew to harvest and press the fruit. We then ferment it slowly through the chill of winter months and use traditional methods to refine and bottle our select batches.

“Finnriver grows a variety of berries and heirloom apple trees, in order to provide organic fruits for our wines and ciders. We also glean wild apples from old-time local homesteads and source fruit from organic family farms in eastern Washington and around the region. We’re committed to sustainable land stewardship through organic production, conservation easements, renewable energy, salmon safe certification, habitat restoration, and community partnerships, celebration and outreach.

“We are very pleased to share the flavors of Finnriver with you and invite you to come visit the farm, taste our ciders and wines, walk the orchard, and connect with us.”

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Peninsula Cellars

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Peninsula Cellars is a family-run winery founded by the Kroupas, a pioneer family of northern Michigan cherry farmers. The winery and their centennial farm, where they grow millions of pounds of apples and cherries every year is located on the Old Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse City, Michigan. The peninsula juts out into Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay. This gives the region its distinct microclimate that makes it perfect for growing high-quality orchard fruit and wine grapes.

“Our philosophy toward winemaking has always been very minimalistic, allowing the regional expression of the fruit to come through. The sun, the rain, the wind, and the soil, all under the watchful eye of the grower, are what make our wines so good.” – The Kroupas

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Eden Ice Cider

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Our mission is to produce high quality, boutique wines from traditional and heirloom varieties of apples 100% of which are produced in Vermont.

Our customers are discerning chefs , sommeliers and wine shop owners, open-minded fine wine drinkers, sweet-wine lovers, foodies, people who love Vermont, and gift givers. We are committed to quality and integrity, to minimizing our carbon footprint and to supporting our employees, community and local economy.

Eight pounds of apples go into the making of each 375ml bottle of ice cider. Our ice ciders have won 9 ice cider gold medals and been recognized by Food & Wine, The Art of Eating, Wine Spectator, Culinate, Eatocracy, Serious Drinks, Edible Manhattan and “Martha Stewart Living Radio.”

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Latah Creek Wine Cellars

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Mike Conway — with over 34 years of winery experience — and his wife Ellena, pair to run one of the most successful small wineries in this relatively new viticultural region in the northeast corner of Washington state. Latah Creek Wine Cellars, established in 1982 in Spokane, is one of only a few family-owned and operated wineries in Washington.

While Mike assumes the management, winemaking and vineyard tasks, Ellena takes on the accounting, fiscal, tasting room, and gift shop. In 2005, their daughter Natalie joined the family business as an assistant winemaker.

Over the past 25 years, the winery has taken hundreds of awards in local, national, and international competitions and has had numerous wines featured in Wine Spectator‘s “Annual Top 100 Selections” as well as Wine Enthusiast‘s “Annual Top 100 Selections,” often with an added note of “Best Buy.” Latah Creek, heralded by Wine Spectator as one of the top producers of Merlot in the state of Washington.

Mike started his career as a microbiology technician for the largest winery in the United States, E&J Gallo and the nearby Franzia Brothers Winery. After spending three years as an assistant winemaker with the Parducci winery in Northern California, Mike moved to Washington to start Latah Creek and The Hogue — joint ventures with grape grower Hogue and winemaker Conway. After two years, the two operations were separated so full attention could be given to Mike and Ellena’s own winery: Latah Creek.

The winery produces about 17,000 cases annually. Roughly 10 percent of that total consists of red wines while another 10 percent is devoted exclusively to Chardonnay. Sixty percent is comprised of their two most popular varieties: Riesling and Huckleberry d’Latah. The remaining 20 percent includes smaller lots of Muscat Canelli, Moscato d’Latah, and proprietary blends of Maywine, Spokane Blush and their newest wine, Natalie’s Nectar.

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Montezuma Winery

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

In 1999, the Martins took their first official step into beverage production with Martin’s Honey Farm & Meadery in Sterling, New York. Operating out of their garage, they produced honey alongside fruit wines and meads. Interest grew quickly, and within just a few years, it became clear that the business had outgrown its original home.

That turning point came in 2001 with the opening of Montezuma Winery in Seneca Falls, a move that would define the family’s future. Located near the northern end of Cayuga Lake in the celebrated Finger Lakes wine region, the winery became the heart of the Martin family’s operations. Moving into the Finger Lakes also marked an important evolution in winemaking. In addition to fruit and honey wines, the Martins began partnering with local growers to work with vinifera, native, and hybrid grape varieties. Montezuma Winery quickly earned a reputation for being a place where experimentation and tradition comfortably coexist.

As Montezuma Winery flourished, the family continued to explore new ideas. In 2007, they launched Hidden Marsh Distillery, becoming early advocates for craft distilling in New York State. At the time, only a handful of distilleries operated statewide, and the Martins actively supported legislative changes that made small-scale distilling possible. After the laws changed, they acquired a custom-built German pot still—one of the first in the Finger Lakes—and expanded their offerings to include spirits.

Growth continued to follow the family’s personal connections to place. In 2010, they opened a Montezuma Winery tasting room in Old Forge, inspired by generations of family trips to the Adirondacks through Ginny Martin’s family. In 2013, they introduced Idol Ridge Winery, perched high above Seneca Lake with sweeping views and a lodge-style tasting room handcrafted by Ed Martin. Idol Ridge brought a new brand and a distinct expression of grape wines to complement Montezuma’s lineup.

In the years that followed, the Martins added distilleries, new tasting rooms, and their first estate vineyard, while continuing to innovate and grow. Through every chapter, Montezuma Winery in Seneca Falls has remained the foundation—the place where a beekeeping family became a defining part of the Finger Lakes wine community.

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