The Story of Madigan Winery
Mickey Madden sold me 16 acres in 2002 on which I wanted to create a value-added agricultural commodity that I thought would be blueberries.
The soil was not conducive to blueberry production, and so, with a little research, grapes came to the fore.
My dad and I planted our first vineyard the next year in Marechal Foch, a French-American hybrid that tolerates our winters fairly well and grows a juicy, fruity, grape, best suited to an oaked, dry-red wine style. We’ve won awards for the one we make:
The first was a Silver as an amateur competitor at the Iowa State Fair. We took that one to the bank, after building the shell for our winery, abutted to a 100+ year-old granary, our tasting room, on a credit card. Karen and I did all the work ourselves over the course of four years with the help of our farmer neighbor, Ray, and my brother, Reilly.
The second award, a Double-Gold, for our dry red wine, called “Red Moon Rising,” was in 2017 at the Great American International wine competition.
Starting in 2017, I’ve begun to make my dry red with a field blend of Marechal Foch, Petite Pearl and Marquette.
I’m a self-taught wine maker, and therefore have made many mistakes. The learning curve is steep. I’m still making mistakes and still learning, nevertheless have managed to get lucky and have a handful of enjoyable wines on the menu at any given time. There's beauty in being able to taste wines before you buy.
In 2011, I began planting more vines, this time La Crosse, a hybrid created by Elmer Swenson, who was a dairy farmer near Hudson, Wisconsin who bred grapes, at first, as a hobby as early as the 40’s and 50’s.
The following two years we planted Marquette and Petite Pearl.
Everything I’ve done out here has been on a shoe-string budget, likewise with the new vineyard. I could not afford trellis and fence, and so the vines grew along the ground for the first couple of years, the deer and rabbits keeping them well shorn.
At present, our vineyard is capable, in good years, of providing about 20-30% of our production. We put something of ours in every batch of wine we make, with some being entirely estate grown. For the remaining production necessities, we source local and regional grapes and juice, with some of our juice coming from New York state. We make all of the wine we sell in our production facility onsite.
For a small winery in the way-back countryside, interest and sales have been impressive. Our idyllic setting, on our covered porch, with 1-acre pond and vineyard in sight, can make for an enjoyable afternoon visit.
We are currently expanding our physical footprint in the form of a residential structure--a two story gambrel-roofed barn--that will provide indoor/outdoor climate-controlled seating options in our family room and on our deck for our winery's patrons. Contained within the blueprint will be a kitchenette-style mother-in-law apartment that we'll rent out to visitors when not used by family. We are doing the work ourselves, as with the tasting room and production facility, so anticipate slow and steady growth until full functionality slated for spring 2022.
Karen continues to work at “The Salon” in La Crosse as a hairstylist of 30+ years, having sold that business in 2019. She is an integral and valuable owner-partner in the winery. I'm a former medical lab tech, now strictly a winemaker and small-business owner since April, 2020.
Mickey Madden sold me 16 acres in 2002 on which I wanted to create a value-added agricultural commodity that I thought would be blueberries.
The soil was not conducive to blueberry production, and so, with a little research, grapes came to the fore.
My dad and I planted our first vineyard the next year in Marechal Foch, a French-American hybrid that tolerates our winters fairly well and grows a juicy, fruity, grape, best suited to an oaked, dry-red wine style. We’ve won awards for the one we make:
The first was a Silver as an amateur competitor at the Iowa State Fair. We took that one to the bank, after building the shell for our winery, abutted to a 100+ year-old granary, our tasting room, on a credit card. Karen and I did all the work ourselves over the course of four years with the help of our farmer neighbor, Ray, and my brother, Reilly.
The second award, a Double-Gold, for our dry red wine, called “Red Moon Rising,” was in 2017 at the Great American International wine competition.
Starting in 2017, I’ve begun to make my dry red with a field blend of Marechal Foch, Petite Pearl and Marquette.
I’m a self-taught wine maker, and therefore have made many mistakes. The learning curve is steep. I’m still making mistakes and still learning, nevertheless have managed to get lucky and have a handful of enjoyable wines on the menu at any given time. There's beauty in being able to taste wines before you buy.
In 2011, I began planting more vines, this time La Crosse, a hybrid created by Elmer Swenson, who was a dairy farmer near Hudson, Wisconsin who bred grapes, at first, as a hobby as early as the 40’s and 50’s.
The following two years we planted Marquette and Petite Pearl.
Everything I’ve done out here has been on a shoe-string budget, likewise with the new vineyard. I could not afford trellis and fence, and so the vines grew along the ground for the first couple of years, the deer and rabbits keeping them well shorn.
At present, our vineyard is capable, in good years, of providing about 20-30% of our production. We put something of ours in every batch of wine we make, with some being entirely estate grown. For the remaining production necessities, we source local and regional grapes and juice, with some of our juice coming from New York state. We make all of the wine we sell in our production facility onsite.
For a small winery in the way-back countryside, interest and sales have been impressive. Our idyllic setting, on our covered porch, with 1-acre pond and vineyard in sight, can make for an enjoyable afternoon visit.
We are currently expanding our physical footprint in the form of a residential structure--a two story gambrel-roofed barn--that will provide indoor/outdoor climate-controlled seating options in our family room and on our deck for our winery's patrons. Contained within the blueprint will be a kitchenette-style mother-in-law apartment that we'll rent out to visitors when not used by family. We are doing the work ourselves, as with the tasting room and production facility, so anticipate slow and steady growth until full functionality slated for spring 2022.
Karen continues to work at “The Salon” in La Crosse as a hairstylist of 30+ years, having sold that business in 2019. She is an integral and valuable owner-partner in the winery. I'm a former medical lab tech, now strictly a winemaker and small-business owner since April, 2020.