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Putting Wisconsin's Wine Country on the Map
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Wine guru Steve DeBaker with map of the Wisconsin Ledge Wine Trail
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Nature Created the Niagara Escarpment
Steve DeBaker Created the Wisconsin Ledge
Steve's winery, Trout Springs Winery (TSW) is the birthplace of the Wisconsin Ledge.
Long story short, TSW is located in Greenleaf, Wisconsin (south of Green Bay, west of Lake Michigan), where the area’s temperate climate rivals that of some of the best grape-growing regions on earth. Like Napa Valley. The Federal Government officially identifies prime grape-producing locations as American Viticultural Areas (AVA).
Steve figured wine lovers should know about the pedigree of his grapes. So, with proof and paperwork in hand, he went to the Fed. In the winter of 2005 just after opening the doors at TSW, Steve petitioned the Federal Government to establish just under 2.5-million acres to be designated a prime grape-growing region based upon the Niagara Escarpment. After several years of numerous evaluations, more paperwork, and persistence, a petition was passed in 2012 establishing the Wisconsin Ledge, a bona fide AVA—just like Napa Valley.
And for that TSW was named the 2014 Winery of the Year by the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association. (For a more detailed account about how Steve established the Wisconsin Ledge AVA, read the article in his own words here.)
Long story short, TSW is located in Greenleaf, Wisconsin (south of Green Bay, west of Lake Michigan), where the area’s temperate climate rivals that of some of the best grape-growing regions on earth. Like Napa Valley. The Federal Government officially identifies prime grape-producing locations as American Viticultural Areas (AVA).
Steve figured wine lovers should know about the pedigree of his grapes. So, with proof and paperwork in hand, he went to the Fed. In the winter of 2005 just after opening the doors at TSW, Steve petitioned the Federal Government to establish just under 2.5-million acres to be designated a prime grape-growing region based upon the Niagara Escarpment. After several years of numerous evaluations, more paperwork, and persistence, a petition was passed in 2012 establishing the Wisconsin Ledge, a bona fide AVA—just like Napa Valley.
And for that TSW was named the 2014 Winery of the Year by the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association. (For a more detailed account about how Steve established the Wisconsin Ledge AVA, read the article in his own words here.)
A Great Place
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St. Croix
Marquette
Frontenac
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Wisconsin Ledge
* The Ledge is currently home to 20 bonded wineries.
* The land on the peninsula slopes gently upward from the shores of Lake Michigan to the top of the Ledge, before dropping sharply off into Green Bay.
* The Ledge covers 3,800 square miles; it's 138 miles long and 55 miles long.
* Most of the vineyards lie on eastern-facing slopes that benefit from constant air movement from Lake Michigan, which stores warmth during the summer.
* The Ledge is the Wisconsin section of the Niagara Escarpment (below), a prominent rock ridge that spans nearly 1,000 miles in an arc across the Great Lakes region, forming the ancient “backbone” of North America. It runs from Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through southern Ontario to New York State, where Niagara Falls cascades over it, giving the escarpment its name.
* The land on the peninsula slopes gently upward from the shores of Lake Michigan to the top of the Ledge, before dropping sharply off into Green Bay.
* The Ledge covers 3,800 square miles; it's 138 miles long and 55 miles long.
* Most of the vineyards lie on eastern-facing slopes that benefit from constant air movement from Lake Michigan, which stores warmth during the summer.
* The Ledge is the Wisconsin section of the Niagara Escarpment (below), a prominent rock ridge that spans nearly 1,000 miles in an arc across the Great Lakes region, forming the ancient “backbone” of North America. It runs from Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through southern Ontario to New York State, where Niagara Falls cascades over it, giving the escarpment its name.
Niagara Escarpment