Come for the tour, stay for the wine: New tasting experience in Town of Norway a fast success

TOWN OF NORWAY — A wine touring and tasting experience in its first few months already has brought travelers to the area from all over the country. Just one of the Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience event days at Spirits of Norway Vineyard brought people from Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire and Iowa, according to vineyard co-owner and President Randy Larson.

The tour starts with a guided walk through the business’ vineyard, 22200 W. Six Mile Road. It continues to the winery where patrons are able to see how the wine is crafted. The last stop is the tasting room where visitors can sample a portfolio of white and red wines — and all the rosés in between.

Norway Town Administrator and Treasurer Tom Kramer, who also is a county supervisor for District 13, said there are certain types of people who indulge this kind of activity. It’s similar to having a craft brewery, he said. “People that go to wine tastings and visit a vineyard typically aren’t the same people you’d see at a bar at two in the morning.”

Kramer said with people coming to the Town of Norway for the Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience, “there’s always a potential that they come out and eat at one of our fine restaurants, in Norway or Racine County.”

Eating flavonoid-rich foods, such as berries, apples, pears, and wine, can have a “positive effect” on blood pressure levels. Flavonoids are compounds found naturally in fruits, vegetables, and plant-based foods such as tea, chocolate, and wine, with previous studies confirming that they offer a variety of health benefits.

‘We want to be open to the public’

Spirits of Norway Vineyard’s Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience is available two weekends per month, May through October. Reservations are required, and tickets are limited — as of Wednesday, there were only a few available time slots left in October.

General admission tickets are $10 for adults ages 21 and up, and includes three free tastings. Patrons can add on additional items to their reservations such as more tastings, wine by the glass or bottles to go, a photo opportunity reliving the iconic “I Love Lucy” grape stomp scene or membership to the VIP Wine Club.

The business’ newest add-on experience is cheese, chocolate and cracker snacking to serve as an accompaniment for wine tasting. Spirits of Norway sources uniquely-flavored cheese, such as citrus ginger Gouda and cabernet white cheddar, from Hill Valley Dairy in East Troy.

Larson said he and the other co-owner, Cindee Henrichs, wanted to bring a tasting room to the business because Larson found research stating tasting rooms could potentially bring in a large majority of a winery’s income — as high as 47%, according to Wines Vines Analytics, a database for the wine industry.

“Last year was a tough year, as it had been for many businesses,” Larson said.

“We had been 10 years without a tasting room and we want to be open to the public,” he said, referring to the years the business has been active and the early grape growing years prior. “We want to be available to people. We want to show them the vines, bring them inside the winery, have them see how it’s made, taste our wine.”

Jacqueline Roberts grabs an almond cracker

Jacqueline Roberts of the Brown Deer area in Milwaukee County grabs an almond cracker during the Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience on Saturday at Spir…

Opening the tasting room

In March, Spirits of Norway went before the Racine County Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee and received approval for the home-base agricultural related business (located in an A-2, General Farming and Residential District II) to allow onsite sale of products to the public and be open on a limited registration basis.

The Norway Planning Commission and the Norway Town Board then approved the change in business plans for Spirits of Norway on May 5.

The approval was granted because the business had a good plan and it adds something to the community, Kramer said. “They’ve been in business six years now, it’s the next step in a vineyard. It’s a little niche business.”

Outdoor seating

Pictured is outdoor seating for the Tour ‘N’ Taste Experience at Spirits of Norway Vineyard, 22200 W. Six Mile Road in the Town of Norway. The…

The bar inside the tasting room was constructed throughout May in a preexisting cold storage building Spirits of Norway already had on its property. The bar was complete by June 1. The owners additionally set up outdoor seating and a pergola.

Larson said Tour ‘N’ Taste has brought great success to the business. Its revenue has surpassed the predicted 47% threshold; with the extra add-on items to the tour, customers buy more wine and other merchandise, which contributes to the higher numbers. One customer bought a whopping five cases of wine, which was “fabulous,” Larson said.

He additionally said this summer has been the best growing season and he plans to have a “record setting” harvest.

This success is even despite initial thoughts this spring that the vineyard may have lost 30% of its grapes due to a May frost. Grapes have a growth cycle of primary and secondary buds — and the secondary buds grew in, saving the lost primary buds.

“It’s been such a good growing year. Grapes like to be stressed out; they like to be hot and dry, which is what we’ve been having with the drought,” Larson said. “I don’t irrigate. I didn’t have to do anything.”

‘A tiny little gold mine’