Brambleberry is a La Crosse, WI area winery and wedding venue

Winemakers Chris and Sherry Hardie have a real passion for wine. It began 30 years ago when they made their first batch of blackberry wine from estate-grown fruit. A lucky stab in the dark, it turned out fabulous!

Over the years, we have enjoyed trying many different types of wine. Having worked as newspaper wine columnists for the last 15 years, we have had the opportunity to sample a wide variety of wines. Sherry prefers big, bold leathery reds with elements of earthiness and smokiness. Her favorites are Italian reds and French bordeaux. People ask Sherry about her favorite Brambleberry wine and she says there is no single favorite — there are eight reds that are all her favorites. Her favorite sweetie is Elizabeth’s Golden Age, which tastes like a like version of pina colada. Chris also likes the big reds and the wines of Italy and France, but can be enticed with carmenere and petite sirah. A sauvignon blanc or a big and buttery chardonnay hits the spot as well for both of us.

We enjoyed introducing people to wines and sharing them at our bed and breakfast. Guests kept telling us that we should open a winery. So we did in 2013!

We now share with guests our own inspired versions of classic grape wines. We prefer warm climate grape wines to the colder climate versions, so we are sourcing materials from around the world to make our wines. We have done some experimental plantings of cold climate grapes but they don’t do well with our cold winters that can reach 40-below zero.

Our winery is inspired by our Scottish heritage, like our bed and breakfast. We are conscientious stewards of the land. In addition to our passion for wine, we enjoy hosting glorious weddings, visiting antique shops,watching Outlander and Game of Thrones, enjoying music, and spending time with our children, grandchildren and friends. We also spend time in our organic garden and taking care of our Scottish Blackface sheep and our beautiful Scottish Highland cows.