It's been 3 years since our last husband/wife overnighter on the Harley! What was originally planned as a Lake Superior Circle Tour was tweaked a bit and made shorter. First we picked a location, Red Wing, Minnesota so that we could ride up the Great Mississippi River Road on one side and home on the other. Next what to do along the way and other attractions once we landed. Cathy found what is known as the Great River Road Wine Trail. The GRRWT is a collection of 11 wineries all located near the upper Mississippi River in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Stopping at each one was a goal we set out to accomplish! Tastings at each one along with getting our Trail Map stamped meant in the end we would each earn a GRRWT wine glass. Keep in mind the glass itself is worth maybe a buck or two, but the adventure and memories collected along the way, priceless!
The order in which we visited the wineries were as follows (Wisconsin Side first); In Trempealeau, WI - Elmaro Winery. Pictures of this Winery don't do justice to the scenic view we enjoyed. Next we rode north to Fountain City and Seven Hawks Winery. Seven Hawks tasting was done in a refurbished building just of the Great River Road. Stop #3 was in Alma, Wisconsin at Danzinger Vineyards. Their vineyard boasts 18 acres established in 2003 and wine tasting began in 2010. The last winery for Day 1 was in Pepin, Wisconsin at Villa Bellezza Winery. Here we were treated to a classical Mediterranean style winery complex. In talking with the caretaker, a former City Planner in Pepin, he informed me one of the large building on property that houses weddings cost $2.75 million!! Believe it was money well spent. He added that they host an average of 10 weddings per month! What we have in South Central WI with Barn Weddings, we found out several of our stops along the Great River Road Wineries cater to Wedding Receptions!A day that started at 8:00am finally found us in Red Wing at our hotel for the next 3 nights around 5:00pm. We missed the last winery on the Wisconsin side, but vowed to stop there on Saturday after visiting Leinenkugel's.
Friday morning began with a hearty breakfast at Perkin's and the another stop at Elmaro Vineyard in Trempealeau because we enjoyed their sampling sooooooo much especially their Elmaro Rosa (this wine along with others we were told can be purchased at Woodmen's). From here we traveled to Winona, MN and Garvin Heights Vineyards. The owners both Doctor's began growing grapes 25 years ago and in 2007 started wine tasting and received a license to sell their wines. In 2015 their expanded building was able to host groups up to 100 people. Yep, more weddings!! From Winona we traveled to Cannon Falls, MN and Cannon River Winery. This ride was over 90 miles and found us on I-90 most of the way, not that we wanted to be on an Interstate but we still had two there wineries to visit after Cannon Falls! "Cannon River Winery’s Vineyard is home to more than 9,000 vines on 40 acres of land. Selected for its ideal soils, high elevation, and south-facing slopes, our Vineyard provides all of the qualities needed for excellent grapes, and in turn, delicious, award winning wines crafted by hand in our nearby Winery in downtown Cannon Falls" (from their website). Once we arrived, we knew dressed in Harley-Davidson rain-gear while others were in sport coats, dresses and formal wear, we were definitely OVERDRESSED!! There was a wedding reception going on (imagine that, another wedding), but we HAD to get our GRRWT Passbook stamped! No tastings here, just a stamp! Back on the Harley's we rode to Red Wing only 35 miles and stopped at Winery #4 for the day, Falconer Vineyards Winery & Bistro. After traveling what felt like a miniature version of Tail of the Dragon up to the hills overlooking the Mississippi River and riding a long gravel road, we were greeted by yet another party! Nope, not a wedding party but rather Dairyland Power Coopertive gathering. What this meant to all in attendance was free hot dogs (natural casings), chips, punch and cookies! So we had our wine tastings and walking over to the large sheltered area overlooking the valley below and river and enjoyed our long awaited lunch! Here they grow 6.5 acres of grapes. Finally we reached our 5th winery of the day, again in Red Wing at Flower Valley Vineyards. Flower Valley planted their vineyard in 2002 and 10 years later in 2012 opened their tasting room.
Saturday was a day we toured Leinenkuel's Brewery, a brewery established more than 150 years ago! I was amazed that in our group, one had never been to this Wisconsin tourist area! It was a no brainer we had to make it a stop! Leinie's Lodge opened at 10:00am and we arrived at 10:02am! Yep we made the first tour at 10:30am. With your $10 fee, your were treated to 5 - 5 ounce samplers or 2 - 12 ounce glasses. Since the tour lasted an hour and we knew shopping would last another hour, we sampled a few prior to the tour. 
After the tour we rode to the last Wisconsin Winery on the GRRWT route. Stockholm, Wisconsin is the home of Maiden Rock Winery & Cider. Opened for business in 2008, Maiden Rock serves all Gluten Free Wine and Ciders. Since we were still in Stockholm a stop at Stockholm Pie & General Store was a must!! Cathy had Coconut Cream, Marc had Sour Cream Raisin, Chris had Apple Pie and I had a slice of Dutch Apple with Ice Cream. 
Sunday morning we headed out early enough to stop at #10 of the 11 wineries listed on the Great River Road Wine Trail. In la Crescent, MN we stoped at Riverview Vineyard & Winery. Here we were served by one of the owners himself! This is a family owned farm that changed to growing grapes and making spectacular wines. My favorite was the Brianna, sweet wine. But the again, the other 2 I tasted were my favorites too as we purchased all 3 and had them shipped. Traveling on motorcycle only provides you with so much room and ours was already packed with 4 other bottles plus 2 - 12oz bottle of hard cider from Maiden Rock Winery & Cidery (Honeycrisp Hard). In all, we traveled a few miles short of 1,000 over 4 days! This after Cathy only had 130 miles on the Harley last season! Bike ran great! Wow only rode in a few sprinkles, never any down pours. As far as our purchases went, well we ended up buying 9 bottles of wine (4 came home on the bike, the other 5 being shipped) and a 4-pack of Honeycrisp Hard Cider. We still have to stop in Marquette, IA and Eagles Landing Winery to complete all 11 and earn our Great River Road Wine Trail wine glass! This glass will be treasured with the many fun times and memories that made this motorcycle adventure one of the very best!!
Remember to ride with skills, sober and smart. Keep challenging yourself by becoming a better, safer rider with each ride. Until next time - be SAFE!
Each photo can be clicked on for a larger picture.
