A Guide to Wine, Cider, and Spirits Tasting Near Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva's bar scene gets plenty of attention, but the area is also home to a handful of wineries, cideries, and distilleries worth a slower, more deliberate visit. Here is a profile of each, so you can decide which fits the kind of afternoon you are after.

Geneva Lake Distilling + Winery

Geneva Lake Distilling + Winery sits on the upper east side of downtown and is the only winery and distillery actually located within Lake Geneva itself. Everything is produced on site, from wine to handcrafted spirits, and the patio hosts live music most Friday and Saturday evenings, making it easy to turn a tasting into a full evening out. Best for visitors who want to stay downtown and combine a tasting with a night out.

AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery

About twenty five minutes from downtown in Burlington, AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery makes hard ciders, wines, and spirits from heirloom apples grown on the adjoining Brightonwoods Orchard. The rural, working farm setting is a nice change of pace from a downtown tasting room, and the property includes walking paths through the orchard itself. Best for visitors who want a quieter, more rustic tasting experience with a bit of a country drive.

Staller Estate Winery

Staller Estate Winery in Delavan rounds out the list with a more traditional vineyard setting a short drive from Lake Geneva. Best for visitors already spending a day around Delavan Lake who want to add a tasting to the itinerary without a long drive back.

Planning a Tasting Day

Because these three spots are spread across three different towns, it is worth picking one or two rather than trying to hit all of them in a single afternoon.

Pairing a winery visit with lunch nearby, or ending the day back downtown for dinner, tends to work better than a rushed tour of every stop on the list. Most tasting rooms are happy to walk first time visitors through their offerings, so do not feel like you need to know much going in. Asking questions about how a particular cider or spirit is made is usually the fastest way into a good conversation with the staff.

Lake Geneva's wine, cider, and spirits scene may be smaller than its restaurant and bar lineup, but it offers a genuinely different kind of afternoon, one built around slowing down and tasting something made close to home.