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About Us |
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| Nestled in the heart of apple orchard country, Autumn Harvest Winery was opened in
July of 2005, by John & Marykay McIlquham. The John McIlquham family has been
growing apples for three generations in the small township of Lafayette, Chippewa
County, Wisconsin. Our story goes like this:
In 1924, John D. McIlquham and his brother, James, purchased an orchard on County Hwy OO. They operated the orchard together until 1929. At that time, orchard was split (each brother taking half). John D. and his wife, Elsie, and their four children operated the orchard until 1976. After John D.'s retirement in 1976, their eldest son, John J. Mcllquham and his wife, Katherine, purchased the "OO" orchard. John and Katherine already owned and operated an orchard one mile north, which they purchased in 1964, called "J&K Orchard" They made this orchard their home along with their three children. The J&K Orchard was so named for two reasons (first initial of each of their names) and (it is located on the corner of county highways J & K). John J. and Katherine owned and operated both orchards as John McIlquham Orchards until their retirement in 2000. Today, John E. McIlquham, his wife, Marykay, and their two children own and operate the families orchard on the corner of Co. Hwy J & K. Sadly, John J. McIlquham passed away September 22, 2004 and never saw the reopening of the "J&K Orchard". By taking Marykay's hobby of wine-making and adding it to the existing John McIlquham Orchard family business, they have added something new to the traditional orchard experience. Autumn Harvest Winery was the first winery in the Chippewa Valley. Since opening, the winery production as grown from 6 wines 12 wines. We produce wines that are light, crisp and full of fruit flavor. All of our wines are fermented in small batches (300 gal). We use a variety of apples, grapes, whole fruit and fruit juices to produce our wines. Our apple wines are fermented using apples grown in our orchard. Everything from start to finish is done by hand - that is, bottled, corked and labeled by hand at our winery facility east of Chippewa Falls! In September of 2007, Grampa Mac's Hard Apple Cider was introduced. The cider is a crisp, lightly carbonated fermented apple beverage. With an alcohol content of 6%, this beverage is lighter than an apple wine yet still has the full apple flavor cider enthusiasts crave. In 2011, four of our wines brought home medals from the inaugural Wisconsin State Fair Professional Wine Competition! Visitors to our orchard and tasting room can enjoy complimentary wine tasting during regular business hours, sample gourmet foods or peruse the gift shop. The patio provides seating to enjoy wine by the glass or bottle, while enjoying one of our many Wisconsin cheeses. During the fall season, 17 varieties of apples are available ready picked or pick- your-own, including Honeycrisp. Pick-your-own pumpkins, wagon rides and a FREE corn maze will surely delight kids of all ages! |
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| John D. McIlquham - 1976 With a bumper crop! |
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| State Fair Awards 1957 |
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