Madison drinks beer and eats cheese curds like the rest of the state, but it also sits in the middle of some of the best wine country in Wisconsin. The wineries near Madison include two tasting rooms inside the city, a sparkling-wine maker, and a ring of countryside wineries within 45 miles, several of which grow every grape they pour. You can taste all afternoon without going far, and pick the direction by what kind of day you want.
This guide is organized by which way you drive out of town, with straight-line distances from the Capitol. Madison also makes the best base in the state for touring Wisconsin wineries, with the Dells, Lake Geneva and the Mississippi all within reach.
Without leaving Madison
Two wineries pour inside the city, so you can taste without a designated driver or a country road.
On the west side, Cambridge Winery runs a tasting room on South Whitney Way, about 4 miles from the Capitol. It is the city outpost of a winery based in Cambridge, pouring its own wines made from Wisconsin, California and New York grapes, with small plates that make it a good after-work stop. The staff are known for explaining the list without any fuss, which helps if you are new to tasting.
On the east side, Odilon Ford Winery makes sparkling wine from Wisconsin-grown grapes, which almost nobody else in the state does. The grapes come from the family's Sampson Valley Vineyard in northeast Wisconsin, on land that was once the shore of Lake Michigan, and the wines are made with methods ranging from ancestral to traditional. The tasting room on Femrite Drive opened in 2022 in a plain building you could drive past. It opens on weekend afternoons and any other day by appointment, and the owner, Jerrold, usually pours. Look closely at the labels: some show the weather map from the day the grapes were picked.
North
Farther north, 24 miles out near Poynette, Rock N Wool Winery pours in a big rustic barn and makes its wine only from Wisconsin grapes, which the owners, Shaun and Maria Lapacek, treat as a point of principle. The wool in the name comes from the farm's sheep. The fruit wines, like blackberry, peach and blueberry, are popular, and in fall the winery has asked for volunteers to stomp grapes. Dogs are welcome outside, and there are activities for kids. It closes on Tuesdays. Poynette sits roughly halfway between Madison and the Dells, so Rock N Wool is an easy stop on the drive between the two.
Keep going north from Poynette and you are into the Baraboo Range, where the wineries around Baraboo and the Dells continue the trip.
West and southwest
West of Madison, the land breaks into the hills of the Driftless Area, and this is where the best of the region's wineries are.
Farther west, 42 miles out in Mineral Point, American Wine Project makes dry reds from Wisconsin grapes, including Marquette that even skeptics tend to like, and serves tacos on Saturdays. The grounds have gardens and a frog pond, and a cheese shop has opened inside. Mineral Point itself is an old lead-mining town turned arts town, and it makes a good afternoon on its own.
East and southeast
The towns that go with them
Several of these wineries sit next to towns worth an hour of their own, and pairing the two makes a better day.
New Glarus, a few miles from Bailey's Run, was settled by Swiss immigrants in 1845 and still looks the part, with chalet-style buildings, Swiss bakeries and the New Glarus Brewing Company on the hill above town. It is the natural lunch stop on a western loop.
Mineral Point, beside American Wine Project, is one of the oldest towns in Wisconsin. It grew up around lead mining in the 1820s and 1830s, and the stone cottages the Cornish miners built are now galleries, studios and small restaurants. Pendarvis, a historic site in town, tells the mining story.
Prairie du Sac, home to Wollersheim, sits on the Wisconsin River, and in the depths of winter the open water below the dam draws bald eagles by the dozen. Eagle watching in January and February, followed by a warm glass in the Wollersheim tasting room, is one of the better winter days out from Madison.
Food, music and dogs
For a real meal with the wine, Bailey's Run has brick-oven pizza every day, Wollersheim has its bistro, Timber Hill has a full menu, and Cambridge Winery cooks a weekly dinner menu. American Wine Project does tacos on Saturdays. Everywhere else, expect cheese boards and snacks.
For live music, Bailey's Run is the reliable one, with bands every weekend. Timber Hill has music on the deck in summer, and Botham hosts musicians on some weekend afternoons.
For dogs, Bailey's Run and Cambridge Winery welcome them on the patio and Rock N Wool welcomes them outside. Botham does not, because of its cats.
When to go
September and October are the best months for the wineries near Madison. The harvest is in, the Driftless hills west of the city turn color, and the patios at Bailey's Run and Botham are at their best. Summer weekends are busy and lively, especially when the bands are on.
Winter is quieter and shorter. Some wineries cut their hours or close for a stretch, Botham among them, while Wollersheim, Drumlin Ridge, Bailey's Run and Timber Hill keep going. It is a good season for Odilon Ford's small city tasting room and Wollersheim's cellars.
Which ones grow their own grapes
If it matters to you whether the wine comes from Wisconsin grapes, the wineries near Madison are a good place to find out, because several of them make a point of it.
Drumlin Ridge grows its own grapes and makes wine from them. Rock N Wool uses only Wisconsin grapes. Odilon Ford's sparkling wines come from the family's own vineyard in northeast Wisconsin. American Wine Project and Bailey's Run both work with cold-climate grapes grown in the state, and Wollersheim makes several of its wines from its own 27 acres.
Others blend in grapes from farther away. Botham makes its reds from estate grapes but brings in fruit for its whites, and Cambridge Winery works with grapes from Wisconsin, California and New York. None of that is a secret. The staff at each of these places will tell you where every wine comes from if you ask.
How a tasting works around Madison
Most of these wineries charge a small fee for a flight, and several take it off the price if you buy a bottle. Cambridge Winery credits the tasting against a bottle purchase, for example. Ask before you pay, since the policy varies.
Walk-ins are fine almost everywhere, but a few experiences need booking. Drumlin Ridge's production tour with barrel tasting runs by appointment, Odilon Ford opens outside its weekend hours by appointment only, and Wollersheim's guided tastings and winery tours are worth reserving on busy weekends.
Flights here are usually a handful of small pours. At the bigger places, like Drumlin Ridge and Bailey's Run, you pick your own from the list. At the smaller ones, like Odilon Ford and Rock N Wool, someone walks you through them, and that is often the better experience. If you like what you taste, buy a bottle. It is the best way to support a small winery, and many of these wines are hard to find in stores outside the area.
A Saturday loop
The best single day heads west. Leave Madison in the late morning for Wollersheim, spend an hour in the cellars and the tasting room, then drive southwest through the hills to Botham in Barneveld. Finish at Bailey's Run outside New Glarus with pizza and the band. It is a loop of about 80 miles through some of the prettiest country in southern Wisconsin, with New Glarus, a Swiss-settled village, right at the end.
For a shorter afternoon, stay close. Drumlin Ridge is 8 miles north, and pairing it with Odilon Ford's weekend tasting room back in the city makes an easy two-stop day.
Heading southeast works too, with Cambridge Winery and Timber Hill on the way toward Janesville or Lake Geneva, and a dinner at either one to finish the day.
Several of these wineries shorten their hours or close for part of the winter, Botham among them. Bailey's Run, Timber Hill, Drumlin Ridge and Wollersheim are the safest winter bets. Whenever you go, check hours before you set out, and settle who is driving before the first pour.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 28, 2026
