By Mary Grieco
Catholic Herald correspondent
New winery and vineyard blessed
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Fr. Gerald Hagen, center, pastor of the Phillips, Prentice and Catawba cluster of parishes, blesses vines at Linda and David Welbes' new vineyard. Participating in the ceremony are Linda's mother, Marge Gamble, left, Linda Welbes, Katie Welbes, Deacon Jim Celba and and David Welbes. (Catholic Herald photo by Mary Grieco) |
TRIPOLI -- David and Linda Welbes will soon be opening Brigadoon Winery, but before that happens they asked their pastor at St. John Baptist in Prentice to bless their new venture. Fr. Gerald Hagen, who was accompanied by Deacon Jim Celba, admitted he had never blessed a winery and vineyard, but he found the appropriate prayers in the Book of Blessings. The blessing for fields and flocks includes a reference to vineyards.
"The good Lord has been leading us in this," said Linda. "From the time we decided to start this, so many things have fallen into place and many people have been supportive and offered their help."
David, an electrician by trade, has been interested in wine making for a long time. Eight years ago, he and Linda decided to start a few grape vines, and much to their surprise they thrived. Now they look over their more recently planted vineyard of more than 80 vines, which they hope will produce four varieties by next year. And they have plans to add even more next year.
"It doesn't look quite like anything in California," Linda said. To which David added, "But you have to start somewhere."
In the meantime, they have been purchasing grapes and other fruit from several sources, and they have so far made eight varieties of wine from grapes and five from other fruit. There are 14,000 bottles ready to be sold, as soon as all the official labels arrive.
Their spacious, new sales area has a wine-tasting corner and room to display hundreds of bottles. They also have a variety of gifts including jams and wine jellies, which they produce under the Brigadoon Farms label. Their daughter, Katie, is working in sales, while Linda spends much of her time making the jams and jellies in their new commercial kitchen.
"Wine making is not easy," David noted. "It is very physical work." But he is enjoying the challenge. His face lights up as he talks about their wines.
"We try to go for more of a heavy, bold wine," he explained. "We like to stick to dry, semi-dry and semi-sweet, and all have very good color." Even though he is pleased with their current assortment, he continues to explore new ideas. "You never learn it all," he said.
"The experimenting -- the creative side -- is what's fun about this," Linda added. One part that has been somewhat less than enjoyable, they admitted, is the tedious permitting process, but all is now in order.
Why call the winery and farm Brigadoon? As they explain on their page of Wisconsin's Winery Guide, "Everyone is searching for a Brigadoon. Well, we found our little bit of heaven in North Central Wisconsin. ... Sunshine can pop through a wee hole. It's also popped into each bottle of wine that we produce."
As they prepare to officially open in July, they are getting much appreciated help from friends and family. Among the enthusiastic helpers is Linda's mother, Marge Gamble, who will be doing her share when it comes to affixing all the labels. This faith-filled family has included a cross as part of the label design.
Linda has a dream for the winery. "I hope we can some day produce a sacramental wine," she said. "That would be the ultimate and would be our way of being able to give back for all that we have been given."
Editor's note: Brigadoon Winery is located off Hwy. 8, just west of Tripoli. For more information, call 715-564-2280.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004