Why Not Wisconsin? The Origins of Our Wineries

In our tasting rooms, we get a lot of questions about the origins of Parallel 44 and Door 44. Today, we’d like to share our story to help you appreciate your wine-drinking experience to the fullest!

Maria and I both grew up with our fathers making wine for family celebrations, so it was a natural connection for us.

In 1994, for our honeymoon, we decided to visit Napa Valley in California. We were law students on a frugal budget but we wanted to experience Wine Country. While there we walked into the tasting room of the Coppola Winery and we purchased the winery’s least expensive bottle and a baguette and walked out into the vineyard. We sat down between the rows, uncorked the bottle, looked up at the sky and asked ourselves, Why not Wisconsin?

Very few people had attempted making wine here in Wisconsin but we were inspired by the notion that we all need to live a life a purpose-filled life.

Our wineries, Parallel 44 and Door 44, are our personal expression of our passion. We should all pursue the passions we feel inside ourselves. Please share your own story with us when you visit one of our wineries because our experiences over wine help us to connect and inspire each other.

Cheers!