Sharon Vanorny
Korb: “We’ve started pouring the concrete.”
Construction is finally underway on a new winery in Westport. Dave Korb, owner of Drumlin Ridge Winery, has been growing cold-climate grape vines on his residential property on River Road for nearly a decade. Opening a production facility and tasting room on the 7.5-acre site has long been the plan, but Korb faced opposition from neighbors on his first few proposals. After scaling back the project, Drumlin Ridge Winery received approval from the village of Waunakee and the town of Westport last summer.
“We started pouring the concrete. We’ll start framing the main part of the building in just a few weeks,” says Korb.
Drumlin Ridge Winery is slated to open its doors in October. Korb hopes to have its first batch of Wisconsin-made wine available by the end of the year. He says he’s modeling the winery on small, family-run operations he’s seen in California. His wife, Brenda, will manage the tasting room, and his son, Keenan, will help produce the wine.
The Korb family has been making wine in California the last few years and will bring that operation to the state when construction is complete. Once it’s up and running, Korb says Drumlin Ridge will produce 2,000-4,000 cases a year with a combination of grapes grown onsite and from California.
