POYNETTE, Wis.— A Wisconsin family has transformed their family farm from animals to grapes.
About 14 years ago, the Rock N Wool Winery was filled with sheep.
Now, it’s filled with thousands of bottles of wine. That’s all thanks to a family who turned a farm into a vineyard.
Bottling wine is one of the many stages the wine goes through before it hits the shelves. For the Lapacek family, it’s a fun part of the process.
“We’ve got the worlds greatest corker right here, Lorena. So, she takes the bottles and puts it in our machine, squeezes it and pops that cork in,” Rock N Wool Winery Owner, Shaun Lapacek said.
Family and members of the community work together to bottle hundreds of bottles of wine, which is only made from Wisconsin-grown grapes.
The Rock N Wool Winery used to be a sheep farm back in the day.
In 2013, they opened as a winery and still get to work together as a family to this day.
“I’ve got a career where I can see my dad all the time and he gets to see his granddaughters," said Lapacek. "You kind of feel like you did something right in life."
David Lapacek is Shaun’s dad. He used to farm sheep and has watched this farm transform over the years.
“This whole barn was pens. It’s kind of crazy to think of it that way but we cleaned it up good and we worked hard to build it,” David Lapacek said.
So instead of shearing sheep, they are bottling 20,000 gallons of wine this year.
The label on their bottles help to tell their family story.
Many of them showcase their daughters: Nadia Jo and Hannah Jo. It’s a way to share their family history while people enjoy their wine. It’s a family affair.
They have turned a 100 year old barn into a winery while creating more family history that can be told over a glass of wine.
Check out Rock N Wool's website or Facebook page to learn more.