northleaf winery

I enjoyed the trip to the winery, started in 2009, in a very old building. The wines are good, paired with cheeses that enhance the flavors of the wine. The girls were helpful, always smiling, even with dealing with a little mixup as to the price of the wine tastings. The lunch served was ok, not top caliber but very good and they served it in the winery instead of the Bistro next door for some reason. I would have liked to see the Bistro.. The wines are good, a bit more pricey that what I usually pay, but good.

We had a Living Social deal for a wine tasting with either chocolate or cheese, reservations required. The day before we called, and it sounded like the winery was booked up. When we got there, only a few other tables were occupied. We found the table with our name and sat down. No one greeted us, but eventually a bored woman came with wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and a plate of chocolates. She told us which chocolate to sample with that wine, and she came back with more wines when we had finished. The chocolates were tiny and not at all special. The wines weren't that great either. Not worth our time, and very overpriced, even with our deal.

My mother, sister and I visited the winery for an afternoon tasting. We were the only three guests there, but we're not greeted or welcomed by the two women at the desk. We stood around for awhile before one of the women asked if we needed help. We explained that we had a reservation and the woman set us up. She explained the process and then began going through the tasting samples. The whole experience felt very rushed. The woman conducting the tasting seemed bored and gave the impression that we wre wasting her time. After the tasting we looked around a bit, we each purchased a bottle of wine and left. We were very disappointed in the service. We walked over to the Bistro for lunch. This was an entirely different experience. The staff greeted us with huge smiles and great conversation. The menu was not big, but the food was delicious. We each had soup and quiche. It was a very enjoyable experience.

Since we clearly did not meet your expectations, I'm very sorry you had this experience at my winery, especially since we normally pride ourselves on our customer service. But I assure you we take this very seriously. There is no excuse for staff to fail to greet customers, nor for staff not to show interest in you and communicate with you throughout the experience. Our wine pours are not stingy; tastes consist of at least 2 ounces of wine each, from which most people can easily get several sips. If you did not get that much, I would apologize for that as well. Our servers are trained to talk about both the wine and chocolate during each of the 6 pairings and why they are paired together. As a customer, I would have hoped that if you wanted to know more, you would have asked for a longer explanation, and that if you had difficulty hearing, you would have asked your server to speak up. Our servers also take their timing cues from whatever table they are serving at the time. Some guests are ready for the next sample in a snap, other guests linger over a sample for a very long time. Only our cranberry wine is locally grown, and as you noted, our grape wines are not, but the prices range from $12-15 per bottle, which is a more than fair price for the varietals we use in our wines. We also do have a winery tour, and although it was not included in the half-price package you purchased, you could have asked for that as well, when you made your reservation. I thank you for taking the time to review us.

Fabulous meeting you both! Look forward to having you as guests again!

Great location and beautiful old building. It is a bit small. It is possible to reserve a space, apparently. You got to taste 4 wines for free and could order an additional 6 tastings for $4.50. Good value. The woman behind the bar was a bit rushed and did not seem to take much interest in sharing my boyfriend or me. I've been to tastings in Sonoma and expected her to be chattier about the wines, process and history.

Thank you for the fabulous review! It was a pleasure having you here. I enjoyed hearing about everywhere you have been or will be on your Staycation, too!

Visited on a Friday with a friend. 4 wine samples are free, additional samples are $1. Very reasonable. While not a huge fan of the wines, the wine tasting area is really welcoming; pourer was very friendly and knowledgeable; atmosphere was relaxing with lots of tables; surrounded by really interesting wine-related goods and, of course, their wine. We left with cool t-shirts...I don't usually find t-shirts in ladies styles. We followed the fun wine-tasting experience with a really good lunch at the bistro across the parking lot. Home-made bread, home-made soups, great service, indoor and outdoor seating--and lots of it! This place is bigger than it looks from the outside. Has a stage for music on the large patio. I had the Combo with the #1 sandwich (ham, muenster cheese, avocado spread, whole wheat bread) and the featured quiche (lorrainne) and loved it. My friend had a salad and the french onion soup--which smelled so good I wish I would have also ordered a bowl. The menu is designed to create your own sandwiches, although their suggestions are awesome. I will definitely want to stop in again and again.

Thank you for your kind reviews! We so enjoyed having you and hope to see you back. Take care.

We were given a Groupon for a wine and cheese pairing at Northleaf, as well as a gift certificate for a stay in their guest house. We are wine fans, but not wine snobs; out of the four that we picked for the tasting, two of them (Volstead Red & a Chardonnay) were so good that we bought a half-case of each to take home. The red is mostly Cab, with just a pinch of Syrah added to give it a real smooth cherry finish. The Chardonnay is soooo smooth; no harsh aftertaste that many "good" chardonnays try to disguise as flavorful. The guest house on the property is a real treat, too. It's an entire floor above their bistro, is very clean, and well appointed. A great night's stay and a place to enjoy a bottle of their fine wine at the end of the day. The next morning brought us to brunch in the bistro downstairs; homemade breads, soups, and quiche were the order of the day, and they did not disappoint. Once again, as is typical in Wisconsin, the waitstaff and other workers were incredibly nice. I know the state thrives on tourism, and it is easy to see why they handle it so well. Thumbs up to the winery, guest house, and bistro!

I was visiting the lake here in Milton just a few weeks ago and we all decided to stop in the town to visit this winery. We all partook of the wine samplings. I tried the Redhawk Reserve Riesling, Green Apple Riesling, Clear Lake Road Red, and Town Square Series Muscat. The first four wines are free of charge and any extra you wish to try are just $1 more per sample. The service was lovely, our server was quite friendly and helpful with the explanation of each wine. I ended up purchasing the Redhawk Reserve Riesling and was pleasantly surprised that a bottle came in at the price of only $14.00. I would recommend this as a great place to stop for an activity a little out of the ordinary. I have heard that the bistro next door is a great place to stop for lunch as well.

I live right up the road from the Northleaf Winery and Bistro and am embarrassed to admit I am finally just now stopping in. My husband and I were there today for a spur of the moment lunch and I was very pleasantly surprised. I chose the half sandwich/salad combo and it was wonderful. The homemade bread and sandwich spread were delicious and spinach salad perfect. The service was outstanding and the outside patio was lovely on a warm Saturday afternoon. I will definitely be back and next time plan to spend some time at the winery. This is a hidden gem in the small tow of Milton, WI.

I used a groupon for the wine and chocolate pairings. My friend and I had lunch on the patio before the wine tasting. The lunch was delicious and the tasting was a lot of fun. We had never done a wine and chocolate pairing. It was very interesting to see how the chocolate brings out different attributes in the wine. I also bought groupon for a wine and cheese tasting. I can't wait!

Thank you for your feedback; it is always enlightening to read what our guests have to say.I apologize that your experience at our bistro was not up to your expectations. I would have hoped that if your food was not satisfactory when you were served, you would have sent it back and had us remake it or ordered something else. While most of our breads are made on site, and all of our spreads are our own unique recipes, we do use center cut deli meats, and Wisconsin cheeses from a cheesemaker whose business has been open since 1908. When we opened the Bistro we purchased glass goblets that are of a thicker construction to stand up to the high volume of use we hoped they would get. The manufacturer suggested this particular goblet for a number of beverages, so we went with that choice, since we serve a number of beverages. There have always been wine glasses on site at the Bistro, for those who preferred them, but we will, at your suggestion, consider using them as our standard. I’m very sorry you missed out on the winery, as that is where our expertise lies. We are a small family winery with award-winning wines, all crafted on site. So, just to clarify this: we are a winery that happens to have a sandwich shop next door for your convenience, not a sandwich shop that happens to have a winery next door. Thank you once more for caring enough to share your thoughts with us. We depend on the opinions of our guests to know how we are doing.

Perfect venue for midweek visits with girlfriends! The staff is fabulous! It's our own "Cheers" in Milton, WI where "everyone knows your name"!