For the fourth year in a row Parallel 44 Vineyard & Winery was awarded Winery of the Year at the 2025 International Cold Climate Wine Competition (ICCWC) held in Minnesota last week.
This competition was held with 21 expert wine judges on 354 wines from all over Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, and Ontario. This is the only competition dedicated to wines made from grapes grown in the Upper Midwest, Northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada.
This award goes to the winery receiving the most medals in the competition. This year both Ziegler Winery from Malone, WI and Parallel 44 Kewanee, WI each received 26 medals. Parallel 44’s sister winery Door 44, north of Sturgeon Bay received 6 additional medals.
This is then only competition exclusively dedicated to the wines made from grapes varieties grown in the Upper Midwest, North Eastern United States and parts of Canada. The panel of 21 judges ranging from wine writers to sommeliers to winemakers evaluated over 343 wines.
“To be able to continue to consistently grow and craft these wines to impress these judges four years in a row means that we are on the right track to putting this unexpected corner of the wine world on the map” added Johnson.
“Every year the wines get better and the expectations of the competition go higher. This is what you want when you are establishing a new wine region. In the early days, and even now, it still feels like we are pioneering a new wine region from new wine grape varieties for a new and emerging wine drinking public.”
“We are very proud of our team that works in the vineyards and tasting rooms of our two wineries. It takes a great team to pioneer a wine region that was barely ‘a thought’ only 15 years ago. You need a ton of perseverance and passion on everyone’s part to pursue this mission of growing and producing wines from this part of the world” said Johnson.
Earlier this year, Parallel 44 also fared well in the largest wine competition in North America, the San Francisco Wine Chronicle Competition in January. In that competition of over 5500 wines and 950 wineries it received the most medals for a winery outside the state of California.
“We are not doing this just for us, the goal is to elevate the quality and reputation of this whole region, which now is officially recognized as one of the newest wine appellations in America called the Wisconsin Ledge, named after the Niagara Escarpment. While we produce the most “Wisconsin Ledge” wines out there, we want more and more wineries in the area to continue to grow their production of wines actually grown and produced in this very new American Viticultural Area” said Johnson.
In the 2025 ICCWC Parallel 44 and Door 44 were awarded Double Golds for its Sparkler, Bliss, and Ledge Blanc and Golds were received for its Frontenac Blanc, Ice Cider, Lacrescent, Red Door and Vintners Reserve.
