Vino in the Valley, near Ellsworth Wisconsin Field Report

I have a previous blog post about Vino In the Valley, near Ellsworth, Wisconsin (their Facebook page).

I had the opportunity to stop at Vino in the Valley during a vacation in western Wisconsin. This was to be our last major outing of our vacation.

What I had heard about Vino in the Valley was that they had an outdoor oven. That turned out to be true. Their oven is outside.

What I had been expecting was that it would be a wood-fired oven. In that, my expectation was not met; it was fired by gas (of some kind). It actually was a two-level oven; it might be that the different decks were maintained at different temperatures.

What I thought might be a kind of vineyard setting (more like Falconer Vineyard’s Vineyard Bistro, Red Wing, Minnesota) turned out to more of an open-air supper club. There was a long building with fabric walls, many tables, a couple of bars, and even a lounge singer (seen below heading for her outdoor stage).

The building has a couple of angles so that the ends bend toward the gazebo that acts as the stage.

You can see the outdoor bar in the background here and many tables with umbrellas for people to wait at. After checking in at the reception desk, we were given one of the squarish electronic devices that vibrates and flashes to let you know when your table is ready. As a couple, we got seated very promptly.

We were actually seated near the front, right next to an indoor bar and close to the oven.

Whoever was running the oven, was very quick. I never had enough time to snap a picture of what was going into or out of the oven with the oven door open.

Unlike some of the other places we ate at on this trip, a small pizza came with a salad and a bread basket. The pizza when we got it was at best OK.

What Vino in the Valley apparently is, is an open-air supper club. They had a big parking lot, and there were a lot of cars in it. What Vino in the Valley is not, is a wood-fired pizza place. There was a mismatch in expectations between what I was hoping to find and what they are. For people who are looking for what they are, they are great. For somebody like me who looks for wood-fired oven pizza, they are not what I was expecting.


For similar places, click on the vineyard and farm labels on the right of the page. There is also a blog post about Wisconsin Pizza Farms.

Vino In the Valley, near Ellsworth, Wisconsin

Chance conversation about "pizza farms" brought mention of Vino In the Valley, near Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

Their menu mentions a Sunday buffet (not a Sunday morning buffet!).

Their times and days of operation are here. Not open on Fridays for some reason.

Oops. Missed their Facebook page in the first version of this page.

I have a field report from my visit to Vino in the Valley.

For similar places, click on the vineyard and farm labels on the right of the page. There is also a blog post about Wisconsin Pizza Farms.

Falconer Vineyard’s Vineyard Bistro, Red Wing, Minnesota

I heard from someone from Red Wing (Bill Hanisch of Hanisch Bakery & Coffee Shop) about a winery that recently installed a wood-fired brick oven. I thought he said the name was the Faulkner Winery.

Well, at least that's what I thought I heard.

In reality, my search turned up the Falconer Vineyards, near Red Wing. Minnesota.

They have a Vineyard Bistro, which does have a wood-fired oven (picture on their page).

Their page says in part, "We will reopen for pizzas in April." Apparently that is late April.

As of May 20, 2011, their site says, "Now open Fridays through Sundays during winery hours!" On July 1, the bistro hours show that it opens at noon, Friday through Sunday.)

I added pictures of their oven that they supplied to me on my Business Ovens page.

I definitely intend to give them a try sometime.