The Story of Parallel 44 & Door 44 Vineyard & Winery
Who We Are: For Steve Johnson and Maria Milano, husband and wife team, wine was a passion that turned into a celebration of our Wisconsin grape growing and wine making industry. Steve grew up in Green Bay, where his father experimented early on with growing grapes. Maria grew up in Stevens Point, where her Italian born father continued his tradition of making wine for friends and family celebrations. Both developed an early appreciation and love for wine.
Steve and Maria got married while still in law school and took their honeymoon to Napa Valley. After visiting wine country they decided, “Why Not Wisconsin!” Many years later, lawyers turned wine makers, Steve and Maria finally realized their dream.
Our Beginning and Our Name: The story of Parallel 44 and Door 44 Wineries began in 2005, when they planted ten acres of Northern grape varietals at their Parallel 44 location east of Green Bay, later adding a winery in Door County with a six acre vineyard. Driven by the concept of terroir, they found these locations after searching for years for the perfect soil, sun exposure and temperatures for growing their grapes. These sites are situated on the 44th latitude, a parallel that travels through other great wine regions, including Tuscany and Bordeaux, and became the inspiration for the names of their wineries.
When Steve and Maria began their journey, planting wine grapes was a novel idea in Wisconsin. At the time there were only a few wine grape varietals available for commercial planting. These grape varietals were brand new to the world of wine. Pioneers and mavericks in the wine industry, they forged ahead, planting over 8500 vines of these Northern grapes and crafting them into wine.
Pioneering a New Industry: Over the years, Steve and Maria pioneered many new grapes varietals, being amongst the first to grow and craft wines from grapes such as Petite Pearl, Frontenac Blanc and Verona. Growing their production and sales from 2000 cases in 2007 to 12,500 cases today, all while introducing consumers to the fruit-forward, food friendly wines that grow in our wine region. Today, 100% of their production is grown in Wisconsin, and in addition to their vineyards, they also contract with eight other growers to produce their wines.
The Wisconsin Ledge AVA: In 2012 their growing region here in Wisconsin received an American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation called “The Wisconsin Ledge”, which they helped to establish. This region stretches from the tip of Door County Wisconsin to just north of Milwaukee, and Steve & Maria are the largest producers of wine grown in that region.
Award Winning Wines: The 44 wines have received hundreds of high awards over the years, including many 90 plus point ratings, Double Gold Awards, and Winery of the Year Awards in international competitions where they have placed higher than wines from Italy, France and California. 44 wines have been awarded best Wines in Wisconsin in every competition year after year and Steve served as the Wisconsin Winery Association president.
Today: Over 19 years later, Steve and Maria continue to pioneer the grape growing and winemaking industry in Wisconsin, offering consumers the flavor profiles they crave, from their own little part of the wine world that no one expected. We invite you to taste them for yourself. Cheers!
