Galena
Cellars has been in business over 20 years in Galena thanks
to all of our great customers! Over 12,000 of you have
enrolled in our Friends of the Winery Case Club since we
opened our doors in 1984, and thousands more have visited us
in Galena to taste wine and shop for gifts.
Many
of our customers ask about the winery's history so we have
decided to share our story with you. It all started in
the early 1970's when Robert and Joyce Lawlor decided to
take winemaking classes in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they
lived. They had noticed the growing popularity of wine
in the U.S. and had a vision to someday start their own
family-run winery in the Midwest. Daughter Christine
accepted the challenge to become a winemaker and after receiving
her teaching degree from St. Catherine's College in St.
Paul, MN, she went off to California where she earned a
degree in enology and viticulture from Fresno State
University.
Upon graduation,
Christine and her parents opened Christina Wine Cellars in
McGregor, IA, in 1976, in an historic, restored post office
building that Robert had purchased in the 1960's. The
first wine production was 500 gallons of cherry wine.
Two years later Robert acquired the old Milwaukee freight
depot in LaCrosse, WI, and opened a second winery
there. In 1983 they saw another opportunity to open
another winery in Galena, IL, and called on Scott and his
wife Karan, who had been living and working in Colorado and
California, to come help with the project.
Scott,
Christine, and their parents, restored an old granary
building on Main Street and opened in 1985 with production
of about 5,000 gallons of wine. By 1990 they made the
decision to concentrate on Galena and close the McGregor and
LaCrosse locations. As wine production grew, they
acquired a farm on Ford Road outside of town so they could
start growing experimental grapes and moved the wine
production there.
Today, Galena
Cellars produces 60,000 gallons a year and 40 varieties of
wine for you, our loyal customers. We have 3 beautiful
Tasting Rooms and Gifts Shops for you to enjoy, located at
515 S. Main Street and 4746 N. Ford Road in Galena or at 477
S. Third Street in suburban Geneva, IL. Thank you for
your support. Each and every one of you has helped
make our winery a success.
WE
TOAST TO YOU!
The Lawlor Family
Location:
515 South Main Street, Galena, Illinois--just inside
the floodgates, about one-half block from Route 20.
