Rocky Waters Vineyard and Winery

Rocky Waters is a family-owned winery dedicated to the pursuit of delicious Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, St. Croix, along with white varietals of Lacrosse and St. Pepin. These varieties are best suited to the climate and soils of our beautiful 25 acre vineyard. Jared & Phyllis Spahn purchased 112 acres of land in Hanover, Illinois in 1994 and started a vine nursery with 3,600 grape cuttings in 1997. Roughly 95% of the cuttings took off and grew beautifully. The nursery was protected by an electric fencer, which was erected to keep deer and cattle away from the new vines. One weekend in late summer they tested the output of the electric fencer and found that it was barely putting out any voltage. A decision was made to take the fencer down to Peoria where it was purchased and get it repaired and re-install it the following weekend. Well, that’s all it took! The cows no longer heard the clicking of the fencer and instinctively knew there was no threat from the wires, so in they went right through the wires and between eating and trampling made a total wreck of the nursery. Out of the original 3600 cuttings only 300 continued to grow in 1998. One might say they had a “Rocky start,” but that is not how the name was chosen. They held a name the vineyard contest among their grandchildren with a monetary reward for the winner. The name was actually a well thought out conclusion by one of their grandsons. He noted that all the creeks and streams on the land were fairly fast running and all of them had rocky bottoms. He and all other grandchildren enjoyed following the streams and they found an area where a small waterfall had been formed and the water was falling over rocks and on to rocks. Many of the creeks, streams, and springs on the land resulted in being able to build and sustain a nice small lake that has provided untold hours of fun. Each season brings gorgeous views from our magnificent winery built on the bluff overlooking the vineyard.