The Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center is hosting cranberry wine tastings on weekends throughout the month of October. Visitors can sample cranberry wines from five different Wisconsin wineries, including Van Wychen Wines of Warrens.

“Local cranberry grower Jim Van Wychen turns some of his cranberries into cranberry and cranberry apple wines in his small winery on the family’s Wetherby Cranberry Marsh east of Warrens,” explains Lorry Erickson, director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.

The Cranberry Discovery Center also recently added Kerrigan Brothers Winery of Appleton. Owner Troy Landwehr makes both a red and a white cranberry wine. In addition to making wine, Landwehr also is a cheese carver. This summer, he carved a replica of Mount Rushmore from a 700-pound block of cheddar.

The Cranberry Discovery Center also features cranberry wines from DNA Vintners, La Crosse; Spurgeon Vineyards & Winery, Highland; and Three Lakes Winery, Three Lakes.

“Diana Hobson, owner of DNA Vintners, uses cranberries from Paradise Valley Cranberries, Warrens; while the Spurgeon family gets their berries from the Wetherby Cranberry Marsh,” Erickson said.

Three Lakes Winery – which has been making wine for 35 years – uses fruit from northern Wisconsin cranberry growers and makes cranberry, cranberry blueberry, cranberry raspberry and cranberry rhubarb wine.

The Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center is houses in a historic cranberry warehouse in downtown Warrens. The center houses an exhibit hall detailing the history of cranberry production in Wisconsin, a taste-test kitchen, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and a gift shop featuring primarily Wisconsin-made cranberry products.

The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through the end of October. On Nov. 1, the center switches to its winter hours. For more information, call (608) 378-4878 or visit their Web site at www.discovercranberries.com.