The August Hill Winery & Illinois Sparkling Co. Tasting Room is located in the historic village of Utica, Illinois - home to Starved Rock State Park, Grand Bear Resort, and many other shops and restaurants. In addition to a wide variety of hand-crafted wines, the Tasting Room offers many other individual creations including artwork by regional artists, gourmet chocolates, artisan cheeses and more. August Hill Winery is owned by Mark & Teri Wenzel. Mark watched his grandfather, August Engelhaupt, carefully tend the scenic piece of land that is now the location of the AHW vineyard and winery. Mark shares the passion that Grandpa Augie had for growing premium crops. When he discovered that French-hybrid grapes grow well in our climate, the concept for August Hill Winery was born. August Hill’s 3-acre vineyard stands atop a bluff overlooking the Illinois River in Peru, Illinois. The first vines were planted in 2003. Each hole was dug by hand, and each vine was carefully planted by hand. The vineyard includes a wide variety of grapes and a large experimental section. The AHW Winery is adjacent to the vineyard and was built in 2004. The wines are made with utmost care and attention to detail. All phases of winemaking, from harvesting, crushing and fermentation, to barrel-aging and bottling are carefully monitored by the winemaker, Mark Wenzel.