White Winter Winery

What White Winter Winery does

White Winter Winery Inc. is a privately held craft meadery founded in 1996 by Jon and Kim Hamilton in Iron River, Wisconsin, and is positioned as Wisconsin's oldest meadery. The company produces a portfolio of artisanal alcoholic beverages built on traditional fermentation of local honey, fruits, and apple cider from the Lake Superior region. Its product line spans Traditional Meads (Dry, Sweet, Sweet Mead Reserve), Melomels with local fruit (Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Black Currant), Cyser (including a Barrel Aged limited release), Pyment, Brackett (Traditional and Oak), heirloom-apple ciders, craft spirits, and sparkling fruit drinks. The underlying technology is conventional small-batch fermentation, with inputs sourced under collaborative relationships with Bayfield County fruit farms and regional beekeepers. Production capacity is anchored by approximately 3,000 gallons of cider per seasonal run, with broader mead and spirits output from the single Iron River facility.

Name

White Winter Winery

Legal name

White Winter Winery Inc.

Website

https://whitewinter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

White Winter Winery is a craft meadery founded in 1996 in Iron River, Wisconsin, producing award-winning meads, ciders, spirits, and sparkling fruit drinks from locally sourced fruit and honey for individual consumers via a tasting room, online shop, and 200-plus retail outlets across Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Meadery

NAICS

Wineries (312130), Distilleries (312140)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Mead Producers & Brands (CRADAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cider & Perry Producers & Brands (CRADAIAE), Cideries & Meadery Tasting Rooms (THAFALAI)

Keywords

• Artisan mead production
• Craft cider brewing
• Honey wine fermentation
• Fruit wine making
• Regional winery products

Headquarters

HQ city

Iron River

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Direct Tasting Room Sales: On-site sales of mead, cider, and spirits through tasting room with samples, bottle sales, and tours. Tasting fee of $10 for 5 samples.
2. E-commerce / Online Shop: Online ordering through whitewinter.com with direct shipping to customers.
3. Wholesale/Distribution: Wholesale distribution through liquor stores, grocery chains, and specialty retailers across Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

White Winter Winery is a craft meadery producing artisan meads, ciders, spirits, and sparkling fruit drinks using locally sourced honey and fruits from Bayfield County, Wisconsin. The company operates a tasting room in Iron River, WI, sells directly online, and distributes wholesale through over 200 retail outlets across Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Product overview

White Winter Winery is a craft meadery producing international award-winning meads, ciders, spirits, and sparkling fruit drinks. The product portfolio centers on Traditional Meads (Dry, Sweet, Sweet Mead Reserve), Melomels with local fruit (Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Black Currant), Cyser (including Barrel Aged Cyser), Pyment, Brackett (Traditional and Oak), artisanal Ciders from heirloom apples, Spirits, and Sparkling fruit drinks. All products are made sustainably using local fruits and honey from the Lake Superior region. The company operates as a single unified product line centered on meadery offerings, with no modular platform architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Traditional Mead Honey wine made from honey, water, and yeast. White Winter Winery varieties include Dry Mead, Sweet Mead, and Sweet Mead Reserve, considered the 'Nectar of the Gods' style mead.
• Melomel (Mead with Fruit) Mead with fruit added at time of fermentation. White Winter Winery varieties include Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, and Black Currant, made with local Bayfield County fruit.
• Cyser (Mead and Cider Wine) Honey and apple cider fermented together, the staple drink of the early Church. White Winter Winery varieties include Cyser and limited release Barrel Aged Cyser.
• Pyment (Mead and Grape Wine) Mead made of grapes and honey; early Romans and Greeks added honey to grape wines. White Winter Winery made Shanna's Blush (not currently available).
• Brackett (Mead and Malt Drink) Mead with malt added, representing a link between Mead and Ale. White Winter Winery varieties include Traditional and Oak.
• Ciders Artisan ciders made from heirloom apples, transformed from local harvest in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.
• Spirits Craft spirits produced at the meadery, with reference to cooking spirits on the still.
• Sparkling Fruit Drinks Sparkling fruit beverages produced alongside meads and ciders, utilizing locally-sourced fruit.
• Tour and Tasting Experience On-site tasting experience at the Iron River, WI facility offering 5 samples for $10 plus optional souvenir glass, accompanied by facility tours. Available Wed-Sat 11am-5pm and Sunday 11am-3pm.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Thirsty Pagan BrewingminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThirsty Pagan Brewing in Superior, WI is listed as a distribution outlet for White Winter products, receiving kegs of cider for on-premise sales.
• Area Farms (Local Fruit and Honey Suppliers)coreOthersCollaborative relationships with area farms to source the best fruit and honey for mead production. Bayfield County fruit farms and local beekeepers supply ingredients for artisan meads, ciders, and spirits.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Schramm's Mead: Michigan-based craft meadery producing award-winning traditional and fruit meads. Directly comparable to White Winter as a craft meadery-led operation with on-site tasting room, multiple mead styles, and a regional distribution model in the Upper Midwest.
• Rabbit's Foot Meadery: California craft meadery producing traditional, melomel, and specialty meads with an on-site tasting room. Directly comparable as a meadery-focused producer with DTC tasting room experience and multi-channel wholesale distribution.
• Charm City Meadworks: Baltimore-based craft meadery producing traditional, fruit, and experimental meads with a tasting room and wholesale distribution. Directly comparable as an award-winning craft meadery with a similar product mix and DTC-plus-wholesale model.
• Ciderboys: Wisconsin-based craft cidery producing a range of hard ciders. Directly comparable as a fellow Wisconsin craft beverage producer competing in the same off-premise retail channel and on-premise accounts in WI/MN.
• Bos Meadery: Wisconsin-based craft meadery producing traditional and fruit meads. Directly comparable given shared Wisconsin geography and mead-focused product line; competes for similar regional shelf space and consumer mindshare.

Broad incumbents

• Boston Beer Company: Public craft beverage conglomerate behind Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly, and Angry Orchard. Broad incumbent across craft alcohol categories; representative of the scale players that may eventually target the mead/cider niche.
• Angry Orchard: National craft cider brand owned by Boston Beer Company. Broad incumbent in the hard cider category with national distribution; overlaps with White Winter's cider SKUs and competes for the same mainstream craft cider consumer.
• Woodchuck Hard Cider: Established national craft cider brand. Broad incumbent in the cider category with broad retail distribution; comparable to White Winter's cider line for shelf competition and consumer awareness.

Regional players

• Lakefront Brewery: Milwaukee-based craft brewery with on-site tasting/tour experience and regional WI distribution. Comparable regional craft producer sharing Wisconsin geography, similar scale, and a tourism-anchored DTC model.

Emerging players

• New Holland Brewing: Michigan craft brewery and distillery producing beer and craft spirits with broad spirits and malt beverage portfolio. Comparable as a craft producer that has expanded beyond a single category into spirits — a directional parallel for White Winter's spirits line.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WhiteWinterWinery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/white-winter-winery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about White Winter Winery