Wisconsin's Lovely Winery Has Tuscan-Inspired Mediterranean Vibes

While France and Italy are known for their incredible wines, the United States has some spectacular wineries of its own to visit. Perhaps you've been to California's Napa or Sonoma Valleys, or the underrated Adirondack region of New York. However, you may want to take a trip to the Midwest if you love vino. There are wonderful vineyards and wineries in the region as well, including Villa Bellezza Winery in Pepin, Wisconsin. 

This gorgeous place may make you think that you're in the Tuscan region of Italy. In fact, it was actually designed to look like an Italian town, with its tasting room, restaurant, and event center gathered around a piazza, or central square, with a charming fountain in the middle. Having visited Tuscany a number of times, I can say that, if you were taken here blindfolded, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd been plopped in the middle of Siena, Montepulciano, or San Gimignano. In fact, one reviewer on Yelp said in 2025 that the surroundings at Villa Bellezza Winery "made it seem like we had been transported out of Wisconsin and into the European countryside."

The closest major airport to Pepin, Wisconsin, is the famously friendly mega airport, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International in Minnesota. It's around 72 miles away, so you'll need a car. However, it's worth renting one if you plan on staying for a bit. Villa Bellezza Winery is one of ten wineries that make up the Great River Road Wine Trail that goes along the Upper Mississippi River through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

The Villa Bellezza Winery sits close to the banks of the Mississippi River. It's open Thursday through Sunday, and closed on holidays. In the tasting room, you'll get a complimentary taste of the featured wine before you sit down for your regular wine tasting. There are screens to tell you all about each one as you sip. The winery grows both red and white varietals, using vineyards at different elevations for each. It creates red, white, rosé, sparkling, fortified, and dessert wines, so you have a wide variety of choices. Villa Bellezza also hosts events and weddings, and has both al fresco dining in the piazza in the summer, and heated porticos and fur-covered chairs around it for the winter.

Il Forno is the on-site Italian restaurant, featuring an open kitchen and "il forno," a.k.a. a brick oven, for its pizzas and pasta al forno, or baked pasta. It also serves antipasti, salads, and paninis, with servers who can suggest the best wine for each dish. On Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., you can attend brunch there as well. 

However, that isn't all there is to do. The winery has a November release party for the Pepin Nouveau, the first wine of the season, as well as a Christmas Market for the holidays. If you have some time to spend, you can also attend La Scuola, a cooking school where you taste wine, make food to go with it, and then dine. Finally, if you're looking to spend more time outdoors, you're just a short drive away from the Midwest's most cherished playground, Lake Pepin, which is part of the Mississippi River.