Bio
August Hill Winery and Illinois Sparkling Company are located just 90 miles southwest of Chicago. We are a small producer of hand crafted, local wines and traditional method Illinois sparkling wines.
DEEP ROOTS
Our story begins with August (Augie) Engelhaupt, a farmer who tended his corn, soybean and hay fields with the help of his grandson, Mark. Twenty-five years and a mechanical engineering degree later, Mark was excited to read that vineyards were thriving in the Illinois countryside he loved. Always eager to experiment, Mark learned all he could about grape-growing climates, varietals, and winemaking.
LOVE OF THE LAND
In 2002, Mark–along with his wife Teri founded August Hill Winery on the same stretch of land that Augie nurtured with such care: a quiet hill in Peru, IL, overlooking the Illinois River.
A PASSION FOR CREATION©
Since that first planting, AHW has expanded to include caves for aging wine, a tasting room, our award-winning ISC Traditional Method sparkling wines, and a staff that is considered family. We continue to be guided by Augie’s spirit and carry a piece of his signature in our AHW logo to remind us of our roots.
PERFECTING THE BUBBLE©
Our ISC sparkling wines are made in the hands-on Traditional Method and the Ancestral Method, methods that Mark learned from the masters. We love this old-world process: it’s time-consuming, labor-intensive, and it brings out the bubbly best in our grapes.