Each year our Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll quizzes thousands of folks about their favorite things in the Valley – including where to enjoy the best wine! Here are the relevant results from our most recent poll, published in February 2026.

Best Wine Selection (Bar, Restaurant, or Winery)

1. 2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery

2. Helix Wine, Craft Bar & Café

3. Hive & Hollow

You can enjoy quite the range of wine in the Valley! Here’s proof. 2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery (216 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire) is host to an expansive range — both for buying bottles to take home or to enjoy through self-serve pours. Helix Wine, Craft Bar & Café (1444 Front Porch Pl., Altoona), too, has a large range of accessible and fine wine. Hive & Hollow’s (222 Main St. E, Menomonie) recently expanded Menomonie location is also home to a coffee, mocktail and wine bar, adding to what is already a multi-sense experience thanks to its lounge area, vintage goods for sale, and floral operation. –McKenna Scherer

2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery, pictured.

Best Wine Selection (Retail)

1. 2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery

2. Woodman's Markets

3. Helix Wine, Craft Bar & Café

When you’re in need of the perfect bottle of wine for a night in with your partner or friends – or to gift to the host of a gathering – the Chippewa Valley is in no short supply of purveyors. Check out 2 Roots Art & Wine Gallery (216 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire), home to one of the largest by-the-glass lists in the country, for both a wide range of selection and local experts to point you in the right direction. Over in Altoona, Woodman’s Markets (2855 Woodman Dr.) boasts 3,000+ wine options (yes, really), from box to bottle and beyond. Local, regional and national selections can be found on Woodman’s Markets’ near-endless aisles. Finally, rounding out the top three is Helix Wine Craft Ba 444 Front Porch Pl, Altoona) – home to a swanky wine cellar-like room and an ample wine selection in a wide range of prices. –McKenna Scherer

Best Winemaker

1. River Bend Winery & Distillery

2. Infinity Beverages Winery & Distillery

3. Bemis Bluff Custom Fruit Wines 

The Chippewa Valley is lucky to be home to several locally-owned wineries bottling their own product, including 11-time first-place winner, River Bend Winery & Distillery (10439 33rd Ave., Chippewa Falls). Infinity Beverages Winery & Distillery (3460 Mall Dr.) is Eau Claire’s in-town winery, known for its signature grape and fruit wine among many other varieties. Enjoy a tasting with a view over in Eleva, Bemis Bluff Custom Fruit Wines (E2960 Hageness Rd.) is a family-owned winery offering seasonal, sweet and dry wines. –McKenna Scherer

River Bend Winery & Distillery's vineyard, pictured.