Service in every sip: Veteran turns Cornell winery into a mission of giving

Matthew Day

Staff

September 29, 2025

CORNELL – Daniel Osborn said he’s a man who answers to a great variety of names – “Dan, Sergeant First Class Osborn, Dan the Wine Man – whatever you’d like” – and makes an even greater variety of wines. 

Osborn said the base for this wine production – Wisconsin Veteran Farm & Winery (WVF&W), located at 921 S. Eighth St. in Cornell – truly resembles a base, replete with military vehicles and memorabilia.

There, he said he’s also got a variety of job titles, including “the owner, the wine connoisseur, manufacturer of the wine, bartender, joke-teller – whatever needs to be done” – as he creates, bottles and sells his expansive products. 

“Within the four years I’ve been open, I’ve manufactured more than 100 varieties of wine, and I’ve got about 15 more distilled bottles for this last batch,” he said, “and it’s all because people donate the different types of produce.” 

Though the name may imply otherwise, Osborn said none of the wine at WVF&W is made from his own farm’s produce – instead, it all comes from fruits (and some vegetables) donated by community members.

Osborn said his initial attempts to grow his own produce for winemaking “weren’t enough to sustain [the operation].”

“Instead of me trying to have, [for example], my blueberries here and take care of that, and then process everything, and then make wine and then sell it, it just turned into a community thing,” he said. “People take the backyard produce they make and donate it [to the winery].” 

Osborn said donors receive “about a quarter of the wine” made from their produce. 

The rest, he said, furthers a cycle of generosity and giving. 

“About a quarter of my wine goes out to charity events, making wine baskets with other items in there as well,” he said. “Then 25% of my sales goes out to other charities.” 

Osborn – himself a proud, retired veteran – said many, but not all, of the recipient charities are related to supporting veterans.  

Osborn said WVF&W’s donations support a wide range of organizations across Wisconsin and into neighboring states – from youth groups, churches and hobby clubs to veteran-focused groups like The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans.

“[I spend] a lot of time going to meetings and seeing what the focus is and what’s needed in the communities, and donating in those directions,” he said. “I also attend the Chippewa Falls Area Chamber [events] as well, to know what’s going on locally with other businesses… so I’m not just focusing on just one thing.” 

As word spreads about his operation, Osborn said more and more produce is donated to WVF&W, enabling him to expand not only his wine repertoire but his facilities as well, as part of an ongoing, rewarding progression. 

“It wasn’t that I needed money or anything,” he said of his founding the winery. “I just wanted a business that was community-focused – to give back.” 

From barracks to bottling 

Osborn said he never knows what kind of produce will show up at WVF&W – an unpredictability that mirrors his own unexpected path into winemaking, a field he never planned to enter.

Joining the Army, however, was something Osborn said he always planned to do. 

“I joined the military at 17, so I did my basic training, graduated high school, went to my advanced training, then the Persian Gulf War was kicking off in the ’90s, so I ended up going to active-duty [in the] Army,” he said. 

An engineer by trade, Osborn said he worked on “everything from petroleum pipelining to rock crushing, to combat engineering.”  

“[I did] all this stuff for 10 years before joining the Army Special Forces and becoming an Army Green Beret weapon and intel sergeant for 16 years,” he said. “During that process, right after I graduated special forces school, I was on my way to Okinawa, Japan, and I ended up buying my 40 acres here in Cornell, which was a Christmas tree plantation, because my buddy owned the [neighboring] 35 acres.”  

After achieving 20 years of service, Osborn said he had planned to build a house on his newly acquired property, but decided to reenlist following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

He said he dedicated six more years to the Army, during which he ended up buying the 35 acres next door, with his mother and stepfather caring for the property during his enlistment. 

After serving a total of 26 years, Osborn said he eventually retired to his new property in 2016. 

Having bought the property “just to be next to my buddy” rather than to live out dreams of farming, he said he experimented with several different uses – from creating a bee and butterfly pollination and conservation plot, to raising chickens, rabbits and ducks, to establishing a vineyard and other fruit-bearing bushes and trees. 

Osborn said when he started selling eggs, he established the Wisconsin Veterans Farm business entity and began manufacturing wine in three- or five-gallon batches with his neighboring friend as a hobby, opting to give away bottles as samples – which is what inspired people to start donating produce. 

As donations poured in, Osborn said he quickly found himself nearing the legal limit for wine production for personal consumption – 100 gallons per year – prompting him to pursue the proper licensing to go commercial. 

The timing, however, he said, wasn’t ideal.

“This was during COVID[-19-related shutdowns], and I eventually got shut down for seven months until 2021,” he said. “July 12 [that year], we did our grand opening, when we had all our licenses and everything was straight.”

The wine of duty 

Osborn said WVF&W’s earliest wines were simply named after their main ingredients – i.e., “Strawberry Wine,” “Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine,” etc. 

“Then people started donating more, so we’d call it ‘King’s Plums’ or ‘Randy’s Plums’ – whoever donated stuff, we would just tag on their name,” he said. 

Then, one night, while hanging out in what he calls “The White House” – specifically in “the bunker” located below it where the wine is manufactured – Osborn said he and his compatriots had the idea to name wines using military terminology, starting with naval-inspired names like Polliwog for pear wine and Shellback for a rhubarb-pear-red crab apple blend.

“Then we just started naming wines after that, so I even have one called Lieutenant Dan…,” he said, noting the latter variety is a dandelion wine. “Almost all our wines are named after something about the military.” 

Per WVF&W’s Facebook page, other names/varieties have included: 

• Blue Nose; wild plum and Michigan blueberry wine 
• 0451 Air Delivery Specialist; raspberry wine 
• World War I; watermelon wine 
• World War II; watermelon and strawberry wine 
• World War III; jalapeno, cranberry and watermelon 
• Semper Fi; sweet strawberry wine 
• Semper Supra; elderberry and Michigan blueberry wine 
• Guerilla Warfare; banana spice (ginger and cloves) and strawberry wine 
• Black Ops; blackberry wine 
• STD (Swab the Deck); corn cob wine 

Since he makes wine from all the different types of produce donated – which come in various quantities, sometimes as little as a one-gallon bagful – Osborn said that means production is in a constant state of experimentation. 

Still, thanks to his self-described knack for “chemistry,” he said the feedback for WVF&W’s wine has been remarkable, even from those who don’t consider themselves wine-drinkers. 

“[First-time samplers will say], ‘Oh, it has a little more alcoholic flavor,’” he said. “That’s just the way it is, because it is all natural. When you taste any [of our] strawberry wine, it’s actually not as sweet as you would think. Same thing with a watermelon [wine].” 

Osborn said unlike many other winemakers who add sugar during the process after the fruit’s natural sugars run out during fermentation, he intentionally forgoes that step.

He said he also chooses not to add colors/dyes, corn syrup (unless he’s producing a corn wine), nor a clearing agent that contains bentonite clay or isinglass – collagen derived from fish bladder – meaning WVF&W’s wines are vegan-friendly. 

“People who say they get redness or joint pains after drinking wine – that’s usually from that clearing agent with the [bentonite] clay that’s added to it,” he said. “A lot of the artificial things… just tricks people to think [the] product is better than what it is.” 

Osborn said WVF&W’s wines’ ABVs range from “13.5 up to 21%.” 

The bottles’ patriotic labels, he said, are affixed sideways, “so when you’re pouring the wine, you can see what you’re pouring.” 

Each bottle costs $20, which he said has been the case since he first started selling them. 

“[We] haven’t raised our prices, even though [the cost of] everything else has kept on increasing,” he said. “We do $20 cash out the door. To alleviate some overhead costs, we only do cash here.” 

The mission continues 

Osborn said WVF&W’s wines can be purchased and enjoyed right on site at his Cornell property, where guests can gather in the beer garden known as Gitmo II.

At first, he said, wine was enjoyed at “The White House,” with all winemaking done below in the bunker.

However, when he applied for a beer license, Osborn said the state requested a fenced area to keep things orderly.

At Gitmo II, Osborn said he and his staff – a mix of employees and volunteers – offer not only WVF&W wine but a full range of third-party beer, liquor and cocktails as well. 

One of his proprietary cocktails, he said, is the Bloody Jane – his take on a Bloody Mary, which features WVF&W’s onion-potato wine and took second place in the 2024 Milwaukee Bloody Mary Festival’s original category.

Beyond libations, Osborn said there is much to enjoy at WVF&W, with space for dogs to roam and games for kids to play. 

The military vehicles – which he also features in state-wide parades throughout the year – and artifacts, he said, naturally spark conversations, since “almost everybody’s related to somebody, or knows somebody who’s been in the military.”

Osborn said many veterans frequent the winery, drawn by its unique atmosphere. 

“It sort of helps them relate and understand, because a lot of veterans don’t like to talk, so this gets military veterans to come out and socialize with me or the staff and just feel at home, because it’s not a typical winery,” he said. “The fact that you have guns hanging on the walls and military flags, military vehicles – it just gives it a different aspect, and it’s more relaxing.” 

Osborn, who describes himself as an introvert, said the sense of camaraderie at WVF&W is contagious, with visitors fully engaged in conversation rather than on their phones – unless it’s to snap a photo – because “we’re just talking, socializing, and enjoying each other’s company.”

“There are only a couple of establishments I’ve been to that really bring people together – and this is, I think, one of them,” he said. 

With stories and wine flowing, a lineup of events and live music, word spreading through recipient charities and parade appearances, and visitors drawn by its close location to the Ice Age Trail, Osborn said WVF&W has gained positive recognition – including features on media outlets like “Wandering Wisconsin” and “Wisco Dive Bars.”

He said he also had the chance to give a bottle of his Lieutenant Dan wine to Gary Sinise, the actor who portrayed the wine’s namesake in the film “Forrest Gump.” 

With all the exposure, Osborn said he’s looking at ways to expand, both on the current WVF&W property as well as elsewhere in Cornell. 

But for the time being, he said his heart – and his freezers containing donated produce – are full. 

Having been retired five years before starting WVF&W, Osborn said his motivation has never been about financial gain, but a deep desire to build and give back to the community.

“If you need donations, we’ve got donations [to give], or whatever we can do to help,” he said. “We’re here for you.” 

Osborn said Wisconsin Veteran Farm & Winery products are also available in small, regional retailers. 

More information is available on the winery’s Facebook page and at osborndaniel.wixsite.com/wvfllcwinery.