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From border to border

Who would’ve known?

It wasn’t too many years ago the last thing Minnesota was known for was…wine. Yes, we had beer! Lots and lots of beer but, wine? The reasons for not producing wine were many — the weather is too cold, Minnesotans aren’t partial to wine, our soil is too rich for grape growing and the grand daddy of all reasons for not making wine in Minnesota was because it wasn’t manly enough! Yes, I’ve heard that reason, too. Ugh!

But time moves on, minds change and as a state, we welcome new ideas, products and people. Of course, it helps to have the University of Minnesota Extension Service and its years of experimentation developing cold climate grapes on our side. Along with the U of M’s efforts, there were people with the passionate vision and dream to produce outstanding wines and about 20 years ago, those dreams became reality.

Uniting for a cause, individuals and the U of M produced grapes that put the first Marquettes, Frontenacs and La Crescents on our tables, into our glasses and down our throats. Along with many fruit based wines — think strawberry, watermelon, apple and many more — Minnesota wine business will soon be over a $1 million statewide endeavor. Yes, $1 million!

Presently there are over 40 wineries within the state’s borders, and there are more coming. From East Grand Forks to Lutsen, from Round Lake to St. Croix, from New London to Winona, from urban areas to rural areas, you can discover and visit wineries across our state. In addition, there are many individuals who grow grapes that are shipped to our state’s wineries.

Not all Minnesota wineries use only Minnesota grown grapes. For instance, nestled in the Red River Valley, Grape Mill Vineyard and Winery in East Grand Forks has over 1,600 vines producing a variety of Minnesota grapes to make numerous wines. In contrast to the river valley, Lutsen’s North Shore Winery is situated on Lake Superior and produces wines by using California grapes but utilizes Minnesota grown apples to make a nice hard cider.

On the southern border of our state, Round Lake Vineyards and Winery has an 18-acre vineyard that produces Brianna, Marquette and St. Pepin wines — along with an impressive list of other wines from outside the region. Close to Winona, Garvin Heights Vineyards sits in the glacial driftless area of southeastern Minnesota and produces tasty blends such as it St. Urho White along with many other wines representing that region of our state.

Obviously, along with these mentioned wineries, there are still about 40 wineries that should be mentioned here but there’s not enough space to do so. Considering there were very few wineries existing in this state less than 15 years ago, the growth in the wine business is very impressive and for those of us who want to experience some of these wineries, there are a number of wineries that have grouped together to form wine trails.

We have five wine trails now and depending on the trail you choose, you can visit between three and nine separate wineries. Again these wine trails cover a significant portion of our state: from the Upper St. Croix Wine Trail in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway to the St. Croix Wine Trail, which includes three of Minnesota’s oldest wineries, from the state’s western Heartland Wine Trail to the state’s centrally located Three Rivers Wine Trail and ending with the nine wineries of the Great River Road Wine Trail by the Mississippi River, there are plenty of opportunities for us to literally enjoy the fruits of the labor of these wonderful winery folk.

I’ve always been impressed by how friendly these vineyard and winery owners are to a stranger and how well they work together to share their knowledge and resources with each other — there are no walls here, only open gates.

Yes, from border to border and all over in between, we are the lucky recipients of this state’s burgeoning wine industry and because of this industry, we are a better state.

Next week, is it back to the basics?

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon.

Cheers!

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