David A. Bailly, founder of Alexis Bailly Vineyard, aspired to
make a great Minnesota wine. French winemakers have long
held that in order to produce great wine, the grapevines must
endure hardship - wind, sleet, snow, and drought.
Enthusiastically, Bailly adopted the motto, "Where the grapes
can suffer."
In August of 2005, Minnesota’s very first
AVA was approved
and established as “Alexandria Lakes Viticultural Area” in
Douglas County. Robert Johnson on behalf of Carlos Creek
Winery filed the petition for the area. “This approval will put
Minnesota on the map as a wine producing state,” said
Johnson. “The Viticultural Area puts Minnesota on the same
level of official recognition as that of Napa or Sonoma areas in
California.
July 22, 2009 the
Upper Mississippi River
Valley AVA is
established and becomes the
largest wine region in the
world. Spanning
portions of four states
including Minnesota;
it is 39 times the size of
Napa Valley!
Minnesota has 24 wineries, approximately 50 commercial
vineyards, and
many hundred small hobby vineyards.
“Minneapolis lies at the same latitude as the Bordeaux region
of France (45 degrees North), and several hundred miles farther
south than the great Rheingau region of Germany. As in these
regions, the summers in south-central Minnesota are well
suited to grape vines -- sunny, warm, and with ample rainfall.
Also, we too have an abundance of good vineyard sites, with
rolling hills and bluffs along rivers and lakes.”
--Northern Vineyards Winery
Minnesota's Award Winning Wines
Minnesota wineries have been producing awarding winning wines
for the last two decades. Listed below are the most celebrated
wines. See the wineries' web sites for more award-
winning wines in the gold, silver, and bronze categories.
The Minnesota Gold Medal Winners
WineHaven Winery of Chisago
City, MN won three
gold medals at
the 7th
annual Finger Lakes
International Wine
Competition in
New
York,
March 31st-April
1st, 2007. WineHaven’s 2006
Riesling
earned a gold medal
in the highly competitive
Riesling category.
WineHaven’s Deer Garden Red
also won a gold medal and
WineHaven’s Raspberry Wine
won a rare “Double Gold”
medal.
This honor is
reserved for wines receiving
top scores by all 5
judges
in the scoring panel.
Falconer Vineyards of Red Wing, MN won the gold medal at the
Indy International Wine Competition for their 2005 Frontenac Port
and also achieved a gold
medal for their 2006
Frontenac.
St. Croix Vineyards of Stillwater, MN won the gold medal at the
International Eastern Wine Competition for their 2005 Vignoles.
In 2009, they won the double
gold for their Seyval Blanc
at the Indy
International Wine
Competition and Marechal
Foch at the
International Cold Climate
Wine Competition.
Minnesota State Fair Winners
Morgan Creek Vineyards of
New Ulm, MN placed first in the
white wine competition at
the Minnesota 2008 State
Fair for their
Zeitgeist
wine and first in the red
wine competition for their
Saint
John Reserve. Both of
these wines have also placed
in the San
Francisco competition and
the Mid American Wine
Competition
in 2007 along with being
chosen to be served at the
Slow Food
Nation taste event in San
Francisco Labor Day weekend.
Best of Show Awards
Cannon River Winery won the
prestigious Midwestern
Regional
"Best of Show" at the 14th
annual Twin Cities Food and
Wine
Experience for their 2006
Cannon River Red wine and
their
Classic White won the 2009
"Best of Show Award".
Fieldstone Vineyards won the
“Best of Show” award at the
13th
annual Twin Cities Food
& Wine Experience held in
February, 2007
for their
Frontenac Gris wine,
competing with 70 different
Minnesota
wines.
WineHaven Winery
Slippery Slope White Ice
Wine won the “Best
of Show” award at the
first International Cold
Climate Wine
Competition, held August
2009.
Honorable Mention
St Croix Vineyard’s Raspberry Infusion wine received this
acknowledgement from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “This
massive dessert wine begs to be consumed with chocolate.”
WineHaven Winery of Chisago, MN received rave reviews in 2005
for its Riesling in Wine Spectator magazine, USA Today called
WineHaven a “notable producer,” and WineHaven’s popular gold
medal Honeywine was featured as a “top pick” on the Fine Living
Network’s television show Simply Wine with Andrea Immer.
Forestedge Winery
received national and
international medals in
2007 for it's
Chokecherry wine, twice
for Rhubarb/Raspberry
Wine
and again,
their Rhubarb Wine.
Alexis Bailly Vineyard
has earned over 45 national honors from it's
beginnings in 1978.
Alexis Bailly 2005 release of
"Voyageur" exemplifies opulent flavors
that evolve with blending of the grapes
from original vines and the
newer University of MN developed Frontenac grape. With the recent
award of
Best Wine of North America and Central America as
well as Best in Class at The International Vino
Challenge,
"Voyageur" represents the full potential of how great wines can be
made in Minnesota.
Morgan Creek Vineyards
of Cambria, MN
collaborated with
FireLake Grill House and
the U of M to
develop FireLake's
new house wine, Ten
Thousand Vines.
Released in March 2009,
this signifies
the first commercial
offering of the new U of
M
Marquette varietal,
observed as a grape with
great wine making
potential.
Falconer vineyards is
awarded the prestigious
Governor's Cup
for their Frontenac Port
at the first
International Cold
Climate
Wine Competition, held
August 2009 in St. Paul.