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Three Rivers Wine Trail |
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The Three
Rivers Wine Trail is Minnesota's first wine trail and is
comprised of six Minnesotawineries all located within the
St. Croix, Mississippi, and Cannon River valleys.
What
wineries are on the Trail and where are they located?
WineHaven Winery & Vineyard
in Chisago City,
Northern
Vineyards Winery
in Stillwater,
Saint
Croix Vineyards & Winery
in Stillwater,
Alexis
Bailly Vineyard
in Hastings,
Falconer
Vineyards
in Red Wing,
Cannon
River Winery
in Cannon Falls. |
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info@threeriverswinetrail.com |
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Making
Minnesota and Wisconsin Wines |
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Many
Minnesota Wines are made from native fruits and berries |
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Others
are made from locally harvested honey |
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Some
winemakers make their wines from juice imported from
California to France. The Merlot and chardonnay grapes
(to name a few) are not winter hardy. To make
these wines - winemakers will purchase juice, from a grower,
and add their own special touches to produce their own style
wine.
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Still
others are made from cold hardy grapes - many of which have
been developed by the University of Minnesota |
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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA COLD HARDY GRAPES |
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The
University of Minnesota initiated a breeding program for
wine grapes in the mid-1980’s. In 2000, they completed a
state-of-the-art enology lab and research winery. Today,
they are recognized as having one of the top wine grape
programs in the United States. The goal has been to develop
high quality, cold hardy, and disease resistant grape
cultivars. To date they offer four outstanding
grape varieties that can create delectable wines.
These grapes are grown throughout the United States in
colder climate areas. |
