Frontenac News

Eurasian water milfoil. Zebra mussels. Big-head carp. The emerald ash borer. Spiny water fleas.

A Red Wing winery has won bragging rights at the first International Cold Climate Wine Competition, held in Minnesota.

CANNON FALLS For the first time since opening five years ago, the Cannon River Winery is now open to the public for tours and picnics.

Posted on July 16th, 2009 3:35 PM By Bill Ward Minnesotaa s oldest winery has long had an apropos slogan: a oeWhere the grapes can suffer.a Unfortunately, that catchphrase is proving all too true at Alexis Bailly Vineyards .a oeI lost 80 percent of my vineyard,a proprietor/winemaker Nan Bailly told me earlier this week.

Thanks to persistent wine enthusiasts looking for a way to combine good wine grapes with harsh Midwest winters, our area is beginning to see some high-quality options for locally produced wine.

The bar for judging Minnesota wines tends to be set lower than for those made from grapes grown in more felicitous locales.

Two years later those prairie-hearty vines produced their first grapes, and since the start, the vineyard has been expanded to nine acres.