Minnesota wine is a very interesting.

Wine requires grapes which, just few years ago, were near impossible to grow in Minnesota.  Usually you hear about wine coming from California and warmer climates. The University of Minnesota has one of the top wine grape research programs in the country.  Over the years, they have developed high quality, cold hardy, and disease resistant grape vines.  These are grapes that have very unique flavors and create interesting wines.  Many Minnesota wineries create their wines with a combination of grapes from Minnesota and grapes from the warmer regions of the United States. Some even combine their Minnesota grapes with grapes imported from other countries.  There are very few wineries that can boast that they only make wine from Minnesota grown grapes. In Minnesota, we can also create ice wines by letting the grapes freeze on the vines before harvest, which creates a more concentrated flavor.

The main grape cultivars that can be found growing in Minnesota are Frontenac, Frontenac Blanc, Frontenac Gris, Itasca, La Crescent, Marquette and Bluebell.  All of these grapes were developed by the University of Minnesota.  Just these few grape varieties can create wines of all shades including white wines, rose wines, red wines, and the Frontenac Gris grapes in particular can produce a orange to yellow colored wine. Other grapes including; Brianna, Marechal Foch, St. Croix, Edelweiss, Lacrosse, Petite Amie, St. Pepin, and Seyval Blanc can also grow in Minnesota but seem to be less common. Many of these grapes have wines named after them, showing that these grapes are the main flavor you will be tasting.

Growing grapes is still a rather new and growing industry in Minnesota.  Some wineries add other fruits such as apples, cranberries, blueberries, rhubarb, pumpkins, strawberries, and raspberries.  Some even make wine out of peppers, tomatoes, garlic, or onions (these are usually wines reserved for cooking).