Leech Lake Blog

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A wine tour of Minnesota sounds…implausible. Maybe it’s the snow and ice, or the fact that you tend to have a nice fishing lake where the rolling green vineyards are supposed to be. But just as there’s more than one way to skin a cat (note: that expression is really creepy!), there’s a lot more to wine than just grapes.

Enter Laporte. This tiny town of 111 at the edge of the Paul Bunyan State Forest has a peaceful vineyard called the Forestedge Winery and it’s open for touring, drinks, and offsite sale. The trick is that the wine here is made with everything but grapes. Here are a few samples (not every wine is necessarily available at all times).

White Cranberry: An international award-winning white fruit wine made from early picked, ripe, white cranberries. Tastes a bit like a grape wine with a cranberry zing. Medium dry. Serve chilled. Best seller.

Black Currant: A full bodied red wine in every way with a full red flavor and ample nose. Perfect alternative to a “big” cabernet and delightful with any grilled red meat. A consistent gold medal winner.

Chokecherry: A bold, rich mouthful of chokecherry. Complex layers of malt, spicy pepper, herbs and mint blend this full bodied but tart wine to a clean finish. The woodsy, after-rain undertones are reminiscent of wild rose hips and cloves. Delicious on its own or with grilled red meats.

Blueberry: A full-bodied red with a gorgeous, bright ruby color. The juicy blueberry aroma takes you to the full fruit body that is slightly sweet with ripe tannins.

The winery is open for retail traffic, on and off site sales, May 1st until Dec 31st. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 to 5:30 and Sunday 12:00 until 5:00. Closed on Mondays and major holidays.