Winehaven Wins "Best of Class" Award at International Eastern Wine Competition

Winehaven Takes Top Honors at the International Eastern Wine Competition

Winehaven Winery won 3 medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition in this week.  Winehaven’s Stinger Mead and LaCrescent earned gold medals with scores of 96 and 91 respectively.  Winehaven's new Lakeside Rosé won a silver medal.  The judges conducted a final blind tasting of the Gold Medal winners and awarded Winehaven’s Stinger Mead the title of Best in Class. 

Founded in 1975, the International Eastern Wine Competition is the longest running Wine Competition in the United States.  Twenty-four judges throughout North America evaluated the wines.  Their decision was based on the wine’s appearance, aroma, flavor and aftertaste. 

Honey wine, also known as “mead,” is widely regarded as the ancestor of all fermented beverages.  It is referenced in many sources of ancient history throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.  Winemaker Kevin Peterson has raised honey in the Chisago Lakes Area for more than 50 years.  The honey wine was the winery’s first wine selection when the Peterson family opened WineHaven’s doors in 1995.

The Best of Class award marks the ninth time that Winehaven’s Stinger honey wine has won top honors nationally.  It is made from Peterson’s special blend of honey that is collected from local wildflowers and basswood trees.  Basswood honey is relatively rare throughout the world because the trees bloom for less than two weeks during the summertime.  If the conditions are warm and humid enough in the St. Croix River Valley, the blossoms open enough to produce nectar.  “It’s a honey with a special pizzazz,” said Peterson.  “The beautiful flavor of the basswood honey really comes through in our wine.”

A complete listing of the award winning wines is listed below:

Stinger Mead: Gold Medal - Best of Class
LaCrescent Wine: Gold Medal
Lakeside Rosé: Silver Medal

Feb 19, 2022 at 8:36 AM Permalink