Winehaven's Pruning Crew Featured on KSTP-TV

We enjoyed hosting KSTP-TV at Winehaven as we began pruning our vines for the 2023 growing season!  Check out the story here!

Mar 27, 2023 at 1:43 PM Permalink

Winehaven Won 6 Medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition!

Winehaven won 6 medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition last week!  This is the largest competition in North America, where our wines competed with wines from throughout the United States and over a dozen countries.  A complete listing of the award winning wines is below:

Gold Medal - 2021 Deer Garden Red
Silver Medal - Stinger Mead
Silver Medal - 2019 Lakeside Chardonnay
Silver Medal - 2021 Marquette Reserve
Silver Medal - Raspberry Wine
Bronze Medal - Strawberry Rhubarb Wine

Nov 28, 2022 at 1:34 PM Permalink

Winehaven Appears Live on WCCO Television at the State Fair!

We had a great time visiting with Mike Max and Chris Shaffer from WCCO television on the opening day of the 2022 Minnesota State Fair.  Click on the photo below to watch the segment!

Aug 27, 2022 at 10:09 AM Permalink

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

Winehaven Wins 5 Gold Medals in San Francisco!

Winehaven Winery, of Chisago City, won 5 gold medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition last week.  Winehaven’s Stinger Honey Wine won its 8th gold medal since 1995.  It remains Winehaven’s most awarded wine and one of the top ranked honey wines in the United States.  Winehaven’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine won a double gold medal with a score of 94 points.  The only fruit wine that scored higher in San Francisco was Winehaven’s Raspberry Wine, which took the “Best of Show” award with a score of 96 points.

Winehaven’s Nokomis wine won its first gold medal.  Nokomis is a dry French-style red wine made from a grape that was developed at Winehaven and recognized by the U.S. Patent Office in 2013 for its unique combination of winter hardiness, disease resistance and wine quality.  Winehaven’s Lakeside Chardonnay also won its first Double Gold medal in the highly competitive chardonnay category.  It scored 95 points, making it one of the highest ranked chardonnay wines in the United States.

“We are so happy with these awards,” said Winehaven’s owner Kevin Peterson.  “When my family and I opened Winehaven’s doors in 1995, we were one of the first wineries in Minnesota.  The support and encouragement of the community allowed us to grow and it’s really exciting to now be recognized for so many of our local wines on a national stage.”

In addition to Winehaven’s 5 gold medal winning wines, Winehaven won silver medals for its Edelweiss white wine and Marquette Reserve red wine.  Winehaven won bronze medals for its Riesling and Itasca white wines.  It also won bronze medals for its Franconia and Deer Garden Red wines that are made from grapes developed at Winehaven and exclusively grown in Winehaven’s Chisago City vineyard.

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.  Peterson has raised honey in the Chisago Lakes Area for more than 60 years.  The honey wine was the winery’s first wine selection when the Peterson family opened Winehaven.  It is made from Peterson’s special blend of honey that is collected from local wildflowers and basswood trees.  If the conditions are warm and humid enough in the St. Croix River Valley, the blossoms open enough to produce nectar.  “It’s a rare honey with a special pizzazz,” said Peterson.  “The beautiful flavor of the basswood honey really comes through in our wine.”

Now in its 40th year, the San Francisco International Wine Competition is one of the world’s largest and longest-running international wine competitions.  It included more than 2,000 wines from 31 countries around the world. Competition judges are established wine-industry experts from throughout North America that evaluated the wines.  Their decisions were based on the wine’s appearance, aroma, flavor, and aftertaste. The 11 awards Winehaven received this year are the most in its history.

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

Raspberry Wine: Double Gold Medal, Best Fruit Wine
Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine: Double Gold Medal
Lakeside Chardonnay: Double Gold Medal
Nokomis: Gold Medal
Stinger Mead: Gold Medal
Edelweiss: Silver Medal
Marquette Reserve: Silver Medal
Riesling: Bronze Medal
Itasca: Bronze Medal
Franconia: Bronze Medal
Deer Garden Red: Bronze Medal

Dec 5, 2021 at 10:55 AM Permalink

KSTP-TV Highlights Outstanding 2021 Growing Season at Winehaven!

Check-out Winehaven on KSTP-TV!

Aug 18, 2021 at 1:33 PM Permalink

Winehaven's Vineyards are Featured on KARE in the Air!

Jul 12, 2021 at 8:53 AM Permalink

Winehaven Takes Top Honors at the National East Meets West Wine Challenge

Winehaven Winery won 6 medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition in California last week.  Winehaven’s Stinger Mead and Cranberry Wines earned gold medals with scores of 95 and 93 respectively.  These wines went on to compete against other gold medal winning wines from around the country in the highly competitive “East Meets West Wine Challenge” that pits the best wines from the Eastern United States against the best from the West.  In that round, the Stinger Mead was judged to be Best in Class.  The judges conducted a final blind tasting of the Best in Class winners and awarded Winehaven’s Stinger Mead the title of Best of Show. 

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.  In addition to Winehaven’s gold medal winning Stinger Mead and Cranberry wines, Winehaven won silver medals with its Marquette Reserve, Nokomis, Chisago and Franconia red wines that are exclusively made from grapes grown in the Chisago Lakes Area.

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 Show award marks the seventh 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: Double Gold Medal - Best of Class and Best of Show
Cranberry Wine: Gold Medal
Nokomis: Silver Medal
Marquette Reserve: Silver Medal
Deer Garden Red: Silver Medal
Franconia: Silver Medal

Mar 14, 2021 at 7:00 AM Permalink

Winehaven Awarded 5 Medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition

There is no wine competition that excites us more than San Francisco.  It’s like sending our wines into the lion’s den.  The competition is fierce!  All the ‘big guys’ enter wines in San Francisco.  The judges come from all corners of the wine world.  This year, five of our wines emerged from the competition with medals!  Our Stinger Mead was declared the best mead in the competition with a gold medal (again).  Our Nokomis, Deer Garden Red and Merlot won silver medals.  Our Nicollet won a bronze medal!  We’re so proud of all of our awards and delighted that our Minnesota wines have been recognized as some of the best in the world!

Jan 5, 2021 at 10:05 AM Permalink

Winehaven Awarded 11 Medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition

Winehaven won 11 medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition in New York.  The Strawberry-Rhubarb and Raspberry Wines earned top honors with scores of 94 and 92 respectively.  The Nicollet white wine from the newly patented Nicollet grape received its first award ever - a silver.  The newly bottled 2017 Nokomis wine won a silver medal competing in the $40.00 per bottle and higher category.  A complete listing of the award winning wines is listed below:

Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine: Gold Medal 
Raspberry Wine: Gold Medal
Nokomis: Silver Medal
Nicollet: Silver Medal
Marquette Reserve: Silver Medal
Marechal Foch: Silver Medal
Lakeside Rosé: Silver Medal
LaCrescent: Silver Medal
Cranberrry Wine: Silver Medal
Frontenac Gris: Bronze Medal
Deer Garden Red: Bronze Medal

Feb 3, 2020 at 12:00 PM Permalink