Over the last few weeks, we’ve visited two hidden gems in our region. Both are connected to agriculture and both are drawing crowds into our region through local tourism.
We hosted our second special Growing Home Circle reception in late September at Glacial Ridge Winery near Spicer. This week, our final reception was hosted at Grandview Valley Winery near Belview.
These are two of the five wineries in our region. Others include the Crow River Winery in Hutchinson, Millner Heritage Vineyard and Winery south of Kimball, and Hinterland Vineyards near Clara City.
When we think about agriculture in southwest Minnesota, we might not think about grapes, but here are a few facts about this crop:
- The University of Minnesota initiated a breeding program for wine grapes in the mid-1980s and today is recognized as one of the top wine grape programs in the United States.
- Through this program, the University of Minnesota has released four outstanding cold climate grape varieties. If you enjoy Minnesota wines, you are familiar with them: Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, La Crescent and Marquette.
- All of our southwest Minnesota wineries use these varieties in their winemaking as well as locally grown fruits such as apples, strawberries and rhubarb… which is technically a vegetable, but sounds better as a fruit.
These wineries are part of a growing local tourism movement designed to highlight the amazing landscapes, friendly communities, and locally grown and produced products that abound in our region.
If you have a favorite hidden gem in southwest Minnesota, I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment on this post to share your favorite spots!
