Had a great experience making our own wine! Great location close to the brained lakes area! The…read moreowner Sharon is very knowledgeable and has many unique varieties of wine to choose from! The shop is adorable, many unique gifts! Great girls trip idea! Our wine was delicious and I can't believe we still have 29 bottles to drink this winter!!

From the owner: We are wine making on premise business that offers customers a choice to craft their favorite wine…read morefor a fraction of the cost of store bought wines. One kit produces approximately 30. Our store also carries unique wine related accessories and gift item.

If you're looking for the cutest winery near the twin cities, DeCorsa is it!…read more Betty and Mike who own/ run the winery were beautiful hosts and the wines were top notch! This was supposed to be a quick stop for us but we ended up spending hours chatting and playing board games with Betty! Brownie points to them for have a winery puppy. 15/10 for puppy kisses at DeCorsa! We can't wait to go back and we left feeling like we hung out with a couple of friends! It was a huge bonus that their wine was yumm!!

I had such a unique experience at this winery that it was hard to know what to rate it. There were…read moresix of us that scheduled an appointment to visit on the day of New Year's Eve. When we arrived the place looked closed and we weren't sure what to make of it. When we came into the space it was very dark and it remained dark the entire time we were there which I thought was odd. But the winery is powered by solar panels which I thought was cool! But I swear it must've been 50 degrees inside the building because half of us were freezing. It also looked like a lot of the decorations were incredibly old and outdated and hadn't been dusted in a long time. The woman that helped to service us was very nice and personable and I thought we had a good time talking to her and her husband. They told us a lot about the winery and how the community helps to keep it running. I've never been to such a small winery like this one so it was nice to hear how they keep it running! The wine: the reason why im not giving this a lower star rating is because of how good the wines and prices were. For less than ten dollars you can sample 5 wines and they let us pair up and share tastings so we could try them all! I loved each wine and they all tasted unlike any other wines I've ever tasted. Very fruity and fragrant and delicious. :) Overall I think if the owners added more lights and cleaned up the decorations this place could easily jump from a 3 to a 4!

Our annual trip to Walker is never complete without a trip to Forestedge! The owners remember us by…read morename and it's always a highlight! Tucked away, this spot offers a tranqual retreat to sip lovely fruit wine. They have a tasting room and a patio that can support small to medium sized groups. I always recommend starting with one of their pre-set flights, which give you a great idea of their various flavor profiles. Each flight is sorted by sweetness, which leaves something for everyone! The Paul Bunyan Jazz is my absolute favorite, so I usually move on to a glass of that after my flight! Don't forget to take a bottle or two home with you as well!

Their wine style (entirely fruit based) is not for me, but like so many rural Minnesota wineries,…read moreyou are here for the ambiance, not the wine. I do think if your social circle is ladies of a certain age, they would greatly enjoy the mostly off dry/ sweet options. The ambiance is classic farm winery, suit on the patio, drink wine, enjoy cheese. It was a pit stop on our way north, I loved it and I'd do it again.

When you are tired of crowds, come to L'etoile du Nord for quiet beauty, great cheese and wine and…read morea place to breathe.

Walked down the road from our AirBnB. Tried a variety on a flight. Service was great and the…read moreenvironment and atmosphere was very relaxed. The wines I tried were all very good!

Super cute wine bistro located in historic downtown Park Rapids. They have a light menu, ranging…read morefrom brunch options, cheese boards, to sandwiches and soups. We just stopped in to check it out and got a round of drinks. They only have a wine and beer license - so no hard alcohol - so some options are unique, like a beer bloody and a wine bloody. I tried the beer bloody and it wasn't bad! I still prefer a bloody with vodka, but was glad to try something new and creative. Tasted like a more watered down V8 (the beer was Busch lite, which could have been why). We talked to the owner while there and she was super friendly. Can't wait to go back for food and events!

This place is super cute! It has a very calming, rustic aesthetic and small details that really…read morepull the place together. The light music playing also helped set the relaxing environment. The space has a cute gift shop toward the back, which you definitely need to check out! The employees were SO nice and helpful! Any questions we had, they had an upbeat answer for us. They were very fun to talk to! We didn't get any food, but they have a great menu complete with a couple boards (charcuterie, brunch) and several other snacky options. Everything sounded so good and the prices were really fair! I ended up getting a mimosa flight, which was delicious!

Owner/veteran ran winery. Small friendly tasting room. The owner does a great job explaining the…read morewines in a way everyone can appreciate, including her winemaking learning process. Great and very creative options. Looking for a winery with something different and fun to offer, this is worth a stop. She even went and bottled my parents wine she was out of. Easy drive from Alex.

What a fabulous find! We were on our way on the hwy headed south and saw the Ann River. Since my…read morename is Ann, we decided to make a u-turn and take a picture. Now facing north we saw the sign for the Ann River Winery. We stopped into the tasting room and found a happy crowd of folks there and a very friendly and helpful lady, who turned out to be the owner. It was "Cheesecake Sunday" so of course we had to try the cheesecake with our flights of wine. Very good cheesecake with the topping of our choice! They had a large selection of wines and we ended up buying a couple bottles as well as some merchandise. We had a very fun experience and loved hearing the story about origins of the winery. I highly recommend this winery!

While the winery wasn't as classy as some local vineyard I've visited, the space was clean, bright…read moreand modern...and the staff was 10 star from my experience! My brother and I decided to hit up all the places listed on the East Central Craft Beverage Trail so we could take notes for places to recommend at our family VRBO up there. We both tend to favor gourmet foodies and foreign red wine; but also really enjoy most of the local breweries and distilleries popping up in MN. We opted for 2 flights of the 6 samples for $6.50 (nice price!!) and compared notes with each other. While we both tend to not really go for white wines, the winner for us ended up being none other than Painted Lady, which was very much a white wine. The wines were better than some of the MN wineries that I've had (keep in mind, I have been a foreign red wine only kind of gal for years- so that is a high bar to meet!). There were a few that were a bit too sweet/syrupy but over all, I was pleased with the tasting and would even consider ordering a few by the glass. Random tidbit- they allow you to snow shoe or cross country ski by the vineyard if you'd like!

This winery is cute and easy to find. Indoor and outdoor seating available. The owner is really…read morenice, she will guide through the wine list. The carrier is too cute, I had a flight and found new favorite wine.

My friends and I stopped at this cute little winery on our way up to Duluth for the weekend. The…read morewinery is located in a quiet area and property it super welcoming. They even had animals near by on the property. We got there right when they opened and they were still getting things set up which was totally fine since she let us know and helped us very shortly after arriving. I ordered a wine flight of 5 different wines. They have more whites than reds, which I'm more of a red fan but it was still great for summer drinking on the patio. I ordered these wines in my flight: 2022 Marquette 2022 Itasca 2021 Treehouse White Limited Release 2021 Widowmaker 2022 Rose I would recommend stopping by this winery if your in the area to enjoy some great MN wines!

I was in Brainerd for a Farm to Kids Roadshow - with my Renewing the Countryside hat on connecting…read morefarmers to schools for local food sourcing. So I thought I'd check in on one of my favorite chefs Matt Annand (featured in the MN Homegrown cookbook) and sadly Prairie Bay is closed. But he's now running the show at Notch*8. He's still bringing the good stuff - elevated but recognizable supper-club style wedge salad, tender brisket on focaccia with an onion soup jus that was so satisfying. (Literally- I could make a post about the jus) The show stopper? This off menu (but I'm told it could become a regular) desert has no name as of yet - but I'll give you my take... Zabaione takes a trip to the lakes region and cosplays as a roasted marshmallow - falls in love with the local berries and settles down in a house with a view. Make sense? The zabaione had a perfect balance/consistency- but the brûlée at the end was brilliant. I was here "out of season" for local fruit but I know Matt is committed to local sourcing - so an excellent dish will only get better with "in season" fruit. (I'd love to have seen a kernza flour + hazelnut cookie on top - but that may be gilding the lily) great job crew!

We stopped at Notch 8 to check it out. We sat at the bar and Ryan waited on us. We ordered the…read moreDumplings, which were fabulous. Also we ordered the Ahi Tuna Asian Bowl, another delicious meal. I do have to say that Ryan made our experience perfect, he was very helpful with the specials and service! He is a gem!