Wine Tasting

One of my faculty colleagues thought we should start the academic year off with some fun. She arranged for us to have a wine tasting. (We did this after our work day closed. No tax money spent on this. Rather for anything we bought, we paid tax just like anyone else!).

We were given a glass of wine when we arrived and then walked to a nearby area to see how the grapes are managed. We all liked the wine we started with -- Frontenac Gris. This grape is one that has been bred to survive the Minnesota winters. It is a mutation of the Frontenac Red.

Our guide did a very nice job explaining all the work it takes to first grow the vines, and then have them produce grapes, and then the work of the grape harvest. Wine won't seem so expensive to me now!

Then we went back into the buildings to learn about the fermentation processes. This is a crusher that is not used often anymore, but it is more interesting than plastic tanks! After following the grapes from crushing to when wine appears in a bottle, we returned to the show room for a tasting of many different kinds of wine. I'll definitely go back. This group is making very good wine.

After the wine tasting, we drove into Stillwater and had dinner at the Kitchen Restaurant. The food here was very good. Of course, we were given one check and then it took forever to work out the check!

Boat on St. Croix River

When I was walking back to my car, I saw the nice scene. The St. Croix River forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. It enters the Mississippi River about 40 miles south of Stillwater. It is quite a larger river here. Many times I've been on planes making a landing from the east into the airport, and when we go over this river, many people oh and ah over the Mississippi, not knowing it is really the St. Croix River!