My favorite local wine of the month

Delicious local red wine I'm sipping right now


When I first started drinking wine, I loved Riesling.  So much so that my mom had to go out and get me a cool Riesling picture for our living room from Kohl's. (She's seriously the best.) Then I jumped over to loving even sweeter whites. Enter Moscato.

Then we got married and gave everyone in our wedding bottles of Cab Sauv from Matthew Fox (they were seriously $2.99 but REALLY good. Of course I had to make labels for everyone too - see sample below!!!) Then I started to dig Pinot Noir and Shiraz. The list goes on. Then we went to Greece and went to a winery there. And South Africa (hello Pinotage). Then California (Temecula and headed north through San Fran and had a private tour with Jake Fetzer). So I decided I love wine, period!

A local liquor store started offering FREE wine tastings every Friday and Saturday, so Karl and I go and usually buy a bottle every week. As you can guess, our wine rack is overflowing. During the colder months, I realized I jumped back into liking whites a lot. Now, as it gets warmer, I'm digging reds. So weird. My poor palette is all mixed up.

Last weekend on the way back from Karl's parent's cabin, we stopped at Winehaven. It's a local winery in Chisago, Minnesota. There were over 20 wines to sample. All GOOD wines, I might add. I recommend going there and trying them all. And better yet, it's all FREE sampling.

Anyway, we ended up buying a red. I don't know what it is about this wine, but I LOVE it. It reminds me of eating grapes off the vine. It's sweet but dry, and just awesome. I highly recommend trying it and let me know what you think!! Below is the description on the tasting sheet!

Deer Garden Red
A semi-sweet wine with bright cherry aromas and flavors. One-of-a-kind from our patented Chisago grapes! Silver Medal Winner 2011.

One of the wine labels I made for our entire wedding party!