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Go forth, fourth
Photo review: Forest Lake Parade was fine family fare. P12
From honey to wine:
the Buzz About WinehavenWinery and Vineyard
Fat Cats do like water
Marine triathlon adds in paddle boarding. P8
Photos by Paul Do Dols
BY KELLY PLUMMER Contributing Writer
Holiday hassles
Forest Lake Police log 307 calls over weekend. P7
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CHISAGO CITY — It’s not what you’d call a likely match. He was one of Minnesota’s largest honey producers. She was deathly allergic to bees. Together , Kevin and Cheri Peterson of Chisago have become an example of the old adage “opposites attract,” in love and in this case business too. Next month they and their sons Kyle and Troy celebrate 20 years of making wine via Chisago's WineHaven Winery and Vineyard. Their endeavor bloomed from a beekeeping business. “My father and grandfather were both involved in fruit and honey production starting in the 1960s,” said the business' winemaker Kyle Peterson. “The wine evolved from that to keep the family
farm in the family.” Now one of the largest wine producers in Minnesota, it's getting the most buzz for its Stinger Mead, winner of 30 medals. In total, WineHaven’s wines have won 242 medals since 1995. The process of making honey wine, also called mead, is almost exactly like making it from grapes; the honey is diluted with water then fermented with yeast to produce alcohol. Mead has been around for centuries and is considered one of the first-ever fermented drinks, dating as far back as the Medieval era. “It has a floral aroma and a light honey flavor,” said Peterson. “It pairs really well with spicy foods. That’s why we export a lot to Japan and Korea.” That’s right; word of WineHaven’s honey wine has spread across the globe. Peterson said Japan and Korea even sent a delega-
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tion over to tour its production facilities after representatives tasted WineHaven’s Stinger Mead, which won the gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition in 2006. The Stinger Mead is also among the most popular Minnesota wine on liquor store shelves, now represented by some 250 retailers across the state. After the success of their honey version, it made perfect sense for the folks at WineHaven to dive into more varieties from grapes. In 1995, the family opened an 18-acre vineyard via an ingenious setup: a hillside surrounded by Green Lake, Lake Ellen and Lake Martha. Together the lakes create a fog that warms the vines and prevents frost, a critical microclimate element in Minnesota where the growing season is short.
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