While I travel to Minnesota on a regular basis (I love the countryside and the people) I dont get back here often enough, especially when it comes to exploring the relatively nascent wine-making scene here. In the 23 years that I have been tasting Minnesotas wines I have seen dramatic improvement and a region finding its stride and identity.

One winery that I have followed for the last few years is Fieldstone Vineyards, formerly located just outside of Redwood Falls in southwest Minnesota. Owner/winemaker Mark Wedge has recently moved his winery and tasting room to downtown Redwood Falls and I had the opportunity to visit with him and sample his newest releases. I was impressed with Mark; he is a serious winemaker. I was also impressed by his wines. Over the years I have been sampling the Fieldstone wines, I have been witness to the steady progression in quality as Mark learns what characteristics he wants to coax from the mostly hybrid grapes that have been bred to withstand the cold climate of this region. Most importantly, Mark is reproducing those characteristics in his wines consistently, vintage to vintage. The awards that he was won speak to his skill. As the vineyards he works with attain some maturity, his wines will only continue to improve in quality.

Beyond the unique qualities of the wines that Mark produces, I was struck by the true pioneering nature of his enterprise. While most winemakers around the world get to work with vinifera varietals like merlot and cabernet sauvignon, wines which enjoy centuries of history and have long-held standards to which new winemakers and regions aspire, Mark and his Minnesota compatriots have no real road map with their grapes, some varieties of which are less than a decade old. These winemakers are literally creating the standards and flavor profiles for the wines in much the same way that the forbearers in, say, Bordeaux must have first experimented with cabernet sauvignon. I personally find this to be not only exciting but inspiring as well.

There is vision in Fieldstones tasting room in downtown Redwood Falls, as well. In a community that has seen its downtown core shrivel over time and its vitality fade, it is great to see this development. In conjunction with a coffee shop, a deli/pizzeria and a movie theater, Fieldstone Vineyards might just offer Redwood Falls a chance at a new beginning.

Here in the Northwest we have seen what wine tourism can mean for communities down on their luck. While it may never reach the same scale and Redwood Falls may never be Napa Valley, I still keep thinking about what downtown Walla Walla, Wash., looked like in the early ’80s before the wine boom.

My advice when you travel and taste wines is to keep an open mind and an open palate. You just might be pleasantly surprised at the good work that people like Mark Wedge are producing.