2012 Fargo Marathon Recap

Another tremendous Fargo Marathon in the books.  We enjoyed visiting with runners from various states this past weekend.  Everyone of them mentioned how wonderful our area is.  I agree!  Our 10 and 7 year old each ran the mile marathon on Thursday night.  My wife and 10 year old each ran the 5k on Friday.  None of us ran the 10k, half or full marathon, but wow, the respect for those that train and run over 26 miles that we have.  I was fortunate to be in the Fargodome when the male and female marathon winners arrived.  The electricity was unbelievable.  Congrats to everyone who competed.  You are all winners!

Now as we get ready for Memorial Day, the official kickoff to our summer, the hours turn hectic!  Besides having wonderful visitors drop by from all over the world, fruit continues to come in.  This weekend we will have lilacs fermenting so you might have to stop by and check that out.  Lilac harvest should wrap up this week, but rhubarb harvest will continue to grow.  We might even have a tank or two of rhubarb fermenting.  This weekend we will be open Friday, Saturday and Monday 9am to 5pm.  Sunday, by appointment, but we should be there noon to 5pm.  Give a jingle to 701-347-5900 and lets see what North Dakota fruit tastes like in award winning wines here in historic downtown Casselton, North Dakota.

Very busy Saturday at the Maple River Winery

We went to Cool Beans today to get the California Burger special for everyone working today. Someone made the comment it was fairly quiet so far on Saturday morning. It didn't last. Before we could finish our burgers several groups came into the winery's tasting room/Pride of Dakota gift shop. Chokecherry Jelly and Lilac Wine were the big winners today. It is surprising how each day of the week a different wine is the most popular. This is fun because we have been guessing each morning as to which will be the most popular wine of the day.

On a side note, strawberries have started coming in. They smell sooooo good and they taste even better. You can't beat locally grown strawberries.

Up next, nanking cherries and apricots. yum.

Lilac Harvest is now complete

We just finished our lilac harvest today. Lavender, violet, and purple lilacs are all fermenting away at our winery in their respective containers. We hope to have lilac wine ready for Labor Day weekend. One of our rhubarb farmers brought in rhubarb and decided to enjoy the aroma. His advice....wow.....what an aroma. The characteristics will be great to enjoy. Lilac aromas during the winter will help make our winter more bearable. Have you ever heard of or made lilac wine? If you have, let us know at greg@mapleriverwinery.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Lilac wine is an old time wine that was made out on the farm. It truly is a delicacy for the masses.