Strawberry Wine is fermenting away!!

2008 is going down as one of the best strawberry harvests in North Dakota ever. We have received over 1000 pounds of strawberries from all over eastern North Dakota. The whole winery has an overwhelming strawberry aroma that is just plain AWESOME!!!! I can hardly wait to enjoy a bottle of our strawberry wine from this year. We are going to bring in extra strawberries this year so we have enough strawberry wine for next summer. We enjoy the smiling faces as people try the Prairie Strawberry Wine. Try some today!!

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.

The Can Pile is saved

Despite many, many roadblocks, the committee that set a goal of saving the world famous Casselton Can Pile from a May 29th, 2008 demolition date succeeded yesterday. As the metal plate was slid underneath the can pile being held by a very large crane and beams inserted in the can pile for support, the onlookers gazed in amazement. As the final push from the payloader pushed on the metal plate, smoke erupted throughout the can pile very similar to a house or building collapsing. A wicked noise of settling cans and erupting smoke rattled all of the teary eyed onlookers. After a few oil cans settled, the can pile was completely on the metal plate. From there, the can pile was lifted up by the crane onto the awaiting flat bed semi-truck for the move along the evacuation route to safety. While this is a temporary location, a non-profit corporation has been set up to start raising funds for the restoration and preservation of the world famous Casselton Can Pile as well as finding a permanent home for it to be the Midwest's most unique tourist attraction. Please consider making a donation to help the project along at http:www.casseltoncanpile.com.

Dandelion Harvest underway

With our gorgeous sunshine comes bright yellow flowers all over the area. These dandelions are what we pick to make our popular dandelion wine. A wonderful unique wine is a great entertaining wine. To get there however, we need thousands of dandelion flowers. We just use the little yellow flower when we produce the wine so you can see how labor intensive production is. We estimate close to 100 yellow flowers in each half bottles of wine. What does the wine taste like? I like to describe our dandelion wine as a semi-sweet white wine that tastes like a cross between a light chardonnay and corn on the cob. We expect this wine to be our top seller on our website again this year. The novelty is growing. It is the perfect conversation piece when entertaining friends, family, and business acquaintances.

Save the Casselton Can Pile

We have been working with a tremendous committee throughout rural Cass County in an effort to save North Dakota's most unique tourist attraction, the Can Pile. Some people say it is being evicted on May 29th, some people say it is being torn down. We have been receiving phone calls day and night from all over the United States asking how they can help save the Can Pile. We have another meeting set for May 15th to establish the how-to's to saving a can pile. It has never been attempted before....anywhere in the world. We are making history. After last Thursday night's meeting, I think we might even have someone that is going to write a book about it.

For those of you in Internet land....you can learn more about our struggles and the history of the Casselton Can Pile at www.casseltoncanpile.com. Maybe even leave a donation.

Green Bay Packers

My wife and I were watching the Green Bay Packers play the New York Football Giants on the frozen tundra tonight. As the game concluded, we both wondered: "Was that the last pass of Brett Favre's career?". I can only imagine the tens of thousands of tailgaters partying around the stadium. I know for a fact several bottles of Maple River Wine were in attendance. What a great game. Too bad both teams couldn't have went to the Superbowl. How many days until Spring Training? Oh yes, the temp here today started at -23. Not a mosquito in our entire neighborhood.

Christmas Shopping Complete

December 19th and my Christmas Shopping is complete! All but 1 item was purchased either from a North Dakota company or at a Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcase. I can't say what that was so my wife won't figure out what she is getting.

This holiday season I have heard a lot more people say that they are buying local items for their loved ones. There are so many great North Dakota products out there. Almost something for everyone. From the wonderful Raspberry Vinegar that is made by Patrie's Raspberries in Bowdon, ND to the North Dakota dirt soap made by Pure Pleasures in Fredonia, ND, everything goes with a bottle of Maple River Wine.

If you get a chance, check out either the Pride of Dakota website at www.prideofdakota.nd.gov or our website www.northdakotawinery.com has many of the top unique and fun items from our North Dakota friends. Know of any other good products? Let us know!!