Winehaven Winery

Winehaven Winery, also described as Winehaven Winery and Vineyard, is a family-owned and operated winery based in Chisago City, Minnesota. The business has operated since 1995 and is associated with the Peterson family, whose earlier agricultural activity in the St. Croix River Valley centered on beekeeping. That background shaped both the winery’s earliest product and its visual identity: Winehaven initially produced mead, or honey wine, from Peterson Honey, and its official logo incorporates a honey bee. The winery’s production is oriented toward the conditions of the Upper Midwest. Its vineyard covers approximately 15 acres and contains grape varieties selected or developed for winter hardiness. Alongside grape wines, Winehaven has offered products made from fruit and honey, reflecting a broad regional-winery portfolio rather than a narrow focus on conventional European grape varieties. The business has been associated with approximately 19 types of wine, including varietal wines, dessert wines, ice wines, port-style products, fruit wines, and mead. A notable part of Winehaven’s identity is its connection to cold-climate viticulture. The Peterson family developed the Chisago grape, a variety named after the Minnesota county where the winery is located. The variety was patented in the United States in 2008 and was described by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as combining wine quality, vigor, disease resistance, and cold hardiness. Winehaven has used Chisago in several products, including the sweet Deer Garden Red, the dessert-style Slippery Slope Red Ice Wine, and a wine marketed under the Chisago name. Winehaven has also built recognition through competition results. Reference material describes the winery as one of the most awarded wineries in the Upper Midwest, with more than 100 medals from competitions in New York, California, Indiana, and Minnesota. Reported honors include Wine of the Year awards for its semi-sweet honey wine at the Indy International Wine Competition in 2009 and 2010, as well as Best Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead at the 2010 Mazer Cup International Mead Competition. Other cited awards include Best Merlot and Double Gold for Merlot at the 2006 San Francisco International Wine Competition, Double Gold for Marechal Foch at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, and medals for Grapewinds Port, Chisago, Cranberry, and Slippery Slope White Ice Wine at competitions held in 2009 and 2010. The winery’s scale has also received regional business attention. In October 2009, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal ranked Winehaven first in Minnesota for case production. This recognition, together with the winery’s competition record, positioned Winehaven as a significant producer within Minnesota’s emerging cold-climate wine sector. Available reference material does not provide current production figures, distribution details, revenue, or a confirmed official website, so the present geographic reach and operating scale cannot be established more precisely.

Winehaven Winery is a family-owned winery and vineyard in Chisago City, Minnesota. Its business history is rooted in the Peterson family’s long-standing agricultural activity in the St. Croix River Valley, where the family kept bees for three generations before establishing the winery. Honey production influenced the winery’s first product: mead made from Peterson Honey. It also remains visible in the company’s branding through a honey-bee emblem incorporated into the official logo. The winery began operating in 1995 and developed a vineyard suited to Minnesota’s demanding climate. The vineyard covers about 15 acres and contains a range of winter-hardy grape varieties. Winehaven’s approach has therefore combined traditional winery products with ingredients and cultivars adapted to the Upper Midwest. Its portfolio has included grape wines, fruit wines, honey wines, ice wines, dessert wines, and port-style products, with reference material identifying approximately 19 varieties or types of wine. A central development in Winehaven’s history was the creation of the Chisago grape by Kevin and Kyle Peterson. Named for the county in which the winery operates, the variety was patented in 2008. The patent description emphasized its combination of wine quality, vigor, disease resistance, and cold hardiness. Winehaven subsequently used the grape in multiple products, including Deer Garden Red, Slippery Slope Red Ice Wine, and a wine sold under the Chisago name. The variety illustrates the winery’s broader role in developing grapes for climates where many conventional wine grapes are difficult to cultivate. Winehaven gained regional and competition recognition during the 2000s and early 2010s. The winery was reported to have earned more than 100 medals in international competitions held in New York, California, Indiana, and Minnesota. Its semi-sweet honey wine was named Honey Wine of the Year at the Indy International Wine Competition in both 2009 and 2010, and the same general product category received Best Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead at the 2010 Mazer Cup International Mead Competition. Other reported honors included Best Merlot and Double Gold for the winery’s Merlot at the 2006 San Francisco International Wine Competition; Double Gold for Marechal Foch at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition; Gold for Grapewinds Port and Chisago at 2010 competitions; Double Gold for Cranberry; and Best Specialty Wine for Slippery Slope White Ice Wine. The business also received recognition for production scale. In October 2009, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal ranked Winehaven number one in Minnesota for case production. This suggests that the winery had become a substantial participant in the state’s wine industry by that point, although the available material does not provide the underlying case volume or later production figures. Winehaven’s documented identity is consequently that of a regional, family-operated winery combining vineyard production, cold-climate grape development, honey-based products, and fruit-wine experimentation. The available references do not establish a detailed ownership succession, current management structure, distribution footprint, financial performance, or confirmed official website. Those elements remain unverified.

• 2010

  Further medals for honey wine and cold-climate products

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  Winehaven's semi-sweet honey wine again receives Honey Wine of the Year at the Indy International Wine Competition and also wins Best Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead at the Mazer Cup International Mead Competition.

• 2009

  Honey wine wins international honors

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  Winehaven's semi-sweet honey wine is named Honey Wine of the Year at the Indy International Wine Competition, and Slippery Slope White Ice Wine receives Best Specialty Wine at the International Cold Climate Wine Competition.

• 2009

  Winehaven leads Minnesota in case production

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal ranks Winehaven first in Minnesota for case production.

• 2008

  Chisago grape is patented

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  Kevin and Kyle Peterson obtain a U.S. patent for the Chisago grape, a cold-hardy variety developed for wine production.

• 2006

  Merlot receives major competition recognition

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  Winehaven's Merlot receives Best Merlot and Double Gold recognition at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.

• 1995

  Winehaven begins operating

  [1]Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org

  The Peterson family establishes Winehaven Winery and Vineyard in Chisago City, Minnesota.

A family-operated Upper Midwest winery focused on locally adapted, winter-hardy grapes and a diverse portfolio that includes grape wines, fruit wines, dessert wines, ice wines, and honey-based mead.

• Mead

  Semi-Sweet Honey Wine

  A honey-based wine made in the tradition of mead and linked to the Peterson family's earlier beekeeping business. The product was among Winehaven's most decorated offerings, receiving Honey Wine of the Year at the Indy International Wine Competition in 2009 and 2010 and Best Traditional Semi-Sweet Mead at the 2010 Mazer Cup International Mead Competition.

• Cold-climate grape wine · 2008

  Chisago

  A wine associated with the Chisago grape, a winter-hardy variety developed by Kevin and Kyle Peterson and patented in 2008. The grape was intended to combine wine quality with vigor, disease resistance, and cold hardiness, and the wine received a Gold medal at a 2010 international competition.

• Sweet red wine

  Deer Garden Red

  A sweet red wine made with the Chisago grape. It represents Winehaven's use of locally developed, cold-hardy grape material in approachable regional wine styles.

• Red ice wine

  Slippery Slope Red Ice Wine

  A dessert-style red ice wine made using the Chisago grape. It forms part of Winehaven's specialty-wine range built around cold-climate production and late-harvest or dessert-oriented styles.

• White ice wine

  Slippery Slope White Ice Wine

  A specialty white ice wine associated with Winehaven's cold-climate portfolio. It was recognized as Best Specialty Wine at the 2009 International Cold Climate Wine Competition.

• Red grape wine

  Merlot

  Winehaven's Merlot received Best Merlot and Double Gold at the 2006 San Francisco International Wine Competition, making it one of the winery's most prominently documented conventional varietal wines.

• Cold-climate red grape wine

  Marechal Foch

  A red wine made from Marechal Foch, a grape commonly associated with cooler-climate viticulture. Winehaven's version received Double Gold at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.

• Port-style wine

  Grapewinds Port

  A fortified or port-style wine in Winehaven's dessert-oriented range. It received a Gold medal at the 2010 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.

• Fruit wine

  Cranberry

  A cranberry-based fruit wine reflecting Winehaven's use of non-grape ingredients alongside vineyard varieties. The product received Double Gold at the 2010 International Cold Climate Wine Competition.

• 2008

  Patent development of the Chisago grapeOther

  Background

  Minnesota's climate creates demanding conditions for grape cultivation, encouraging the development of varieties with cold hardiness and disease resistance.

  Action taken

  Kevin and Kyle Peterson developed and patented the Chisago grape, then used it in several Winehaven products.

  Aftermath

  The grape became part of Winehaven's product identity and supported the winery's positioning around cold-climate viticulture.

  Source

1. 1Winehaven Wineryen.wikipedia.org