April 1st through December 31st Open:

Thursday 11 - 7

Fri. & Sat. 11 - 8

Sunday 11 - 6

The Best Vineyard & Winery Tours in Minnesota!

Millner Heritage Winery

32025 MN Hwy 15

Kimball, MN 55353

320-398-2081

8/07/15

Good Morning: 6:30 am

It rained again last night. Grapes do need water like any other plant, at the same time frequent rains can be a problem with fungal growth in the vineyard. Grapes all around the world always have this struggle and our weather conditions here can easily be detrimental. Fortunately because our grapes are bred with the american wild grape, vitis riparia, we have a high level of resistance.

The valiant grapes are now very well into verasion, when they change color and the ripening process is occurring. This brings me up to the next subject:

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Harvest Parties!

Harvest could well be starting later this month. If you'd like to be part of a harvest party follow the instructions below. If this is new to you:

1.Being a harvest volunteer means working about 4 hour in the vineyard cutting off clusters of grapes into pails, those pails then dump into bins right in the vineyard.

2. We then haul the bins to the winery for processing.

3. Usually we start about 8:30 in the morning complete by 12:30.

4. Then we bring in a very nice meal, all the wine you'd like to drink.

5. Then send bottles of wine home with you. I don't have specific date now, to register I need your name, a good phone number, days of the week when you can come, and how many people in your group.

Some of the harvest is on weekday and some on weekends, the variable is how the when the grapes are a peak flavor to harvest. All of our contact is via phone voice, not texting, therefore a good phone number is important.

email to donmillner@gmail.com with the subject line "2015 Harvest Party!"

If you prefer video of harvest click on the image below. If you watch, Jon and I did all the talking, but Iza was the real star.

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I had no newsletter last week because Mary and I were gone on a bus tour with our local power company, Meeker Coop. Ten of us travel together on the bus, it was a very good quick vacation. We ate too much, drank enough wine, and learned a few things. I have a few photos below.