July 07, 2016

First Ever Jon Roast!

July 07, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Greetings!

July 16th will be our first ever Jon Roast and we can all agree that a roast has never looked so good:

I mean, FREE Hog Roast, the menu for our FREE Hog Roast looks really good:

Roast Pork, Baked Potatoes
Home Style Baked Beans
with Bacon and Buns to
go with the Pork.
PLUS ONE GLASS OF WINE

RSVP by replying to this email or call 612-568-8318

click the banner below for the full flier!

The Glass is Half Full!

This week has been kind of a whirlwind with our oldest son home from Texas. We visited the MN Arboretum, went to a Twins game and we won, and of course celebrated the 4th of July. Friday is now golfing for the Millner Reunion at Pierz, MN and Saturday is the official Millner Reunion get together and the Piekarski reunion, Mary's family. Saturday and Sunday Matt Horton will be the vineyard and winery tour guide, as us gone for reunion. Matt will do a very good job, he is in fact more formally educated on grapes than Jon. I am really looking forward to this reunion, my cousins are beginning to die-off, we'll make good time of the event.

See you next week and thank you for your time.

Don Millner

LIVE MUSIC

This Saturday and Sunday 2 - 5 pm

"Lisa Lynn"

PHOTO of the WEEK

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!

Bottle of Love,

The Millners

July 01, 2016

Our Latest & Greatest HOMEMADE AD and 2 Buck "Little Iza!"

July 01, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Hello Wine & Cider Lovers,

Fun, creativity, more fun, jokes, even more fun, and of course our superior intellectual minds, just created our latest and greatest super bowl ad (first part is a blooper). Please view below!

WAS THIS ADVERTISEMENT CONVINCING??

IF SO, REPLY TO THIS EMAIL TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION

Looking for more details?? Click the banner below for access to the full flier.

The Glass is Half Full!

2 Buck Little Iza!

OK, now to get right to the beef of it. I think all of you know of the discount wine call Two-Buck Chuck. Yesterday Jon called me with the statement, we have a lot of Little Iza in inventory. This is the biggest vintage of this wine we have ever had and a new crop of LeCrescent grapes are now growing. We've been selling good quantities off the pallets, we need to sell more. All I could tell Jon is that Little Iza is best consumed. We decided to lower the price by $2, hence 2 buck Little Iza! Down to $14.99

Numbers Growing for our Free Hog Roast!

It'll be our best party, call now for to register or get details. And the meal, plus a glass of wine, served on our Chinaware on linen, and a 4-piece band free with the specified wine purchase. If you watched the video above you'll understand the photo below.

Come to our party, You'll Like!
Thank you for our time.
Don

LIVE MUSIC

This Saturday and Sunday 2 - 5 pm

"Just Jerome"

A Millner classic guest musician: Jerry Kadlec playing clarinet, saxophone, keyboard, and vocals. Performing a variety of music genre.

PHOTO of the WEEK

We are a wedding hotspot this summer! This week's photo displays Jon and Anna with a very special blessing to the happy couple:

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!

Love,

The Millners

June 25, 2016

Officially Summer!

June 25, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Hello Most Beautiful Millner Fans!

As you know, the official day of summer was on the 20th and summer is a season we ought to celebrate in Minnesota. So if you haven't already, we encourage you to grab a bottle of one of our wines and pair it with your "Cheers to Summer" toast!

Best Millner wines to pair with summer:

Mn Crisp, Naplemente, Salier, Nordsüss, Gemütlichkeit, Little Iza.

Our wines should be in your nearest liquor store, but if they are not, request us! Then we can start distributing your favorite Millner wine to your preferred liquor store.

RSVP TODAY BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL!

FREE Hog Roast on July 16th

Click the banner for full flier details!

The Glass is Half Full!

Good Morning: 7:30 am 6/25/16

Being that we live in the state with 10,000 lakes, one would think to be a true Minnesotan a little fishing is in order. Mary's father died back in 2000, we bought his boat. With the winery work it has been sitting idle since 2007, now we have it back in the water. But is fishing really expensive. a. Boat license $38 b. New fuel tank, the old metal one rusted $65 c. Rebuild carburetor on 25 hp outboard $189 d. New anchor rope, used the old one somewhere in the last 9 years $10 e. More engine problems $117 f. MN fishing license $36 g. Lastly needed new depth finder $139 = $594. And we already had the boat. We went fishing a few times now with a little success, hopefully we do better. Currently our fish price is about $300 per pound, with hard and smarter fishing we may improve. We do like eating the fish and it is good for us to get out onto the lakes get some time away from the winery work. A while ago I asked a fisherman about catch and release. He said he does "Catch and Release in the Grease."

July 16th Free Hog Roast Update!

I'd like to give you some details about the Free Hog Roast on July 16th. On this project we are working with "Benny's Meat Market" of Hutchinson. Benny is actually the owner of the meat shop, a nice young guy. We made the contact with him via a discussion about grapes with his parents, they also grow grapes. Benny will be roasting the hog at our location, staying up all night to do the cooking. Maybe we could have a roasting party all night long. The menu is looking to be of course the Roast Pork, Baked Potatoes, Home Style Baked Beans with Bacon, and Buns to go with the Pork. If you'd like to read more on Benny, click on the photo below to go to his website.

The grapes are looking very good. We have far more clusters developing than we had expected. Apparently the primary buds got damaged from frost damage from 4 weeks ago, but have since recovered. Thanks to Jon and Phil watering them into the wee hours of the morning during the frost episode. Now we have to see if we can complete the crop and get the grapes into the fermentation tanks.

State Highway 15 Rebuilt as 4-Lane past Millner Heritage

Lastly, like all good businesses you need sound infrastructure, maintenance is an ever going battle. For some time now we have been waiting for a rebuild on state highway 15 as you enter our winery. The road is bumpy and little to no shoulders, we'd like to see you have a smooth ride on you way in and not have you wine jostled on the way out. The past spring from a friend I heard that the road was going to be rebuilt in 2017, then talked with a highway worker and he said not until 2022. Talk about surprises, late spring they now rebuilt the highway into a 4-lane.

Thank you for your time.

Don Millner

LIVE MUSIC

This Saturday and Sunday 2 - 5 pm

"Gravel Road"

"Gravel Road" is made up of musicians as diverse as the music they play, offering a variety of musical styles. Their music ranges from Blues & Folk to Rockabilly & Traditional Country. Playing everything from Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan to Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash.

PHOTO of the WEEK

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for readning!

Love,

The Millners

June 17, 2016

FATHER'S DAY FREE SPECIALS!

June 17, 2016/ Millner Heritage

GREETINGS!

Here at Millner Heritage we LOVE Fathers! Check out our Father's Day (FREE) Specials below.

SEEKING BOTTLERS: Friday, June 24th & Friday July 1st. Start: 8:15am both days. Reply to this email if you'd like to help us out on those days!

The Glass is Half Full!

Good morning:

One of the advantages of being retired, I just got up from my noon nap. Slept good, but then when I was practicing dentistry I also took a noon nap. One of my earliest memories as pre-school taking a nap, my dad also took a nap when he could. Sometimes my mom would get impatient with his napping, she'd say, "Your going to sleep yourself to death." After a nap it is good to go back to work again.

Last night Iza came to our house on short notice, we had already planned to go out for supper in Kimball. The place we went was Son of a Butcher (S.O.B.), featuring on Wednesday evening free bingo. Iza came with us, wow we won three packages of brats from Knaus meats. The last game of the evening was a blackout for a $50 gift certificate to win in 50 numbers, that's every second number has to be on your card to win. At the 50th number Iza had only two spots open and in two more calls she won the blackout. So she didn't win the $50, instead she won a drink chip for dad on father's day. It was really fun to see her win.

Now it is time to answer last week's trivia question. "Where were we on the photo below? Hint, after this we went to Como Park. Yes, the answer is Minnehaha Falls and the winner of a bottle of wine is John Doe. Yes, really John Doe, I am curious as to the real name when I send of the gift certificate.

A very nice day for all fathers, including all three of our sons are also fathers.

Our music this Saturday and Sunday June 18th and 19th, 2 - 5 pm is "The Derelict Trio"

Check them out at The Derelict Trio on You Tube. They play some wild Jazz. You'll like them.

Thank you for our time. Don Millner

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD YET:

Click the banner for full flyer details!

PHOTO of the WEEK

Don't pretend like you didn't know—but just in case you didn't, we do indeed have the BEST vineyard and winery tours in Minnesota!

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

Thanks for reading!

- The Millners

June 10, 2016

Millner Heritage Winery & Cidery

June 10, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Hey Wine Lovers!

This week we have a very special preview of our new wine that will be released soon(ish) that only our newsletter readers get to see! It's a wine the can be paired with beef and other hearty foods, like pot roast. In fact, we named the wine after what it pairs well with:

The Glass is Half Full!

Last week's newsletter got sent out before I was done writing. Today starts with the oops part from last week....

Our oldest son Doug lives in Houston with spouse Angie and granddaughter Lisa. Doug has always been a reader. When he was 8 or 9 yrs. old and our family would go traveling on a road trip, he'd always have a big box of magazines to read. And when he finished reading them, he'd read them again. Well it appears that genetics can carry well to the next generation.

Time to give away a free bottle of wine!! On Memorial weekend Mary and I got away on Sunday. Where were we on the photo below. Hint, after this we went to Como Park and the line of cars to enter was about a 3/4 mile long that we went to a winery instead. Send your answers to donmillner@gmail.com with the subject line, "Splish Splash!"

Now we are onto this week....

Mary and I left last Saturday for a wine tasting in Duluth on Monday evening. Jean Robbins at the St. Cloud Convention Center and Visitors Bureau has over the years sent us many buses to tour the winery. She requested if we'd be interested in pouring tasting for their TAP event. For all the help they have given us, we decided to return the favor. The event was a collection of tour operators from around the nation, scouting out locations to bring groups. We were part of the St. Cloud promotion, located at the historic Railroad Museum in Duluth. Tasting is always a fun time.

Trying to get a hotel room for 3 nights in Duluth did not go well. The leftovers were either the $250/per night or the cheap rooms. I will tell you right up front two things, 1. $250 per night is poor use of our money. 2. Once you've consumed our cider "Sechs in a Bottle" you life is never the same thereafter, you can see things more clearly.

In our hotel bathroom I saw a bar of soap set out onto a towel and my mind couldn't help but see.......

It was Hotel Sechs, but the night were rather quiet. We did drive all the way to Grand Marais on the north shore of Superior. The waterfalls on the entire shore line were wonderful due to extreme rainfall. Below is short video of Gooseberry Falls.

This Week's Music!

This weekend June 11 and 12th "Prairiegrass Band" is performing each day 2 - 5 pm. They play Minnesota Bluegrass, always a good tempo.

Thank you for your time and have a wonderful weekend.

Don Millner

SEND IN YOUR RSVPs FOR JULY 16th

FREE HOG ROAST DINNER!!!!!!!

Mark your calendars for July 16th! Call our event line at 612-568-8318 to reserve your spots or simply reply to this email. If you have one of our maroon case club bags this event is FREE for you with the requirement of purchasing 6 bottles of wine or a case of cider per couple.

PHOTO of the WEEK

MORE PETS!

Have a great weekend!

- The Millners

June 03, 2016

Save the Date - July 16th Hog Roast! Bottling Volunteer Update!

June 03, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Greetings most beautiful newsletter readers!

How many of you know what sulfites are and do in wine? The term 'sulfites' is an inclusive term for sulfur dioxide (SO2). SO2 is a preservative and widely used in winemaking (and most food industries), because of its antioxidant and antibacterial properties. SO2 plays a very important role in preventing oxidization and maintaining a wine's freshness.

HOWEVER, some people are allergic to sulfites and believe that it causes them headaches.

So for those people, we have good news for you! Our dry reds, Draga and Rona are sulfite free! Though it says on the labels that it does contain sulfites, it is only listed on there because the TTB makes you pay to take it off.

BOTTLING VOLUNTEER UPDATE

Due to a busy summer of Saturday weddings at the winery we have decided to change bottling days to FRIDAY instead of SATURDAY. If you are available to help us bottle on Fridays through the summer, please reply to this email!

If you were scheduled to volunteer on a upcoming Saturday we will be notifying you with other possible Fridays available. Apologies if you work on Fridays!

Again, we want to offer a big thanks to all of our volunteers that have helped us thus far! We couldn't have done it without you!

Good Morning Thursday June 2, 2016

With all the political news of late, I'm sure you've heard of politics making strange bedfellows. At the winery we have been having some concern about the growth of our local goose flock. Ten years ago we had two geese on our property, now it is growing to 15 - 20 hanging around at the pond by the driveway and they brouse into the vineyard and of course they poop all over. Last year they started eating some of the grapes, bad news. Yesterday Jon told me that the Japanese Beetles are now in the twin cities and they will arrive here soon. This beetle has been a problem only east of the Mississippi river. The odd thing he heard is that geese eat the grubs of this beatle, odd bedfellows. Yes this is farming! Japanese Beetles

WE LOVE OUR CASE CLUB MEMBERS!

To show how much we appreciate our case club members for our next case club appreciation dinner we are bringing in the hogs!

Mark your calendars for our July 16th Case Club Appreciation HOG ROAST! Call our event line at 612-568-8318 to reserve your spots or simply reply to this email. This event is FREE with the requirement of 6 bottles of wine or a case of cider to be purchased per couple.

PHOTO of the WEEK

Did you know you can click this photo to view our entire library of weekly photos on Instagram?

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

Have a great weekend!

- The Millners

May 28, 2016

Summertime at the Winery

May 28, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Greetings Readers!

Our vineyard tours are in full swing now at the winery! Grab a glass, (or a bottle) and board our trolly to be taken on a ride through our vines. We will tell you all about viticulture and our cold climate grape varieties! Check us out on Groupon before you come out to receive BOTH tours (vineyard & winery), a glass of wine, tasting of 8 table wines, a chocolate bar, a wine glass to take home, and 30% OFF CASE DISCOUNT!

Tours take place Saturday and Sunday at 1:30pm and 3:00pm.

SAVE THE DATE

If you haven't bought a case of our wine, (which automatically enrolls you in our Case Club) you still have time before the next Case Club appreciation dinner! Our next Case Club dinner is one to show you that we REALLY appreciate you buying cases of our wine, (cue drumroll) WE ARE BRINGING IN A HOG ROAST!

Mark your calendars for July 16th! Call our event line at 612-568-8318 to reserve your spots or simply reply to this email. This event is FREE with the requirement of 6 bottles of wine or a case of cider to be purchased per couple.

The Glass is Half Full!

Good Morning: Saturday 5/28/16

I have not written for two weeks, not due to lack of desire, just didn't get it done. It has been really busy lately, two weeks ago the frost gave us a real push. Jon and Phil drove from 1 a.m. two nights spraying water on the vines to help to protect them. I think they helped the grapes, but we did get some losses. On average we thought we lost 50% of our primary buds, now we think it closer to a 40% primary bud loss. Where these buds are lost replacement buds will grow but the replacements produce less than half of the normal amount of grapes. This is just the start of the season, so we can still loose grapes to hail, birds, disease, drought, deer, raccoon, and other things I can't remember right now. So the wine tastes really good especially when you know all the perils the grapes have to survive to become wine. Enjoy!

The dead areas in the above photo are frost damage. Replacements will come and some shoots survived the frost with their neighboring shoots killed.

For our music this weekend we have as new group playing Saturday and Sunday 2 - 5 pm. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing this performance.

Gravel Road" is made up of musicians as diverse as the music they play, offering a variety of musical styles. Their music ranges from Blues & Folk to Rockabilly & Traditional Country. Playing everything from Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan to Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash.~

Thank you for your time and have a special weekend with you family.

Don Millner

PHOTO of the WEEK

Did you know you can click this photo to view our entire library of weekly photos on Instagram?

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

As always, thank you for reading!

- Andrea

May 12, 2016

FREE DINNER at Millner's Prohibition History Night!

May 12, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Dearest Readers,

Case Club Appreciation night is just around the corner! May 21st at 5pm! During this dinner we will be celebrating our history of making wines and spirits during prohibition. You'll get an exclusive look at old photos of the family and the old still, (that's still around today)! Plus, live music! Don't forget to bring your Millner Case Club Bag!

Not a Case Club member yet? No worries! No formal membership fees are required, simply just purchase a case of our wine! Click the image below for a printable flier:

Feel free to have fun with the night and dress up! Here are some examples:

The Glass is Half Full!

Good Morning: Thursday 5/12 /16

Yes this still is farming, I called Jon this morning to see if he knew of the frost warnings for Friday night. He had a one word reply with a word similar to manure. The problem of a frost now is that we loose 50% to 60% of our crop, because the buds are totally open and growing. We do have a plan, I will later today attach the 150 gal. fungal sprayer onto the tractor and check that it is operational. Saturday morning early, Jon and Phil will have a date in the vineyard keeping water spraying onto the vines, hopefully minimizing any damage.

Don't miss the case club party advertised above. If you don't have a case club bag, you can buy a case of wine that day and still be part of the party. You all probably had a big meal last Sunday for Mother's Day, by May 21st you should be hungry again.

Last week I transferred my goldfish into the smaller patio pond and then dropped my phone into the water. It dried out OK in rice and below is a phone it contained of their winter home.

Last Sunday was the start of our music season. We will now have live music every Saturday and Sunday until the end of November. I was able to bring in some new performers this year, I'm sure you enjoy them all.

This Sat. and Sunday May 14 & 15 will be "Just Jerome".

Playing 2 - 5 pm.
Jerry Kadlec playing clarinet, saxaphone, keyboard, and voice.
Performing a variety of music Genre.

One last note, the vineyard tours are back. Come and enjoy the best vineyard and winery tours in Minnesota. By touring the vineyard now, early in the season, you'll see the tremendous growth that occurs in a normal season. It is amazing!

http://www.millnerheritage.com/tours/

Thank you for our time. Don Millner

PHOTO of the WEEK

2021 What The Foch is back. So... Foch Yeah! 😉

Have a fabtabülous week!

- Andrea

May 06, 2016

Case Club Appreciation May 21st - FREE MEAL!

May 06, 2016/ Millner Heritage

Greetings!

Let's start this newsletter out with a drumroll because we broke a new bottling record! Last Saturday we bottled What The Foch at 753 bottles per hour! That is 62.75 cases an hour! Even more significant: we did 204 cases it in 3 hours and 15 min!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF OUR VOLUNTEERS!

We literally could not have done it without you!

Reply to this email if you would like to volunteer for bottling on a Saturday this summer!

We are currently looking to fill every Saturday June - August. We start at 8:15am and finish 4 hours later, then we feed you and pour you all the wine you want! Then we send you home with two bottles!

May 21st: Case Club Appreciation (FREE) Dinner:

Millner Prohibition History Night

Click the banner below to see more details!

We have been making spirits and wine since we arrived from Neuhaus, Austria in 1882! Prohibition did not stop us! Come and join us for a night of flashbacks as Jon tells us the Millner story!

Live music too!

Reply to this email or call 612-568-8318 to reserve your spot!

The Glass is Half Full!

Good Morning: Thursday 5/5/16

Another week going into the record book and another week of fast growing lawn. Mary did quite a lot of cutting yesterday. It must be almost five years now we are running a zero turn mower. When we first got it I told Mary to drive in the parking lot a while to get used to steering with the two handles, I was afraid she might drive into the pond. Like a fish in water, she took off onto the lawn and has done very good with it since.

Speaking of "Like a fish in water". This week I brought my goldfish back to the little pond from their wintering in a cage at the bottom of the big pond by the driveway. I put 24 fish in the cage last fall and "Holy Mackerel", 24 fish were still alive this spring, wow. The first day back they swam around like happy children on a playground at recess time. I wanted to show you an actual photo of my babies, but I dropped my dumb smart phone into the little pond, it is now drying out in a bag of rice.