The North Dakota wine industry as well as wineries in Minnesota and South Dakota were featured in a recent article in Prairie Business Magazine.
Here is what they had to say about us:
ND Poised for Growth
Wine production is a relatively new industry in North Dakota, but it’s positioned for growth.
“It’s definitely a niche that we’re interested in helping to promote. It’s a good fit with our other agriculture,” says Dean Ihla, tourism development manager in the tourism division of the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
A concentration of wineries is developing in the Fargo area, which officials say will lend itself well to group promotion.
Greg Krieger of Long Shadow Vineyards in Galesburg is the president of the North Dakota Grape and Wine Association. He’s also an agronomist. He does not operate a winery. His vineyards are more of a hobby than a business, he says. However, he is optimistic about the overall future of the wine industry in North Dakota.
“It’s very promising. Some of the flavors we can get in wines are just remarkable,” he says.
Greg Cook, who is building the 4 Elements Winery near Casselton, is also the chair and a professor in the chemistry department at North Dakota State University. “All of these things kind of start out as hobbies,” he says.
North Dakota is in the early stages of developing its wine industry, Cook says. He expects the state to have about a dozen wineries operating in another year.
“I think the Fargo area, by having five or six by 2015, will be more of a destination,” he says.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, assistant head and professor in the plant science department at NDSU, also says the state’s wine industry is steadily growing. “I think we’ve already made a good contribution, but I think it can get better,” she says.
Hatterman-Valenti likes that North Dakota, unlike states such as Iowa, requires wineries to primarily use fruits grown within the state. She’s also encouraged by law changes that have made distributing wine within the state easier. She says she’s impressed by the level of cooperation wine makers, winery operators and viticulturists demonstrate. “Their willingness to work together and help each other out is neat and ideal,” she says. PB
– See more at: http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/18785/