Wineries having an ever-growing impact on regional economy

For a state rooted in adult beverages that are hops and barley born, the grape is finding its fair share of fans in a burgeoning wine industry.

Arrow signs indicating a nearby winery are popping up along several rural roads across the Chippewa Valley.

River Bend, Chippewa Falls

Both sides of the entry road to River Bend Vineyard & Winery outside Chippewa Falls are flanked by rows of grape vines. But this still might be a soybean field if a researcher from the University of Minnesota hadn’t developed “cold hardy” grapes that develop more quickly than those in Napa Valley and other traditional wine regions.

“That’s why we have wineries now in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan,” says owner, Donna Sachs. “These grapes can mature during our short growing season.”

Donna and her husband, Al, left the fast pace of the Twin Cities to pursue their dream of opening a winery. After clearing land and planting the vineyard in 2006, River Bend opened to the public three years later. Today it is one of the largest wineries in the region, producing 60,000 bottles of wine annually.

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