Lake Pepin Winery

Should have known something was off when we walked in and it smelled funky. I had a free tasting because I purchased the MN Wine Passport (which is awesome, btw). It was the worst wine I've ever tasted. I tried 4 reds and the color was unlike any red wine I've seen. It was murky and brown - totally unappetizing. The wine tasted old and very vinegary. I could barely choke it down. I searched for a dump bucket but there was none. I ate as many oyster crackers as I could, just to get the bad taste out of my mouth. I should have gotten 5 tastings with my Wine Passport but I didn't even care. I just wanted to get out of there! I would not recommend this place or their wine.

Update: I called LPW learned that I had been charged for a tasting even though I had specifically stated I wasn't interested in doing one. When I asked to purchase a specific bottle of wine the bartender(?) said, "Here... why don't you taste this other one first?" Then when I said that I would purchase that wine she said, "If you like red wine at all, why don't you try King of the North", and she poured that. Mind you I walked in to purchase a single bottle to consume at the campground and left with three bottles. I just thought that she was (successfully) trying to boost sales.Bottom line... The person who I spoke to was very gracious about explaining the charge and offered to refund the $6 for the tasting. If I were to return to the same winery I would ask for a detailed receipt next time. And perhaps make a stronger attempt to stay within my budget.

This was one of the worst experiences I have ever had. We arrived to stuff being all over the counter, including half eaten food and something that looked very odd on a plate. We noticed a cat walking around inside, and then were told the food on the plate was 3 day old cat food! The wine was awful. Ya know how at a winery, they put something out so if you don't like the one you're tasting, you can pour it out and try another? Well, we poured what we didn't like (which was every one) into a glass that he provided, and he started drinking it! We could not get out of there fast enough, and felt sick the rest of the day and night. Do not go here! They should be shut down.

Nice facilities and nice day, but service at paid wine tasting awful. We left short one sample frustrated after half hour wait with no fuzzy feeling as was our goal and experience with other wineries. Terrible slow service and hardly enough sample to taste. Been there done that!

Stopped by for our anniversary and was very disappointed. Very unsanitary and bathrooms had bugs all over the toilet and sink. Outside smelled of gasoline and bartender seemed drunk and had his mail all over the counter. Do not recommend.

We had a really pleasant experience going through the tasting process and learning about the wines. It was a nice day and we were able to walk over to the smaller patch of vines and enjoy that too. The staff was friendly and responsive and the wines were interesting and well-done. Seemed like a nice little addition to the Lake City experience.

This was my second time having a tasting at this winery and we had a blast! The owner was funny and we bought 7 bottles of wine. It was a great stop and we will be back!

Did a tasting here this summer. The owner was friendly, knowledgeable and courteous. Not to mention delicious wine. We will be back!

If I've had a less than positive experience at a business, I brush it off and do not take the time out of my day to review it. I've worked in the service industry in the past and understand that some things are out of the servers control etc. That being said, the owner of the winery has no excuse for his behavior. As we began our tasting and he introduced the bartender, stating, "he travels up here from Florida - he's the only white immigrant left that comes up here for the summer" at that point, I wanted to walk out, but didn't - my friends would not have wanted me to be confrontational. I manage the tiniest bit of courtesy when talking to him. Not to mention that he touched my friends back 3 times. It doesn't matter whether I'm from mexico or another country, identify as an immigrant, although that was the case for a few people in attendance. Maybe he had good attentions but didn't realize how hurtful his words were. How could he? He has no idea what it means to flee a country in search of safety, to feed yourself and your family, doing whatever work necessary to get by. But of course, he feels that he can make a joke about it. Check yourself Lake Pepin winery.

Ignore the winery and ambiance ratings, ~ you come here for the unique mid-western wines. This is a 30+ year planted Minnesotan winery with an owner who wishes to use only his grapes or local state sources. The owner went out of his way to accommodate our tasting requests and even let us try wine examples of items 'sold out' as his Belle's Bree, a Swenson Briana grape, which was a surprisingly refreshing white. A bit of sugar was added to the Frontenac Gris to give this wine a touch of taste. The Marquette grapes, planted in 2002, and fermented in stainless steel (seemingly oak is not popular in mid-western wines as stated by our host) was quite dry and could be enjoyed now or could be held for another year or so. The real surprise today was Lake Pepin's Frontenac which normally is blended or has some sugar added by most local wineries, but not in the case of this 2017 vintage. This straight Frontenac just worked perfectly this year 'as is'. We may be sorry that we did not buy more of this unique mid-western Frontenac release.