Forestedge Winery

A wooden spatula maker and a VW auto mechanic may seem like a strange pairing. Mix those two with 10,000 pounds of rhubarb and 3,000 pounds of raspberries, and you have two men up to their red elbows in success.

Stop by the Forestedge Winery near LaPort, Minnesota, and be welcomed to the picturesque setting by two guys probably wiping raspberry juice off their hands and arms. Paul Shuster and John Wildmo know exactly what it means to own a hands-on business–literally.

The partnership actually consists of Paul and his wife, Sharon, along with John. The three have been friends a lot longer than they have been wine-making partners. “I was a mechanic in Bemidji, and Paul used to bring his VW bus in for me to work on,” Wildmo explains. “He and Sharon were making wine at home, and he would bring a bottle once in a while. It was good. I liked the kiwi wine they made and thought they should consider going into the wine business.”

While they were making wine at home in their leisure time, the Shusters were professional production artisans handcrafting and selling fine wooden cooking tools, traveling the arts and craft fair circuits throughout the United States. “We had been doing that for a long time and wanted a change,” Shuster says. “We wanted to stay home.”

Timing Truly is Everything

Wildmo, too, was ready to wipe the grease off his hands and hang up the monkey wrenches. “I was looking for a change and so were they,” he says. With a sense of humor that helps balance the insanity of some days, Wildmo says he told Shuster, “We’re not doing anything this weekend; let’s build a winery.”

So they did. He makes it sound simple. It wasn’t. A concrete slab the Shusters had poured in 1978 in the woods near LaPort was all they had to start with in 2000 when they decided to go into the wine-making business for real.

The Shusters packed away their traveling days, and Wildmo left the garage behind as they ventured into the woods to start Forestedge Winery. “We were just glad to be back to the land,” Shuster says, recalling the days when he and Sharon were hippie-types living off the land and honoring the world that surrounded them. “We really did make everything and made use of everything around us.” The skills they have honed during the years are utilized everyday at the winery.

Together with Wildmo they grow a lot of the fruits they use in the wines. They design and construct the buildings that comprise the woodland winery site. Sharon landscapes and plants the massive gardens and flower beds that bring paradise to the spring and summer setting.

One look at the guys up to their elbows in raspberry juice leaves little doubt of all the work and effort it takes to produce their annual output of at least 5,000 bottles filled with their many wine varieties. As Shuster bottles a batch of Forestedge Wines, craftsmanship and pride go into each bottle.

Not only do they plant, grow, harvest and make their wines, they also sell and deliver them to many stores throughout Minnesota. They also conduct tours and wine-tastings.

The results are thousands of happy customers enjoying the award-winning wines that come from the Forestedge roots.

Just ask managers of several stores that feature Forestedge wines. Napa Valley and Nevis, Minnesota, may seem like an unlikely pairing. Despite the fact that hundreds of miles separate the two areas, they share a common appreciation of good wines. Mark Peterson, manager of the Nevis Municipal Liquor store, and his wife, Paula, have spent time in Napa Valley studying and sampling that region’s famous wines.

“Forestedge is very charming and reminiscent of small wineries. Paul and John are crafting wines as close to a grape varietal as I think is possible. Each of their wines has a distinctive difference with unique nuances. We really enjoy them, and they are very popular here.”

Peterson notes that often fruit wines can be too sweet or have too much alcohol in them, making them boring. Not so with Forestedge wines. “Their wines also pair nicely with a variety of foods,” Peterson says, He also encourages people to visit the winery. “I have attended meetings held outside there in the summer, and that has been great.”

Scott Olson, manager of Rapids Spirits, the municipal liquor store in Park Rapids, says that the Forestedge wines are popular with his patrons, too. “We have a lot of people who enjoy these wines. It’s nice to have that local connection with the winery. I appreciate the fact that they use all natural fruits juices grown here in Minnesota rather than bringing it in from outside the United States.” Olson says Forestedge’s rhubarb-raspberry and the blueberry wines are very popular. “The Forestedge wines are our best-selling fruit wines, and we are happy to have them here.”

In Detroit Lakes at the municipal liquor store, manager Brad McMaster is busy moving cases of wine and liquor while preparing for an upcoming busy weekend. “Absolutely we are happy to have the Forestedge wines here. They have our best selling fruit wine,” McMasters states, saying the black currant is his own personal favorite.

In Moorhead, at Bernie’s Liquors, Nicole Ness, manager, has just added some of the Forestedge wines to her shelves. “We are happy to be including them with our wines. I think our customers will really appreciate them.”

Many of the Forestedge wines also make wonderful reduction sauces for cooking. Shuster likes to experiment with a variety of combinations. Sarello’s upscale restaurant in Moorhead is also incorporating the use of Forestedge wines for some of its sauces as well as having it available for restaurant patrons. Tony Nasello, who owns the restaurant along with his wife, Sarah, says, “We are really excited about trying these wines. I am anxious to develop some recipes using them.”
Shuster and Wildmo spend many days traveling and delivering wine to their stores. “It keeps us really busy all the time,” Shuster remarks.

As the reputation of their wines spreads, so does the tempo of their lives. The wine makers believe that the use of local products accounts for some of the growing popularity of their wines. “All the fruits we use are grown locally in Minnesota,” Shuster explains. The crisp clean taste of rhubarb is the signature wine produced at Forestedge and has won many international awards and in 2005 was named best Minnesota Fruit Wine at the Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience. Much of the fruit used at Forestedge Winery is harvested from the winery grounds. Rhubarb plants, which started as part of the family garden, have now become a large part of what is harvested for Forestedge wine. Chokecherries, raspberries, and plums are also grown at the farm. Additional fruits and berries are purchased from local growers when available. The winery produces nine different single fruit wines as well as blended wines including Summer Blush (strawberry rhubarb), Headwaters Classic Red (chokecherry rhubarb), raspberry rhubarb, and blueberry rhubarb.

“We grow the rhubarb here – we have 10,000 pounds in the freezer over there,” Shuster says, pointing out the window to a nearby building. It takes a freezer that measures 10 feet by 16 feet to hold all that home-grown rhubarb. “We use at least 3,000 pounds of raspberries every year,” Wildmo adds.

All of this fruit adds up to the 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of wine produced by the wine makers every year. Just doing that sounds like a challenge in itself. Consider the fact that these fellows craft their wines in small batches. After fermentation, the wines are aged in large Italian stainless steel tanks for a year or more before bottling. “All of our wines are aged a year and half ahead of the actual time they are available to the public,” Wildmo stresses.

The wines are available for tasting and sale in the Forestedge tasting room. The winery is open May through December, Tuesday through Sunday. Tours are available and are designed to allow visitors to see how these fine wines are crafted, aged and bottled.

As if the wine-making team doesn’t have enough to do, there is also a gift shop open in the summer featuring specialty items. During the 25 years the Shusters spent traveling around the country, they had the chance to become great friends with many of the best traveling artists/artisans. The gift shop carries the work of many of their crafty friends. Forestedge Winery also carries a wide range of wine-related items and gifts.

On August 21-22, the 10th annual Art Fair At The Winery will take place on the Forestedge grounds. Many of these same artisans take part in the Art Fair. The Shusters Forestedge cooking tools are available at the fair as well as stoneware, paintings, weaving, jewelry, batik, photography and other fine crafts. There is no admission for the Art Fair, and parking is free.

The Shusters and Wildmo have a couple of favorite sayings they believe define Forestedge Winery: “It’s not just grapes that make fine wine” and “We’re in the woods, but not in the sticks.”

For years, Paul Shuster made his wooden spatulas. John Wildmo spent his time fixing cars. Today they have paired their talents to create their own special Forestedge brands of wine. a