North Dakota Wine Country

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🤓 Did You Know?

North Dakota experiences some of the most extreme temperature swings of any wine-producing state — from 100°F summers to -40°F winters — but cold-hardy hybrids like Marquette and Frontenac were specifically developed to survive these conditions.

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About North Dakota Wine Country

North Dakota wine country surprises every visitor who finds it. Fifteen estate wineries scattered from the Red River Valley to the Badlands produce cold-hardy hybrid wines — Marquette, Frontenac, La Crescent — that have been specifically bred for the Northern Plains' brutal winters and short growing seasons. The wines are genuine, the hospitality is exceptional, and the settings range from fertile farmland to one of America's most dramatic badlands landscapes.

Dakota Vines Vineyard and Winery near Fargo has become the flagship of the Red River Valley wine scene, producing award-winning Marquette that regularly outperforms expectations at regional competitions. The variety, developed at the University of Minnesota, was made for exactly this climate: it can survive -30°F winters and ripen fully in a 130-day growing season.

At the other end of the state, Fluffy Fields Vineyard near Medora pairs wine tasting with one of the most spectacular panoramas in the Great Plains — the multicolored Badlands buttes of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's the kind of place that reminds you wine country is ultimately about where you are, not what you're drinking.