Oneo Distribution is a family-owned business focused on finding and representing wineries that are making small lots of handcrafted wines with great care. Many of the wineries they have brought into Minnesota are family owned and most are employing sustainable practices. They care not just about the end product but also about their social and economic impact on their surrounding communities.
Airlie 7 -- Airlie Winery is located in Willamette Valley, Oregon and is owned by a Midwest-native, Mary Olson, who was raised in Osceola, Wisconsin and is a graduate of Augsburg College. Mary believes in sustainability on three levels -- making her wines affordable for the end consumer, environmental sustainability, and treating her employees well so that they can stay & thrive at Airlie. She is certified sustainable with LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture Enology) & as Salmon Safe.
Her wine is aptly named 7 because it contains seven different varietals is a crisp and refreshing white blend. Each varietal is separately barreled and aged, not getting combined together until her winemaker finds the perfect combination of all seven grapes through trial and error -- ensuring that this blend always has the right combination of zest, acidity, body and a hint of sweetness. Wine Enthusiast gave it 87 pts and identified it as a best buy!
Mark Ryan The Vincent -- Mark Ryan is a Washington state winery to watch. 2011 proved to be a year when his years of hard work were really getting the recognition they desire. Mark Ryan made Wine & Spirits top 100 winery list for 2011. Seattle Magazine named the winemaker, Mark Ryan, their 2011 Winemaker of the Year. And Paul Gregutt -- who keeps a close eye on Washington wineries -- identified Mark Ryan as a new "cult" winery because of his dynamic wine and growing following.
The Vincent, a Cabernet-forward red blend, is one of Mark Ryan's most affordable offerings that still embodies his signature bold aromatics followed by lovely notes of dark fruit mixed with hints of tea leaf and spice.
L. Mawby Sex -- The only thing not to take seriously about L. Mawby is the name of some of his sparkling wines, including this brut sparkling rose named sex. Located in the heart of Michigan's wine country -- yes, Michigan has a wine country and it is gorgeous -- it is just north of Traverse City, Michigan where two peninsulas, Old Mission and Leelanau, jut out into Lake Michigan. These two peninsulas contain a thriving community of winemakers. And L. Mawby is the king of sparkling wine in these parts. It is all he does in fact, and he does it very well ... picking up almost all of his equipment and his craft from Epernay in Champagne, France.