Cannon River Winery serves up wine at the Irish Fair of Minnesota.

Now this is what I call a good pairing.

The wines poured at the Irish Fair of Minnesota will be from one of the state's best wineries, Cannon River. Those being served include St. Pepin, Sogn Blanc, Sogn Blush, GoGo Red, and Cannon River Red.

I haven't had the latest vintages of these, or the GoGo Red at all, but the versions I tasted two years ago were tasty and interesting (and not just in the way we Minnesotans often use that adjective). And it takes only a few minutes talking with owner John Mahoney and winemaker Vincent Negret to realize how much commitment and expertise they are bringing to this operation.

The Aug. 12-14 at St. Paul's Harriet Island event is free (but not the wines, of course). Not only are these wines a nice representation of what can be done here, they're almost certainly better than any fermented grape juice from the Emerald Isle.