Mitchell Vineyard 2021

(If you are using your cell phone scroll down for the Varieties and Prices)

The Delaware and Marquette are getting low, for gleaning only.

THE CONORDS ARE RIPE & PLENTIFUL.  WE WILL HAVE THEM AT LEAST THE NEXT 2 WEEKS!

Taste a couple of grapes off of the vine you are picking and you can make your own decision!)

And remember children are welcome. There is no entry fee to pick grapes, or just visit the beatiful vineyard. 

It's been a very busy year. With the heat we've had we've been busy continually, just trying to stay ahead of the vine's growth.  We believe you will be happy this year. We have pulled the leaves and done a lot of other hands-on work to keep the vines happy.

Dave's comment. We have recently tasted several blended wines of Foch and Petite Pearl. They have been delicious and have had a lot of depth of flavor. Petite Pearl ripens later than Foch so a method one can use is to ferment them separately, then blend them afterwards to get that deep, delicious flavor. This year I am going to blend Foch, Petite Pearl & Marquette to make a wine just this short side of wonderful.

You may wear facemasks if you need to or are more comfortable with using one. With the Delta variant about you will want to take care of yourself and others.

For more info, please see the sidebar "Pick Your Own Grapes Info."

Our grapes for September 19 and 20 (Sat and Sunday)2021. It a very nice crop. Ripe and ready!

If you desire  have your whites pressed, please have them ready 1.5 hours before closing time. It helps us get out after a long day of helping all our friendly customers. Thank you!

* If we pick the grapes for you the price 1,000 lbs or over is $1.25/lb.

(We need as much lead time as possible due to labor shortages)

                Winemaking Supplies & Equipment                                  We have a lot of extra supplies at the vineyard, including:

Yeasts, nutrients, other winemaking chemicals, jugs, plastic pails,  in various sizes. We are not a full-time wine and beer shop, but we carry the essentials. 

Vineyard Items to sell:   We have a lot of extra supplies at the vineyard, including:

Aluminum  picking trays, vineyard wire (and lots of it), in various lengths and sizes, trellis and vine equipment including wire catches, rubber tying bands, various VSP clips, \ GDC arms..all at very good prices. call us at 608 225 9210

We also have now a Howard Rototiller, 6' long

It can rototill anything. Works on a 3 pt hitch. $300

Our Aluminum Picking trays are just $15 each. Can be used for strawberries, grapes, anything you can fit in them. These can never rust. Will last as long as you do!

Variety Description

Concord...a very good sized crop of this tasty purple immensely popular grape variety.

Frontenac...one of our largest crops of this variety. So, if you like a sweet wine or a port this would be a good year for Frontenac.

Foch...we have a large sized crop of this versatile red variety. It has become very popular as the basis for the blending of very good wines.Quite easy picking.

St. Croix....this early picking, soft to the taste, soft, red grape looks very good this year. If you liked it in the past be sure to get on it early. Beautiful red color. Picking in late August 2021

Marquette...this very popular variety has a very nice crop. We have tried to increase our amount each year to satisfy our customers.

Petite Pearl...We have our largest crop so far of this shy bearing red grape. This late season red should ripen a bit early this year as we have controlled its quantity to have that happen. 

LaCrescent  . a very popular white...we have a good sized crop, but is popular so goes quickly.

St Pepin white. This vine has been more and more popular . It makes a nice dry or semi-dry wine.

Delaware.  this very popular light red grape which makes a nice wine and is delicious eating has a limited crop. The clusters we have are very nice though. It will go early. So be prepared.

Itasca.... we have a larger crop in 2021, than the very small crop of 2020. But the supply is still limited. It is a new white with a low acidity so it should produce a white wine that is easy to make since it may need little or no acid reduction.

Muscat This is a very nice white, later harvest grape. It needs a long season to ripen well. W have a small crop of it this season because we are replacing it with Itasca. Our coustomers have seldom left it alone long enough to fully ripen it's delicious later season flavors.

2020 GRAPE AND VINEYARD INFORMATION  

GOOD CROP OF MOST OF OUR VARIETIES THIS YEAR!

This may be an especially good year. The vines have responded to the rain and heat with a very nice crop. While we still have a couple of weeks to go before harvest we are hopeful they will meet your expectations. We are also glad they are an outside crop which should make the picking safer were it otherwise

SEEDLESS GRAPES

Sorry folks, we took out our seedless grapes. They ripened too early and the birds loved them. 

So, do we eat grapes? Yes we do, just about constantly. But they have seeds you say!  Some of us swallow the seeds, some of us spit them out, others simply chew them. They are full of vitamins and minerals. And grape seed oil is made from them commercially, which produces an available oil which is lighter than olive oil but contains higher amounts of minerals and vitamins than Olive oil. Dave cooks with it a lot, more than olive oil. And by the way....when the seeds are nutty, crunchy and taste good, the grape is ready for picking....it is mature.

WHITES

 Please remember that pressing white grapes can take a while. Please help us by having your whites or reds ready for pressing at least 1.5 hours before closing time. Reds are almost always fermented on skins before pressing. This makes a fuller bodied and flavored wine than just fermenting on the juice, as is done with white wine.

REDS

Frontenac  This grape is very popular for making port wines and makes a good dry red wine if the higher acidity level is dealt before or during fermentation. We have winemaking directions at the vineyard. The crop looks nice this year and is one of our largest of this variety.

Foch  A very nice, large  crop this year! We think you will be happy at the ease of picking. This is the most widely planted red wine grape in the Midwest and upper mid-west. It can be made into a variety of styles and is a very good grape for being the base wine in any blend.  Try it as a medium rose wine, chilled. Delicious! Make a light red wine, easy to quaff or ferment on the skins longer for more tannins and aging potential. Foch has cherry notes. We have a large, easy to pick crop of Foch this season. A small amount of Foch in a white wine can give you an attractive, delicious rose wine.

Marquette One of our favorite red wine grapes.  This is one of our more popular red grapes. It has more tannins than other reds and has a high sugar and alcohol content. We have a larger than average, nice crop of it this year

Petite Pearl  This season of 2021 it look exceptionally nice, with a large crop of huge clusters.  Low acid levels make Petite Pearl ideal for northern red winemaking. It makes a standalone varietal wine and also serves as a valuable blending component. The wine has a dark red garnet color. It shows complexity in aroma and flavor that can be easily shaped by yeast selection and blending. The grape chemistry of Petite Pearl has been lauded as being vinifera-like (Brix ranging from 22-24.5, pH of 3.3-3.6 and titratable acidity of 6 — 7 g/L.) In addition, the wine has no labrusca-like or 'hybrid” aromas or flavors..

It is a later season red..so patience is required to pick it at it's best

St Croix Medium crop and juicy, juicy, flavorful and soft. This makes a very soft, early maturing, easy to drink red wine with low acidity. A good blending grape.  If you prefer mellowness in your wine this is a good choice. It is ready to drink sooner than most other reds.  We have a very nice and large crop this year.  St Croix makes a medium to full-bodied, dry, deep red wine with soft tannins and good fruit aromas, along with currant and other dried fruit flavor qualities. It is often picked at 17 - 19- % sugar for best flavor. Don't wait too long to pick this variety. It will likely be gone after September 16. Alcohol is typically around 10- 11%   

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WHITES

 Please remember that pressing white grapes can take a while. Please help us by having your whites ready for pressing at least 1.5 hours before closing time. Reds are usually fermented on skins before pressing. This makes a fuller bodied and flavored wine than just fermenting on the juice, as is done with white wine.

LaCrescent is our most popular white wine.  This grape provides honey, grapefruit, and tangerine aromas and flavors. We have a very nice crop this year, our largest ever.. When you pick this grape make sure you pick the golden clusters, ideally on both sides. 

Istaca This is a newer white variety. Our 2021 crop is larger than 2020, but it is just small moderae in size, and in demand.  Itasca produces a dry, or sweet,  white wine that is light yellow to straw in color and has aromas of pear, quince, violet, melon, minerals, and subtle honey notes. Itasca has exhibited lower acidity and higher sugar levels., Showing a high resistance to downy and powdery mildew and the insect Phylloxera. Itasca is considered a very hardy, disease resistant cultivar expected to reduce spray inputs. It should survive - 30 F temperatures.

For winemaking the acid is low, needing no adjustment, the sugar is high, it is disease resistant, and production is good. Have fun with this new variety this year. But supply will be limited! Our 2021 crop should be larger than 2020 because of more vines reaching maturity. This should be gone by the first weekend in August this year. It is also very popular with birds!

St Pepin  This makes either a dry wine (one of my favorites) or a slightly sweet wine. It is having a nice crop for this light bearing grape. Makes a very fruity white wine. The grape has low acidity and moderate sugar content. Because it is thick skinned it is popularly used to make an "ice" wine. The crop looks good, but we have just 1 row, and the demand will be high. However, we cannot not save it here for ice wine. If you have your own grapes and want to put in the effort, give it a try. We wouldn’t mind tasting your effort if it works out.

AROMELLA/Muscat  This grape is slowly being replaced by Itasca. It needs a long season to be at its best, but our customers have not been able to wait that long for it. We have planted Itasca grapes in its row. It ripens later than some varieties in September and is in high demand.  

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TWO VERY POPULAR SPECIAL GRAPES  CONCORD AND DELAWARE!  YEA!

CONCORD  What can you say? Big, purple, bursting with flavor, good for eating, juice, and wine. We have a large crop with large clusters this year. Everyone who has tasted this grape when young knows it will always be around. It is the ultimate in a very flavorful, very fruity, great tasting grape, how can you resist it? Why is it an extremely popular grape among the non-experts of wine tasting? It is because people like the flavor. It can be made dry, slightly sweet, moderately sweet, or as sweet as you might like. Remember, fermenting on the skins and then pressing afterwards will give you more of the famouns Concord PURPLE color! Of course this is your decision. 

Did I mention sweet wine or fresh juice - again the Concord rules.  We expect to harvest it early mid-to late September.

DELAWARE   2021 will find it back to its usually fine place in our list of varieties. this is a pink, light red beauty, that is tasteee. Don't wait too long on it this year.  Among our fellow employees this probably takes top spot as favorite eating grape, seedless or wine variety. It is not well known outside the Eastern US, but once you taste it you won't forget it. It is popular as a pink and spicy, sparkling wine. The Delaware grape is also a table grape variety sold in supermarkets throughout Japan, where labrusca grape varieties are popular for their fragrance.  

If you would like to sign up for our newsletter, please fill out the info below.  We do not give away any information from our newsletter.  We will have mailings about 4 or 5 times a year announcing pruning and winemaking classes and our upcoming harvest. We also occasionally have some good used winemaking equipment available.