What's happening in the vineyard now - September 21 2017

These are the grapes we have remaining

Concord We still have some very nice, ripe concord grapes remaining for Saturday and probably Sunday. We will update this site later Saturday for Sunday's availability

Other Varieties   These will need some gleaning and walking the rows to get these.

Frontenac           About 200 lbs in rows 4,5, 6

Petite Pearl        75-100 lbs, row 9

Muscat                1-2 buckets, row 18

LaCrescent         1-2 buckets, rows 19 & 20

St Pepin              1 bucket, row 21

Foch                    200 lbs, rows 25-28

Due to the hail this year, and the high demand we are now out of a lot of our varieties However we still have a nice crop of CONCORD GRAPES. We also have some Petire Pearl grapes. There are small amountsj of other varieties as noted below but it reqires a bit of gleaning and walking the rows looking for the grapes. 

We wish we had more of our other varieties but hail, a poor spring fruit set and enormous bird appetites this early fall have made our crop in 2017 much smaller than usual and expected. 

Unfortunately we had hail damage in mid-June and some varieties were more damaged than others. The storm came from the west so one side of the vines was more damaged than another. Some varieties have recovered more than others. Also, birds have arrived and they are a bit more advanced than just curious. And they seem to be hungry. SO,we are doing our best to keep them at a disadvantage, but they can be persistant. So if you want grapes this year it is best to not delay too long. 

We believe we will still have a nice crop of Concord grapes next weekend, Saturday, September 23rd and probably Sunday September 24. However it would be a good idea to re-check our site in case the situation changes. I will definitiely update the site again later Friday afternoon. Or please call 608-225-9210 for the latest information.

We have been very happy for the dry and sunny weather we had this past week. It's made for good ripening and flavors in the grapes, and it's been nice picking weather as well.

We welcome you to our vineyard to enjoy the fruits and pleasures of the sun, summer, and the beautiful outdoors. As usual we have a knowledgeable, friendly, experienced, and helpful staff. George, Terry, Marlin, Mary, and others wil be happy to assist you as you pick your grapes and make it all as easy as drinking a glass of wine.

Dave

Our 2017 Hours are Tuesdays 1-5:30, Saturday 11-4, and Sunday 12-4. Please allow time for crushing and pressing your grapes. 

For more infornation about how to pick our grapes please visit the "Pick your Own Grapes info" sidebar

Grape Picking Schedule (dates can change as ripening proceeds)

2017 GRAPE AND VINEYARD INFORMATION  

SEEDLESS GRAPES

SOMERSET  Delicious! Eat well! Eat again! This makes a delicious rose wine. We have begun eating this variety as we work in the vineyard. It is good even while still golden and as it turns pink it becomes hard to stay away from. It is very early ripening and will be ready to eat as early as mid-August. Somerset is sweet, low in acidity, and gorgeous. We may or may not retain this grape for 2018.  It would still be a good seedless grape for home grape lovers, but it ripens too early for our winemaking customers. We have a samll crop this year and may retain a small portion of our row next season. We have decided to plant it into Marquette, a popular and more timely grape for our winemaking customers

REDS

Frontenac  Exciting news! Leigh's Garden Winery in Escanaba, www.leighsgarden.com  Michigan won a Double Gold for his Frontenac wine made from our Frontenac grapes on August 18th last year, at the Cold Climate Wine Competition in Minneapolis. This grape is 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 a bit larger than the past two seasons. 

Foch  can be made into a variety of styles. 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 and is one of the most widely grown varieties in the midwest. We had a nice crop of Foch this season.

Marquette Just had a brix reading of 21 on 8/23/17. Can this be true?. We do another very soon. is one of our more popular red grapes. It has more tannins than other reds and has a high sugar and alcohol content.  However it bowed to hail and pollination this season. Our crop is small. 

St Croix Full 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 12. Alcohol is typically around 11%   

LaCrescent is becoming the most popular white wine in the upper Midwest. This grape provides honey, grapefruit, and tangerine aromas and flavors. One of Mary's favorites. Hit with hail in Mid-June this year, so the crop is much smaller than last year. Too bad, for us and our customers.   When you pick this grape make sure you pick the golden clusters, ideally on both sides. 

Prairie Star This grape is a very good eating grape besides making a fuller bodied white with very mild and sensuous notes. It brightens with subtle flowing flavors. Blends very well with LaCrescent. This variety performed true to character and did not pollinate well this spring. so the crop is very limited. If you want it you should get here early on the day we begin picking it. 2018 may be our last crop of this variety. It is a nice wine grape but it varies widely in pollination and may produce a small crop most any year. We are planting those rows to Istaca, a new white grape with a low acidity level. 

AROMELLA  Wines produced from Arandell are described as densely colored, have light to moderate tannins and exhibit notes of dark berry fruit (blueberry, dark cherry), tobacco and hints of black pepper or cedar on the finish. We have a small crop this season. It ripens near end of September and is in high demand.

CONCORD  What can you say? Big, purple, bursting with flavor, good for eating, juice, and wine. We have an abundant 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? It  is probably also the most widely tasted grape or juice in most of the US east of the Rockies. This could be a good year to get large amounts of this grape. 

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

DELAWARE  this is a pink, light red beauty, that is tasteee. Don't wait too long on it this year. This year we have a good crop. 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.  We had an abundant crop this year and it is turning red on schedule and is beautiful.  It has gone quickly.

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