Mitchell Vineyard 2023

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

 Welcome to Spring 2023

Pruning has come and gone, very quickly this year. It has been an unusual Spring with some temps in the 80's for several days followed by a frost/freeze. We have been fortunate in that many of our varieities have done well. However...there are usually however's with grapevines... they have become overly vigorous with many extra buds and shoots, which we have to take off in order to have a balanced crop.

We have now begun combing some varieties ot grapevines, so we need some extra help because they are growing rapidly from the beautiful temperatures and lots and lots of sun. We have also been using our drip irrigation to keep them from being too thirsty, If you are interested in helping and learning about how to treat your vines, please let us know.  There is also remuneration!

Other news about some of our grapevines which we have available this autumn. We usually begin near the end of August or early September and continue in early October till we are out of varieties. 

Crimson Pearl  The grapevines are cold hardy resistant and can survive to -23 °F as observed in 2019 in Iowa, and they are reliable in Zone 4b (temperature below -30 to -20 °F) (Jones McKee, 2015). Similar to Petite Pearl, Crimson Pearl is resistant to diseases. The budbreak is rather late in the spring, and the grapevine has a neat growth habit with moderate vigor. The budbreak is rather late in the spring, and the grapevine has a neat growth habit with moderate vigor. 

Marquette  Marquette Grape makes a delicious and popular wine red wine. Combined with superior cold hardiness and disease resistance this is a very popular grape to make a red wine. It's great for the upper Midwest, Michigan, and New England.

Petite Pearl   is a red grape variety, bred by Tom Polcher in Hugo, Minnesota in 1996. It is highly-regarded for its ability to withstand temperatures down to -32°F (-35°C). In comparison to other cold-hardy grape varieties, Petite Pearl is abundant in soft tannins, producing wines with structure and fullness.

Foch  is a red grape variety, which is gaining renewed popularity. It is commonly used to provide depth of red color to other varieties. Marechal Foch makes a deeply colored wine with earthy characters as well as some jammy, dark-fruit flavors. Maréchal Foch is classified as a teinturier, a kind of red grape variety where both the skin and flesh of the grape is a deep red color. This makes for deeply colored wines, and Maréchal Foch is often employed in blends to enhance color.

Some of these varieties are available at the Wine & Hop Shop 

1919 Monroe St, Madison, WI 53711     608-257-0099                                    

           We would like to thank all of our friends, grape lovers,

               wine lovers, and vineyard visitors for making 2022 a fun

               and rewarding vineyard season.      

                                 Decreasing Wine Acidity

Here are some ways to decrease the acidity in your wine if needed.

We also carry information on tis at the vineyard during picking season.

1. Blend, with a low acid wine, e.g. St Croix

2. Dilute Add water to taste. It will dilute the flavor and acidity.

3. Malolatic Fementatation. You will need a malolactic lculture for this! It improves mouthfeel, is used in most red wines and works well in many white wines also.

4. Cold Stabilization this means chilling the wine prior to bottling. It preceiptates out excess tartaric acid, which settles out into the bottom of our glass fermenter. You rack off this sediment and have your lower acid wine.

5. Chemical neutralization. Potassium or Calcium Carbonate can be used ro remove wine acids. It is usually done before fermentation so as not to reduce aromatic compounds in the wine. "Acidex Super K" can alse be used to lower the acid in your wine.

If you desire  have your grapes 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!

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* If we pick the grapes for you we add .25/lb.  For large orders we need several days advance notice to be able to hire pickers.

(We need the lead time due to labor shortages   It covers our extra labor costs!)

Foch prices are lower due to usually quite large crops!

                Winemaking Supplies & Equipment                                  

We have a lot of winemaking supplies to purchase 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:   

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 will 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.

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

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

Frontenac...one of our largest crops of this variety. So, if you like a sweet wine or a port this would be the grape to have.

Itasca.... we have a larger crop than in 2021. 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. We jave planted more of this grape but it takes several years for a vine to mature.

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

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. 

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 early September 2022.

St. Pepin white. This vine has been more and more popular . However it is a shy bearing variety. It makes a nice dry or semi-dry wine.

 2022 GRAPE AND VINEYARD INFORMATION  

 MORE INFO IN AUGUST 2023!

This may be a very nice year. The vines have responded to the sun and heat with a very nice crop. We are hopeful they will meet your expectations. We appear to have been fortunate to survive the 80 degree temps followed by the frost and sun. It has resulted in some extra work, but we are doing it and looking forward to the harvest.

SEEDLESS GRAPES

We have no seedless table grapes. They ripen early and the birds take advantage of that fact.

However, our seeded grapes taste as good. We eat the a lot and can't wait until they ripen.

As for the seeds, one can chew them ( a ripe grape has crunchy, tasty seeds), swallow them, as do birds, or see how far you can blow them out of one's mouth. 

And chefs, please don't forget about verjuice, and Marrie Beer. As you may know it was used during Medieval days and is becoming increasingly popular now for its flavors. Wikipedia has info on it saying:  "Nonetheless, it is still used in a number of French dishes as well as recipes from other European and Middle Eastern cuisines, and can be purchased at some gourmet grocery stores. The South Australian cook Maggie Beer has popularised the use of verjuice in her cooking and it is being used increasingly in South Australian restaurants. Maggie Beer commercially produces verjuice. 

You can produce your own from our unripe, sour grapes, which we have each year before they ripen.  How much fun can that be! Impressive!  As some French may say "Vive nos appetits!"

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 We now have 5 nice rows of this variety.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. We plan on having more Marquette in 2023.

Petite Pearl  This season of 2022 it is very nice, with a plentiful crop of large 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  Nice crop this year! juicy, juicy, flavorful and soft. Increasingly popular! 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   This grape makes our most popular white wine.  It 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. We have rigorously pulled leaves around these clusters to get as much sun as possible on each and every one.

Istaca This is a very populare white variety white variety. We have our largest crop so far this year and we hope more of you will have a chage to try some.  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. It is considered a very hardy, disease resistant cultivar expected to reduce spray inputs. It should survive - 20 F temperatures.

For winemaking the acid is low, needing no adjustment, the sugar is high.  Have fun with this new variety this year. But supply will be limited! Our 2023 crop is our largest of this fine white variety. It doesn't last long.  It is also very popular with birds! Be sure to keep your Campden TAblets (Potassium Metabisulfite) up to recommendations so oxidaton of this lower acid white is prevented!

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.

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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   2022 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.