Dave is going to get some of these great Foch to make

What's happening in the vineyard now - ealy August 

We will be open for picking grapes late August - early September. 

We have just set some opening dates, for some of the varieties. See below.

The grapes are coloring up and building sweetness as they also lower acid levels. The Somerset seedless are already beginning to taste good. The Foch croplooks quite large this year and will be easy picking. The St Croix should be ready about then because wineries prefer to pick it at sugar levels of 17-19 Brix because they feel the wine is best made from the lower sugar levels. It is also a soft wine with lower acidity levels. The Delaware will have its nice light red color andis a fun grape to pick. We'll see you soon.

We welcome you to our vineyard in 2018 to enjoy the fruits and pleasures of the sun, summer, and the beautiful outdoors. As usual we will have a knowledgeable, friendly, experienced, and helpful staff. George, Terry, Marlin,Susana, Paul, Dan, as well as myself and 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 2018 Hours will be 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

Items to sell:   We have alot of extra supplies at the vineyard. Of course we have a full complement of winemaking supplies available for sell when you come to ick grapes this fall. In addition we have vineyard wire, grow tubes for your new vines, and many other items. Check out our Items to sell sidebar.

Grape Picking Schedule (dates can change as ripening proceeds)

2018 GRAPE AND VINEYARD INFORMATION  

LARGE, FRUITFUL CROP OF MOST OF OUR VARIETIES THIS YEAR!

We have been blessed with a bountiful crop of just about all of our varieties. The vines have recovered well from last year's, 2017, hail storm. The lighter crop load in 2017 and the plentiful rain this Spring have resulted in our nicest grapes in a number of years. Pickiing should be very good.....

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. It also has become popular as alow-acid wine grape.   It would still be a good seedless grape for home grape lovers, but it ripens too early for our winemaking customers. We have a very nice crop this year! 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 in 2016, 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 our largest in a number of years. 

Foch  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. 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 very 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 Our nices looking crop in a couple of years.  Thisis 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 our most popular white wine.  This grape provides honey, grapefruit, and tangerine aromas and flavors. One of Mary's favorites. 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. 

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. 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 moderatecrop 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 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's because people like the flavor. It can be made dry, slightly sweet, moderately sweet, or as sweet as you might like. 

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.  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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