Spring 2011 update

Well, spring looks like it finally arrived! Winter 2010-2011 was long, and snowfall was well above average. Many fields were filled with new lakes, and farmers could not seed until well into May.

Even Mojo was excited that Spring made it!





Our vineyard was also delayed, as we wanted to prune and train vines near the end of April. However, the field was wet and warm weather was several weeks late. Nevertheless, near the middle of May we were finally able to get out and do our long-awaited pruning and vine training. We wanted two basic stems rising upward, and then each splitting in opposite directions about 4 feet above the ground. This makes it easier for picking.
















Some of the vines exhibited characteristics that initially looked like they were burnt, and covered with ash. However, upon closer examination, the vine was moist, and I believe the ash-like substance was actually mold. Some of the offending vines were cut where the discoloration started, and others were left to see how they developed over the summer.



So, we will see how our manipulation worked, and whether the discolored vines heal. A mid-winter visit to Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria, Minnesota and a talk with the Bredesons led us to plan on harvesting every second cluster of grapes (cutting every other cluster off early in the growing phase). This is our third year with the vines, and is supposed to be THE year for harvesting the first crop of grapes. However, since we inadvertently harvested in our first year, the Bredeson's advised that try the above method.

Bring on the warm weather!!!

Fall 2010 update

2010 was our second year, and was one of conditioning. The vines needed to grow, and we had to begin training them. I had a couple of conversations with Tyler and Kim from Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria, Minnesota, who reminded us that we should not let the fruit grow this year again, and instead let the plants' energy feed the vine, and let them grow deep. (Nevertheless, we decided to let a few clusters grow!)

The vines were very healthy, and grew like crazy! (I know - a very scientific term) We had a great deal of rain this year which frustrated a lot of farmers in the area (14 inches of rain in June alone), and wondered how the moisture would affect the vines, as they are planted on flat ground, rather than the traditional hillside. However, the moisture did not appear to harm the vines, probably because we have decent drainage.









So, that's it for this growing year. All we have left to do is trim back the vines and try and train them into a "T" shape for next year.

Mid-winter update

Not much has been happening over the winter as the wine continues to brew. "Brew" is perhaps not the right word, as it simply sits there and does nothing other than mature. I must admit to sneaking a little sample every so often, as I am curious about the taste. Around the beginning of January I took a little bit in a straw and put it in a glass. It has a rich purple color, and smelled pretty nice (I know, a real technical term). The taste was similar to grape soda, but without the fizz. It was definitely raw, and needs to mature even further. Perhaps it will be ready to taste by May. In any event, I will be stabilizing it (stop the possibility of re-fermentation) by the beginning of February.
Over the course of the winter, I had a chance to catch up on a lot of reading about vineyards, methods etc. and even joined the Minnesota Grape Growers Association. I did this because many of the Association's members are specialists in cold-climate grape growing and have a huge store of knowledge on the subject of viticulture in the northern climes. One thing I learned was that we should NOT have let the fruit grow the first and second years, and instead should have pruned it off. This allows the vines to strengthen and forces the nutrients back into the vines. Therefore, sad to say - we will have no fruit this year. Short term pain for long term gain I guess.

Vineyard folly update November

It's now almost one month into the brewing process. The "must" (the name for the mixture) has been racked twice now (rack means to siphon it to a new sterile jug), leaving the lees, or sediment, behind. The color has improved significantly since the first rack and now looks to be nearer to a normal wine. At first, the color was a real milky light purple, and didn't look anything at all like it should. Every so often I pull the cap and have a smell, and although it's pretty raw, it still has a hint of what it might be like when done. Really hard to describe though. I expect to be able to stabilize the wine (stop the possibility of re-fermenting) sometime in early January 2010. Once stabilized, it needs to sit for about 4-6 months before filtering and sampling it! I've had numerous requests to be the first to sample it, and might have to hold a lottery!

Update #6 - Harvest time!

September 22nd was the day of Harvest! It had been down to about -2 C a couple of nights earlier and we were too nervous to wait any longer, for fear of the grapes being ruined, either through the birds eating them, or that they would just shrivel up. At this point, the grapes were very sweet and so we went ahead and picked. We had a huge harvest of just over 600 grams (1.5 lbs) and took us all of 10 minutes to pick! As there was not enough fruit to complete a recipe for wine, I obtained another 3.5 lbs of Concorde grapes and blended them in to the crush on Oct 2/09. So, the results of our labour for 2009 are in a one gallon jug in the basement, and I'm hoping that it should be ready for us to taste around the end of March 2010. Interestingly enough, this would be about 1 year to the day that Glen and I discussed this venture over a couple of beers in the curling club!

Update #5 -Blue clusters

During the month of September, excellent weather persisted. We were so lucky in our first year, lots of warm days and evenings and a good amount of rain. The grapes continued to ripen but were still a little tart to the taste until that last two weeks of September. Near the middle of the month we began discussing an appropriate date to pick. Marty and Marie Bohnet from the Cypress Hills winery in Maple Creek had advised us to wait until just after the first frost. So we waited.....

Vineyard update #4 -Growing and Inspecting

During August, excellent growing conditions persisted. We decided to install some landscape fabric to keep the grass and weeds down, so that the vines would not have competition. By the end of the month, the grapes were larger and were starting to contain some blue coloration to them.