Jun 3, 2009

Cool Grapes: New Wines Flow from New Minnesota Grapes

The number of wineries is growing in Minnesota, as seems to be true all over. Today, about 30 Minnesota wineries with 700 acres of wine grapes are trying to make names for themselves. In 1975, there were only two wineries in the state.

This spring, in a display of Minnesota spirit, Morgan Creek Vineyards teamed up with the FireLake Grill House to introduce a new, all-Minnesota wine named Ten Thousand Vines. The dry red wine is a blend made from three cold-hardy wine grapes bred by Jim Luby and Peter Hemstad and their colleagues at the University of Minnesota (U of M) – the same place and people who created the Honeycrisp apple.

Ten Thousand Vines is the first commercial private-label release of a wine made from the Marquette grape, a new cold-hardy variety released in 2006. Morgan Creek Vineyards worked with FireLake Grill House executive chef Paul Lynch to craft the wine for the restaurant’s exclusive use.

Ten Thousand Vines is a blend of three cold-hardy, U of M-bred wine grapes: 87 percent Marquette and the remainder La Crescent and Frontenac. Frontenac, the oldest variety, was released in 1996 and Marquette, the newest, was released in 2006. Like the Honeycrisp apple, it is a wine the state can claim as its own.

The wine is available exclusively at FireLake in downtown Minneapolis for $29 a bottle. A limited first release of 67 cases came from a 160-gallon production from the 2007 harvest, so the wine will only be available at the restaurant, as they say, “while supplies last.”

Morgan Creek, located in New Ulm, Minn., is owned by Paula and Georg Marti. Georg is a fifth-generation member of the Schell brewing family. Established in 1993, Morgan Creek produced its first wine in the fall of 1998 and opened Minnesota’s only underground winery. Set into a hillside, it stays earth-temperature (55˚ F) year-round.

“Our project with Chef Paul Lynch is something we have been working toward for a number of years,” Marti said. “We host an annual Wine Maker’s Dinner with a chef from our area. We have always been working on developing flavor profiles that will develop and support a Minnesota cuisine. Paul Lynch’s menu at the FireLake Grill House in Minneapolis is a perfect match for passionate local foods and wines that express a relationship to the land.”

Between 2003 and 2008, the Minnesota wine grape industry more than doubled in size, and much of the credit goes to the availability of high-quality, cold-hardy wine grapes developed at U of M. The 2007 Minnesota Grape Growers Profile, released last September by the University of Minnesota Department of Applied Economics and the Minnesota Grape Growers Association, reported the grape industry in Minnesota is changing rapidly.

The number of vineyards and vineyard acreage has grown significantly. New varietals are being planted in large quantities. The new varietals developed by the university represent 75 percent of the new plantings: Marquette (28.4 percent), Frontenac (16.4 percent), Frontenac gris (16 percent) and La Crescent (14.5 percent), according to the study.

The survey indicated growth will continue. With continued research into new cold-hardy grape varieties, plus optimum viticulture and enology, the majority of grape growers and all the wineries indicate plans to expand in the next two years, according to the study.

The University of Minnesota made the first crosses in its wine grape breeding program in 1978, Luby said.

“We needed grapes that, left up on the trellis, survived our winters,” he said. “They had to be hardy to minus 35˚ F.

Crosses were made between desirable vinifera and French hybrid varieties and the “riverbank grapes,” Vitis riparia, that naturally grow wild in the tough upper Midwest climate.

“In our climate, with the long summer days, we can accumulate high sugar content,” Luby said. “ But we have problems with small berries and small clusters, high acidity and herbaceous flavors.”

The program’s goal is to develop high-quality, cold-hardy and disease-resistant wine and table grape cultivars. In 2000, a state-of-the-art enology lab and research winery was completed, and today U of M has one of the top wine grape programs in the United States.

The U of M Horticultural Research Center contains about 10,000 experimental vines on 10 acres, and another 1,000 vines are planted each year for evaluation.

The four varieties released so far have the following wine profiles, according to their description on the university’s Web site, www.grapes.umn.edu:

“Frontenac’s deep garnet color complements its distinctive cherry aroma and inviting palate of blackberry, black currant and plum. This versatile grape can be made into a variety of wine styles, including rosé, red and port.”

“La Crescent’s intense nose of apricot, peach and citrus lends itself to superior quality off-dry or sweet white wines. Produced in a Germanic style, La Crescent wine is reminiscent of Vignoles or Riesling. The grape’s high acidity provides good structure for excellent dessert or late-harvest style wines.”

“Frontenac gris wines present aromas of peach and apricot with hints of enticing citrus and tropical fruit. A brilliant balance of fruit and acidity creates lively, refreshing wines. Unique and complex flavors make this an excellent grape for table, dessert and ice wine.”

“Marquette’s high sugar and moderate acidity make it very manageable in the winery. Finished wines are complex, with attractive ruby color, pronounced tannins and desirable notes of cherry, berry, black pepper and spice on both nose and palate. As a red wine, Marquette represents a new standard in cold hardy viticulture and enology.”