Nov 24, 2005 10:37 am US/Central
Making Wine From Minnesota Grapes
by Terri Gruca
(WCCO)
While most people think strawberries, beets and even rhubarb make up Minnesota wines, grapes are quickly becoming the fruit of choice.
In a state where people countdown the first snowfall, there is a place where winter has not always been welcomed. It is a place where winter means more work: a vineyard.
"When I was little, my father found this land," said Nan Bailly. "Every Saturday, he'd throw all the kids in the station wagon. We'd come out here and we'd work in the field."
Bailly grows one of Minnesota's fastest-growing crops, grapes. In order for her farm to survive, she must meticulously manage each plant.
"We've got about 3,500 plants that we lay down and then pull up, one by one," Bailly explained.
On a farm that is known as a place where grapes suffer, Bailly has won awards for something most people don't know is made in Minnesota: wine.
Each summer, Bailly's 20-acre farm transforms the Hastings, Minn. hillside into something you would expect to see only in Napa Valley, Calif.
Alexis Bailly, Minnesota's oldest vineyard, is rewriting part of its history, with a seed of hope.
"This is a variety that was developed at the University of Minnesota," said Bailly, holding one of her grapevines.
Since 1908, University researchers have been developing ways to help vineyards like Bailly's succeed.
"We've taken the wild vine that's native to Minnesota that everyone has growing in their backyard, along the fence, and crossed that with some of the high quality grapes from Europe," explained Peter Hemstadt, a grape breeder at the University of Minnesota.
The idea is to create a new generation of grapes that can withstand Minnesota winters without ever being buried.
In 1996, the University celebrated the fruits of its labor naming its first original cold weather grape. It's called the Frontenac, named after a small Minnesota town on the Mississippi River.
Thousands of different varieties of grapes are grown out in the University's vineyards, but less than one percent will become a new variety.
"It takes at least 15 years to develop a new variety of grape, so a person has to be pretty patient for this type of work," Hemstadt said.
The process has kept Hemstadt busy for 20 years.
The University plans to introduce a new grape this spring, and it's a grape that people expect will put Minnesota on the map because it is the first grape to show promise of producing a more traditional type of red wine.
"That's a high quality red variety that's descended from pinot noir and we're pretty excited about that," Hemstadt said.
Vineyards, including Alexis Bally, are already benefiting from the research.
"We're very excited about the new grapes we've got," Bailly said.
Bailly now hopes her vineyard will go from being a place where grapes suffer to a place where grapes thrive.
"Well, I sure don't feel like I'm in Hastings anymore," Bailly said.
The University of Minnesota tries to pick Minnesota names when it introduces new grapes. The new grape coming out this spring will be called Marquette.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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