Sufferers, strugglers
Posted on July 16th, 2009 – 3:35 PMBy Bill Ward
Minnesota’s oldest winery has long had an apropos slogan: “Where the grapes can suffer.” Unfortunately, that catchphrase is proving all too true at Alexis Bailly Vineyards.“I lost 80 percent of my vineyard,” proprietor/winemaker Nan Bailly told me earlier this week.
She’s not sure why. It was a long but not especially cold winter, with decent snow cover during the worst stretches. “It hit 22 below” at the vineyard near Hastings, she said, and “we’ve been in a drought the last 4, 5 years. This year we had ¾ of an inch of rain from snow melt till the 1st of June.”
Oddly (or maybe not), the grapes that have been developed locally for their cold-hardiness fared worst during the winter. “I lost 90 percent of my Frontenac,” Bailly said. “But my French grapes that my father planted in 1973 have shown no stress. The Marechel Foch and Leon Millet came through no problem.”
Bailly added that she will get a waiver on the Minnesota law that requires wineries to use at least 50 percent state-grown grapes in the overall wine output, until she can get new vines up and going. And I wouldn’t expect her to plant a whole lot more Frontenac, even though her very tasty Voyageurs blend contains about 30 percent Frontenac. “I think Frontenac does better in a warmer climate,” she said. “I think the heat in states like Illinois gives it a juicier fruit flavor.” said Bailly.
That point actually was relevant to the reason I originally had called Nan: the announcement that for the first time, Minnesota would be part of the nation’s largest AVA (American Viticultural Area). The Upper Mississippi River Valley AVA will be cover 29,914 square miles, including some or all of 10 counties in Minnesota, nine in Illinois, 18 in Iowa, and 23 in Wisconsin. It runs from near St. Paul to Moline, Ill., and is 50 times bigger than Bordeaux. The Alexandria Lakes AVA in western Minnesota was established in 2005.
“It’s a pretty broad-reaching area,” said Bailly. “It will be pretty hard to say that grapes being grown in the Hiawatha Valley where we are are like grapes being grown in Galena [Ill.]. But it does highlight that there are winemakers here, or maybe they should be called hobbyists, sufferers, strugglers. That hey, there’s a small burgeoning area where they are growing grapes and making wine.
“We’re still figuring it out here.”
And fighting the good fight, in Bailly’s case.
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For the location and other info on Bailly’s vineyard and 23 other Minnesota wineries, check out our map on the upper-right side of this page.
4 Responses to "Sufferers, strugglers"
I grow grapes north of Taylors Falls, in the Saint Croix River Valley. With a low cold reading of -28F last winter, I lost none of my Frontenac, Marquette, or Frontenac gris. I did suffer some winter damage to my Foch, but they too came back from the cold assault. I do admit that in a drought, I had to irrigate my vines….but in a drought any plants need to be cared for properly.
The quality of fruit produced at each vineyard varies based on soil composition, vine placement, and most importantly vineyard management. I follow time proven methods used in my Aunts village in France, as well as in California. If all these components are aligned, the vineyard can produce stellar quality fruit. If we were to believe that our growing season was inadequate for wine grape production, we would have to look across the globe to France and question their growing season as well.
As the General Manager of Saint Croix Vineyards, I find it hard to believe that winemaking is just a hobby or that we are hobbyists. I manage a winery producing tens of thousands of bottles of wine each year. Our Frontenac wine received Silver at the San Francisco International Wine Competition and Silver at the International Eastern Wine Competition this year. We also received Gold for our Seyval at International Eastern and Double Gold at the Indiana International Wine Competition. These are just a few of our medals from this year’s submission to some of our nation’s largest wine competitions.
If growers in Washington State or Oregon lost heart 15 to 20 years ago, they may not have made it to the point they are at today. Minnesota is at the beginning of its journey, and has made serious headway in the national and international marketplace. We do not want to go they way of other states, and destroy our local wine industry by allowing wineries to purchase finished wines and sell them under their own label or to buy most of their fruit from out of state. Wineries produce unique wines from the grapes that grow in their region. I wish all Minnesota wineries the best of luck this year, and look forward to the fruits of their labors!!
Thanks for the insights, Matthew.
Overall, I believe the “50-Percent Law” (or whatever it’s called) to be a good thing. Bringing in a bunch of California grapes and selling the wine made from it as a Minnesota product is disingenuous at best. Consumers should know that when they buy a bottle of Chardonnay or Cabernet from a local winery, it’s not really from here.
Y’all make some great wine up there. Those who want to know more about the winery should check this out:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/30000994.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
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