Volume 40 • Issue 3 Feature Story UPCOMING EVENTS DRIFTWATCH DRIFTWATCH: To promote communications between FSA Deadline contributed by Bob Walters, DriftWatch producers of specialty crops and pesticide applicators in support of ongoing stewardship activities. 12/1/2014 Minnesota Grape Growers for Federal Grape Association is spreading the word What is DriftWatch? Crop Insurance about DriftWatch. A summary The DriftWatch® Specialty Crop Site Registry is a voluntary online
of the enhancements to the tool that is intended to help pesticide applicators and specialty December Board DriftWatch registry is detailed crop growers in Member States communicate more effectively Meeting below. The DriftWatch registry and to promote awareness and stewardship activities to help 12/2/2014 is still free to use by growers and prevent and/or manage drift appropriately.
applicators. In addition, we have 2015 CCC DriftWatch was originally designed by staff from the Purdue a lot of resources on our website Sponsorship University Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Agricultural 2/5/2015-2/7/2015 www.fieldwatch.com. Communications departments with input and support from Location: Hyatt in Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialists. It is now a • Improved user-friendly interface Minneapolis national registry platform operated by FieldWatch, Inc, a non- • Simplified login and password profit company created by Purdue in collaboration with and MGGA Annual reset process sponsored by interested agricultural stakeholder groups. Meeting • A better and more visually DriftWatch is not intended to be a registry for non-commercial 2/5/2015 appealing experience gardens or sites less than half an acre. For more information, TIME: 6:30 PM • Upgraded Google Maps interface visit www.fieldwatch.com. Hyatt in Minneapolis • Better management tool for the For crop producers state data stewards’ review and and beekeepers: approval of specialty crop and apiary site submissions. Register and map sites so applicators know • Improved interface for apiaries about your specialty so that beekeepers can mark sites private and only viewable by areas and can plan their applicators stewardship activities accordingly. • Ability for beekeepers to mark hives without having to draw For applicators: — MGGA — fields Serving the Cold You can easily locate • Downloadable data for registered sites on Climate Grape and applicators as csv files, shapefiles DriftWatch before you Wine Industry or direct feed for members spray and register to Since 1976 • Time expiration feature for receive automated producers and apiaries e-mails alerting you • Mobile device optimization and when a new commercial specialty crop or apiary site has been Fall mobile application for field use registered in the state or local area you designate. , 2014 DriftWatch continued on page 9 Presidents’ Corner This spring and summer we hosted several regional seminars in by Irv Geary both viticulture and enology. Our viticultural tracks included a dormant pruning clinic and summer canopy management class. The MGGA has had a busy year. As I look Our enology classes included a barrel profile and maintenance back at what we’ve taken on, accomplished class and a wine chemistry class. We also had a very nice showing and have in progress, I am amazed. Here’s a at the annual summer picnic hosted by Millner Heritage Winery. look at how we are attempting to grow the All events were well attended and we hope to offer more classes industry and make your membership a truly in your area this year. If you have an idea for a class or would like great value. to host a class please let us know. We started the year with a legislative effort to help our wineries Once again, we had a very successful International Cold Climate function easier by getting some legal language cleared up. Wine Competition. This competition is the only one inthe Wineries may now legally import and purchase distilled spirits country which focuses exclusively on cold climate varietals. for port fortification AND have the ability to store finished More importantly, this competition puts the spotlight and media product off site. No winery has yet hit the gallon limits allowed on us, the growers and wineries who work so hard to produce under the Farm Winery law, but we wanted to encourage growth great wine. and got the maximum allowed increased “up to 75,000 gallons”. Lastly, we put on another great Cold Climate Conference. Many From our marketing team we re-issued the very popular participants and speakers fought through a terrible Minnesota Winery Passport. The Passport program has received a lot of blizzard to make the event a success even in the worst weather. great feedback from wineries and customers alike and we are We again had great attendance and are seeing the event become continually trying to make it better. This year we generated bigger every year. This event has come to be one of the biggest enough income from the Passport to start an online marketing conferences in the upper Midwest dealing with viticulture and campaign with WCCO. The marketing committee negotiated with we strive to make it better each year. We hope to exceed all WCCO to do a large email and online marketing campaign that expectations by holding our conference at the Hyatt Regency in targeted wine purchasers from around the state. Our website Minneapolis this next February, 2015. The venue offers a very saw huge spikes on the “Finding Minnesota Winery” page which large trade show space that we hope to fill with our loyal repeat speaks to the success of that effort. We are continuing to focus vendors as well as new vendors. on how we can best market our industry to the region. Looking back on what we’ve done this year I am somewhat This summer the MGGA was recommended to receive a USDA overwhelmed. All of this was made possible by a very hard Specialty Block Grant for the creation of a Viticultural Best working group of board members and volunteers who have Practices manual for cold climate grapes. By receiving this grant, dedicated untold hours of their time. If you see any of the people the MGGA will be able to hire expert help to edit, author, and who made this possible, thank them and then consider if there ultimately publish a completely upgraded version of Growing is a role or event you may be interested in assisting. We are an Grapes in Minnesota. Our goal is to build on the information organization of members working for members. Lastly, I would that is already in the manual and to expound in detail some like to thank all of the people who helped in any way with all of of the Best Practices that our industry has adopted to produce these efforts as we continue to promote and grow our industry consistently the highest quality grapes possible. Furthermore, in the coming years. Thank you. we plan to have video demonstrations that will go hand in hand with the manual that all members will be able to access from our Sincerely, new web site. Irv Geary Speaking of the new web site, we just launched what we hope to be a big improvement in the way we can work with our members and what our members can get from being a part of MGGA BOARD OF DIRECTOR POSITIONS the MGGA. The new website will make it possible for us to work Anyone interested in possibly joining the Minnesota Grape with members more closely as well as offer more information, Growers Association, Board of Directors, please contact us by such as videos and online libraries. It will also integrate member January 1st, 2015. If you have questions or wish to speak with information with registrations to events such as the Cold Climate the Nominations Committee, please email Larry or David to Conference and Regional Seminars. We are just now learning the setup a phone meeting: capabilities of the new site and hope that it evolves with our organization to give members a more fulfilling experience. [email protected] or [email protected] Page 2 PESTICIDE STORAGE REQUIREMENTS large list of commercial sources of pesticide storage cabinets by Michael L. White CCA, CPAg, CSW or buildings that can be purchased Online. Viticulture Specialist, ISU University Extension & Outreach Proper pesticide storage will help prolong pesticide shelf life, reduce risk to people and animals, will prevent surface and Fall is coming fast and the harvest is ground water contamination and reduce the potential of almost over. Questions on where to store vandalism or theft. pesticides through the winter are common this time of year. Exact storage requirements can often (but not always) be found on the label under the heading “Storage & Disposal” or on the Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) sheet under “Handling & Storage”. The minimum and maximum storage temperatures can usually be found on one or both of these documents. Pesticide labels and (MSDS) sheets can be found free online here:
http://www.cdms.net/LabelsMsds/LMDefault.aspx
Here is a general checklist of what an ideal pesticide storage area should have:
1. Do not store near food, feed, tobacco products, drinking water, veterinary supplies or fertilizers. Pesticides stored on metal shelves in a well-ventilated and locked heated storage room without any floor drains. 2. Store in a well-ventilated, dry area that is out of direct ISU Horticulture Research Farm – Ames, IA. sunlight. 3. Keep out of reach of children, pets and domestic livestock. Finally,… unusable or outdated pesticides need to be 4. Storage facilities should be fire resistant and lockable to disposed of properly. Often there is no charge for this. Each prohibit unwanted entrance. state is somewhat different in how they handle this. Either the Department of Agriculture Pesticide Division and/or the 5. Keep all materials in their original containers. Department of Natural Resources will have information on 6. A “Pesticide Storage” label on the storage facility with pesticide disposal. contact information is recommended. An excellent list of further Online resources on pesticide 7. A separated building or room designated for pesticide storage can be found at the National extension site here: storage is recommended. http://www.extension.org/pages/59635/pesticide-storage 8. The storage area should be stored in a facility with a concrete floor without floor drains. 9. Ideally, storage temperatures should remain between PASSPORT PROGRAM 40ºF - 100ºF. by Nan Bailly, Alexis Bailly Vineyard-Hastings 10. Keep and up-to-date inventory of pesticides you have in “Thank you for creating the storage. Passport. It has brought 11. Establish procedures to control, contain and clean up many new customers spills. to our winery and has 2 1 helped to expand our Most of grape growers in the Midwest are not large enough 3 35
er customer base. We v Ri ONLY 4 94 ix ro 10 C Lake 5 Chippewa to be storing large amounts of pesticides at any one time. 6 12 Ojibwa 8 11 $ 15 7 9 25 16 14 20 are excited to continue 17 18 21 Often a simple solution is to store them in a ventilated metal 19 22 23 24 Get 10 26 27 25s 29 28 30 Osseo our participation in TASTINGS 31 32 94 33 34 35 Petenwell storage cabinet or an old set of metal office file cabinets. Both 39 35 Lake 90 this new and exciting
Waupun are fairly fire resistant, lockable and can be easily labeled. Richland Center
94 Dodgeville Fort Atkinson program.” 90 Typing “pesticide storage” in any search engine will return a 43
Page 3 Volume 40 • Fall • Issue 3 byFrom John Marshall, the Great River Vineyard Vineyard & Nursery staying stubbornly low. We are waiting (first days of October) trying to ignore the We learned some things this fall about ripening. The blossom sugar levels that have begun to work up was more than two weeks late. Theoretically, this pushed into comfortable levels. the ripening date back two weeks or more. If we saw some spring and early summer heat this would have brought the It has been nerve racking! We know buds along quickly and helped them elongate into shoots, of one grower who has picked their but there was little springtime heat. While summer heat Frontenac almost on their regular picking date even though might have pushed the sugars up a bit and helped the acids the blossom was more than two weeks late. The sugar on begin to drop, we saw little of either. Thus, we entered the Frontenac has traditionally been high even in August some fall ripening season with a late blossom, little early heat to years, but never ripen that early. It must be left until the acids bring the buds out quickly, very moderate summer time heat begin to drop and the pH rises. If picked too early the flavor to carry on ripening and unlike last fall, it became chilly in does not develop and the wine is usually hard and very acidic. September bringing what ripening momentum there may Acids are sometimes so high, balancing with sugar for bottling have been, largely to a halt. It seemed like a season-long only masks the acidity and produces a hard, flavorless wine prescription for disaster. with little aroma; a flaw for which Frontenac is famous but can be avoided with patience. My blanket advice, don’t pick What made matters worse, it appeared that nature was Frontenac too early, especially in this late year! preparing for an early end to the growing season as well. In the press for time and the need for capital in making King of the North is another grape for which patience is critical. wine from a very large crop last fall, I did not apply my fall We usually leave them until October whenever possible, but application of potash to replenish the Potassium that I knew one of our growers took several tests and said his crop was a large crop would be taking from the ground. I was much ripe and was going downhill quickly. Again, we consented concerned that the large crop of last year and low Potassium input was setting my vines up for a disaster of poor hardening and dieback at the first fall frost. Nevertheless, I was amazed has now expanded to include Lake Pepin Winery! to see my new canes hardening off rapidly this fall, some as early as August. It appeared the vines were preparing for an early end to growth. NOW To make mattersappear to be worse, the birds were ignoring the lagging pace of ripening and began attacks on schedule. It is more or less a truism of fruit growing that birds will OPEN! FRI - SAT - SUN (May-October) wait until the fruit begins to get sweet before their assault. However, the Brianna began to take losses even before I was 12 Miles South of Red Wing on Hwy. 61 thinking of bird predation. This year finches were the culprit and they were voracious. The Brianna was essentially gone Great River Vineyard & Nursery before we could take any protective action. Bluebell began to Lake Pepin Winery lose fruit to birds while it was still too sour to sell for eating. 36580 Hwy. 61 Blvd. I was thinking the birds knew something I didn’t and were Lake City, MN 55041 harvesting while the harvesting was good. John Marshall’s However, while all the weather related requirements to Monthly Grape Grower’s Guide complete ripening seemed absent, I began to see that the ONLY $15*/year *$25 for mailed paper copy shortening day-length was bringing on ripening despite the lack of heat. The sugars seemed kind of low but crept up CALL TOLL-FREE 1-877-345-3531 over 20% and 21% and our chronically high acids began WWW.GREATRIVERVINEYARD.COM to creep down as well. Of crucial importance, the pHs are We take Visa, Mastercard, Discover & AmExpress
Page 4 From the Vineyard continued MGGA ANNUAL PICNIC to accepting the fruit and found the sugars are well below Thank you to Millner Heritage Vineyard and Winery for hosting 20%, the acids off the charts and the pH in the 2.80 range. an eventful Annual Membership Picnic this past summer. This is more or less the definition of less than ripe fruit. We will blend them with grapes that are more completely ripe to improve palatability. Since King requires sweetness to bring out the rich flavors and aroma that makes it so popular to our customers, we have hope that the grapes will prove usable.
Even so, these instances illustrate clearly that patience in ripening this year and every year is critical to success. Sugar levels are a preliminary indication of ripeness and suggest mostly that the crop is beginning to develop. Grapes look, feel, and often taste ripe well before they are actually ripe. If you don’t have a pH meter, get one and monitor the pH closely. Most experienced winemakers consider this the With over 100 attendees, the Millner’s presented a discussion on primary indicator to watch in judging ripeness. With or “Another Wine Making License; alcohol manufacturing license,” without a pH meter, patience is the key to getting ahigh and led a tractor- quality, fully ripen crop. pulled tour through the vineyard to May your fall be fruitful, and winter prosperous. observe the winter damage to the vines. Just before lunch, the Millners entertained us with their pop song remixes - my favorite, Johnny Cash’s “I Prune the Vine”! (to the tune of “I Walk the Line”.) Lunch is always a welcome surprise! With everyone’s contribution to the Pot Luck meal, no one leaves hungry! Thanks to the Millner Staff and Paul Hoppe for grilling up some good burgers and dogs! The day wrapped up with live music from Prairie Grass and wine tasting in the tasting room! It was great to see all who attended and watch new prospective members meet and greet our friendly association! A special thank you to Joy Hoppe for volunteering to ensure everything ran smoothly. Until next year!! -Missy Machkashvili, Administrative Director
Page 5 Volume 40 • Fall • Issue 3 PLUSES AND MINUSES OF THE 2014 GROWING SEASON In general, Minnesota climate is tough to grow some marginally hardy varieties, but the interest to expand them by Alexandru Bortnov, MGGA BOD even further north is growing, especially for the table grapes, like Swenson Red and Somerset Seedless. Because of our The polar vortex of the 2013-2014 winter harsh winters, I have an idea next year to start training them contributed to excessive damage of grape and some other marginally hardy varieties by using what I call vines on all my vineyards that are situated the D-training system. It would be a combination of growing in different parts of Minnesota. one vertical trunk without winter protection and one -or By analyzing the damage, I concluded that the polar vortex may be two trunks trained by the Mini-J trellis system on a that happened last winter negatively affected many vineyards same vine, I will lay down for the winter protection. Both situated above the Twin Cities area. trunks each will have two canes (9-11 buds per cane). The reason is that the Mini-J system will be more secure to get My vineyard in Bradford, MN some harvest after harsh winters, especially after polar vortex (36 miles North of Twin Cities) winters, the number of live primary buds should be greater. did not produce any grapes My other interest will be to research which trunk is more this season, including Prairie productive; vertical or J-style trained on a same vine during Star, Marquette, Jukka, ES 2-3- moderate winters. Because many vineyards from different 17, and others. It also affected northern states now having an interest to know how to grow secondary buds and grape vine marginal hardy varieties after this past winter, it would be trunks . My second vineyard in very helpful if the U of M would create a video on the J-style Shoreview, MN (12 miles North trellis system. of St. Paul) produced grapes from primary buds only from Some other notes I made during this growing season: • wet and cool spring did not allow a good pollination for Photo 1 (DM 8521-1) many varieties growing in my vineyards; • observed higher level of Black Rot and other fungal diseases; • higher amounts of leaf Phylloxera than usual; • drought conditions during month of July and persistent rains, especially, during first half of August provoked excessive berry cracking and extensive grape rotting. Of Photo 2 (Stefania) course, those conditions attracted a lot of wasps too. I saw it even for varieties which I have never seen before —Prairie David MacGregor’s, DM 8521-1 Star, Brianna, Blue Bell, Marquette. variety (Photo 1) and one of my • Bunch Rot was the highest this season compared to previous teinturier grape variety Stefania years. (Photos 2 & 3), which is based While for me and many others, it was a very unique growing on Mystic Eyes and DM 8521- Photo 3 (Stefania close-up) 1 cross. Some other varieties season, but like a shining star, was the Open House event at produced a minimal crop from secondary buds. the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center on September 6, 2014. Interesting however was that the most productive varieties produced there from secondary buds were Osceola Muscat Here is a short review of my visit, which I presented recently and Petite Amie. Both are Muscat varieties. at Midwest Wine Press (http://midwestwinepress.com/ ). My vineyard in Litchfield, MN (about 80 miles West of St. http://midwestwinepress.com/2014/09/20/fall-tour- Paul) also suffered, but less than my other experimental university-minnesota/ vineyards. I had decent production mainly from secondary Peter Hemstad addressed the crowd at the University of buds on many varieties growing at this location. Minnesota Open House on September 6th. The plates on the The varieties suffering the most in all three vineyards were table each display a different variety of grape that is grown at Labrusca type and seedless grape vines (Somerset Seedless, the University. Petite Jewel and Trollhaugen). Page 6 My main interest was to see how vinifera varieties and other had the most pronounced aroma, which is good to know “not hardy” varieties survived the 2014 polar vortex using the for further breeding efforts. From my experience, if a grape “J-style” vine training techniques used at the U of M vineyard conveys a certain aroma, then usually the aroma will show up (Vineyard Manager, John Thull). And I was impressed by such in the wine. a high percentage of grape survival and production. For the first time, I tasted Zilga which was also showcased on As always, Peter Hemstad, grape scientist at the U of M, the big viewing table. I agree with Peter’s characteristics – perfectly presented all grapes and placed each one on it has some potential from a hardiness point of view for the long tables for northern grape-growers. As well, Zilga also has a fruity aroma viewing. These combined with very noticeable tannins. It will be interesting included Vinifera, to see how it turns out as a finished wine. seedless grapes As usual , blue seedless variety Jupiter was eaten first by and different types visitors as the most tastiest variety presented at the table. I of hybrids. My also liked the white seedless grapes called Neptune. Besides a attention turned great taste this grape has nicely sized clusters, which are easy to Vinifera-like U of M varietals at Open House for consumers to hold in their hands. This is very important hybrids Solaris, at the grocery store. Grapes do not need to have extremely Dornfelder, Regent, and the Zweigeltrebe grape. Solaris is not big clusters; just nicely sized berries, nice color, along with a remarkable white wine grape, in my opinion. I did not have very good taste. a chance to taste the Solaris wine, but, I think, it is good for making a plain white table wine. Regarding Centennial grapes – they do have huge clusters, but these grapes are prone to cracking and rotting after the Some of the U of M varieties have much more potential than climatic conditions of this year. I was a little disappointed in Solaris, in my opinion; most notably MN 1188 and MN 1241. this variety. MN 1188 has a nice fruity, lemony taste. And MN 1241 has a very pleasant Muscat aroma. The grape table presentation was followed by a walking tour through different parts of the U of M vineyard. Non-hardy The other variety which I would like to mention is Zweigeltrebe. hybrid and vinifera varieties were growing on the University’s It really merits attention. That’s because Zweigeltrebe has J-style training system. Hardy hybrids were growing on many noticeable amounts of tannins, and probably the highest different training systems. The University is also doing a amount among all grapes presented at the U of M event. research to determine genetic markers for different diseases. Zweigeltrebe was created in 1922 by crossing two Vinifera varieties, but only now is the grape expanding through Europe [image: The “J-Style and the U.S . training” grape growing technique (http://zweigeltproject.com/all-things-zweigelt/what-is- employed at the zweigelt/ U of M is credited Zweigeltrebe - the pronunciation is subject to debate but the with helping vines grape has great potential in the Midwest. survive the brutal winter of 2013 and The J-style training at the U of M Dornfelder is a nice looking grape with big clusters. I agree 2014.] with Peter Hemstad – the size of Dornfleder clusters and berries are more similar to table seeded grapes. In my
Who checks the validity of sites submitted? Open Wednesday - Sunday May to October Each DriftWatch state has data stewards who are employed and weekends year-round through the state’s Department of Agriculture. These data stewards provide a key leadership role in implementing and 3572 Old Tyler Rd. Red Wing, MN 55066 • (651)388-8849 administering the DriftWatch stewardship communication tool. www.falconervineyards.com Each site submission is reviewed by the data steward and will either be approved or denied based on the established criteria before being placed on the public map. What is FieldWatch? FieldWatch, Inc is a non- profit company that was created in December 2012 to develop and expand the operation of the DriftWatch Specialty Crop Site Registry. The new company is located off-campus at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, IN. Voluntary Membership As a non-profit company, World Class, Gold Medal Wines FieldWatch relies on The DriftWatch Specialty Crop from the West Coast . . . donations and sponsors Site Registry has a new look and to keep DriftWatch updated functionality. of WISCONSIN! operational, up- to-date and a useful tool for producers and applicators. While Located on the Great River Road along the keeping DriftWatch free to use, the company has established a banks of the Mississippi River. Voluntary Membership for generating revenue from companies, organizations and individuals that want to get involved and Fountain City, Wisconsin demonstrate their support of the DriftWatch registry. www.sevenhawksvineyards.com For a list of supporting Members and more information, please visit the website: www.fieldwatch.com 608.687.9463
Page 9 Volume 40 • Fall • Issue 3 ICCWC RECAP GROWING THE MINNESOTA by Aaron Berdofe WINE INDUSTRY! by Missy Machkhashvili, AdministrativeDir. August 19th of this year marked the The Great Minnesota Get Together wraps sixth anniversary up another successful year. And the MGGA of the International Cold Climate Wine booth in the AG-Hort building was yet Competition. With 284 wines from 59 another popular stop for fair goers to ‘Ask commercial wineries in 11 states, the the Expert’ on how to grow grapes and ICCWC has again proven to be the most prominent competition where to sample wine. The booth distributed handouts on for cold hardy varietal wine producers. Another positive sign for growing cold climate grape varieties, pruning techniques, FAQ’s the cold climate wine industry was the number of medal-worthy about the industry and membership info. In addition, the booth wines that were entered: 33 Gold (10 Double Gold), 67 Silver, was stocked with member winery rack cards as well as the th th August 19 of thisand year 80 marked Bronze the medals 6 anniversary were ofearned the International showing Cold that Climate not only Wine isCompetition. the annual Minnesota Wine Tour brochure produced by Minnesota With 284 winesindustry from 59 commercial growing, wineries but improvement in 11 states, the in ICCWC the quality has again of proven the winesitself to isbe theGrown. As an update, the booth also featured a live slide show most prominent competition for cold hardy varietal wine producers. Another positive sign for the cold keeping up with that pace. of membership activities as well as grape growing and wine climate wine industry was the number of medal‐worthy wines that were entered: 33 Gold (10 Double making process images. Gold), 67 Silver,In and addition 80 Bronze to medals the weremedal earned winners, showing the that 21 not expert only is thejudges industry awarded growing, but improvement in“Best the quality of Show” of the wines prizes is keeping in 4 up categories: with that pace. Red, White, Specialty/ The MGGA booth does not run itself; it is staffed daily from In addition to theFortified, medal winners, and the The 21 expert Minnesota judges awarded Governor’s “Best of Cup Show” (Comprised prizes in 4 categories: of all 11-7pm by MGGA member volunteers. Thank you to all the Red, White, Specialty/Fortified,Minnesota winery and The entrants). Minnesota Governor’s Shelburne Cup Vineyard(Comprised ofof allShelburne, Minnesota winery volunteers for sharing your time and enthusiasm in Growing entrants). ShelburneVT took Vineyard the Red of Shelburne, category VT for took the the 3 Redrd year category in a for row the with 3rd year their in a 2012row with the Minnesota Wine Industry! All of this would not be possible their 2012 MarquetteMarquette Reserve. Reserve.Danzinger Vineyards Danzinger of Alma, Vineyards WI won in the of White Alma, category WI for won their in without you! 2013 Golden Sunrisethe White which is categorya single varietal for Frontenac their 2013 Gris. GoldenThe Specialty/Fortified Sunrise which category is was a snagged by Door 44 Winery of Sturgeon Bay, WI with their “Bubbler” sparkling wine. Going against the 3+ Years Volunteering trend of newcomerssingle winning varietal out theFrontenac past couple gris. of years, The The Specialty/Fortified Minnesota Governor’s Cup category was won by Krista Daniels the well‐establishedwas Sovereignsnagged Estate by Door of Waconia, 44 Winery MN with of their Sturgeon single varietal Bay, 2013WI with La Crescent. their “Bubbler” sparkling wine. Going against the trend of newcomers Rich Iverson For those wonderingwinning what out to plant the nextpast year, couple know of this: years, 32% of The the totalMinnesota medals awarded Governor’s were given to Mike and Sue Jahnke Marquette, La Crescent, and Frontenac Gris wines. Marquette alone had 16% of those. All of these are Cup was won by the well-established Sovereign Estate of Ron and Rebecca Joyce 2 Years University of Minnesota varietals. Waconia, MN with their single varietal 2013 La Crescent. John Marshall Paul Bruvelis and Doug DeSanto Larry and Laura Olson Paul and Darlene Cobian Ward and Ramona Opitz Jane and David Cumiskey Don and Jeri Slinger Kenneth Hodgson MaryJo and Denny Thaden 43 Whitewater Wines, LLC Minnesota 10832 Fischer Hill Dr, Plainview,D y MN 55964 507-534-1262 Jane andVarieties Pat Thiegs whitewaterwines.com RED WINES Interested in 44 Wild Mountain Winery Inc. Growing Grapes? FRONTENAC - Frontenac is the first of the 16906 Wild Mtn Rd, Taylors Falls,D MN 55084, 651-583-3585 y University of Minnesota’s line of cold hardy wildmountainwinery.com grapevines. It produces a medium bodied wine The Minnesota Grape Growers Association was formed in 1976 to heighten public awareness 45 Willow Tree Vineyard & Winery with distinct cherry, berry and plum aromas. Makes outstanding Port and Rosé wines as well. of the Minnesota grape and wine industry, advance 828 Constance Blvd NE, Ham Lake, MN 55304 legislative support of the grape and wine industry 763-229-8824 D y willowtreewinery.com MARQUETTE and advance quality standards in the production of , NEW Volunteers - A University of in 2014!Minnesota grown grapes and wines. We invite you 46 Winehaven Winery & Vineyard Minnesota red wine release that produces a complex, spicy and full bodied wine. Remarkable to explore our website and discover the exceptional 9757 - 292nd St, Chisago City MN 55013 quality of the Minnesota Grape and Wine Industry. D y in that it offers tannins that 651-257-1017 Kim Shroedermost northern grapes lack. Initial andresponse Chuckmngrapes.org Corliss winehaven.com to the wine has been enthusiastic. 47 Woodland Hill Winery 731 Cty Rd 30 SE, Delano DMN y 55328 SAINT CROIX - A red wine 763-972-4000 Lynitavariety from the work and of Elmer Swenson, Mark the Delaney woodlandhillwinery.com godfather of Minnesota/Wisconsin viticulture. He hybridized grapes at his Wisconsin dairy farm for more than 50 years. St. Croix is among the most popular of hisDick releases. It produces Goodermont a medium PLAN A DAY OR WEEKEND bodied red wine with good fruitiness and aroma. VISITING A WINE TRAIL: WHITE WINESGreg Halberg 3riverswinetrail.com mnriverwinebeerhistorytrail.com FRONTENAC GRIS greatriverroadwinetrail.org Frontenac, it produces a- crisp,A color clean mutation white orof sometimes blush wineDavid with peach and tropical Hoffart fruit heartlandwinetrailmn.com flavors. lakepepinwinetrail.com upperstcroixwinetrail.com LA CRESCENT Paul Hoppe introduction that makes- A University outstanding of Minnesota semi-sweet For those wondering what to plant next year, know this: 32% of and dessert wines noted for their intense apricot, While Minnesota certainly provided the largest number of entrants (Over twice the amount from the citrus and pineapple aromas. GET OUT & GO LOCAL Rick and Lorinda Johnson the total medals awarded were given to Marquette, La Crescent, PRAIRIE STAR next highest, neighboring Wisconsin) the ICCWC looks forward to growing the numberwith of Minnesota out of Grown! state white grape which - produces A strong agrowing crisp facebook.com/minnesotagrown and delicious white wine excellent for minnesotagrown.com blending with otherFlorian grapes or for Lederman entrants next year.and VineyardsFrontenac are springinggris wines. up in coldMarquette climate areas alone and will had be sure16% to ofkeep those. the ICCWC producing a varietal wine with good balance and body.
LOUISE SWENSON Gary Thorsett competitive intoAll the of future. these are University of Minnesota varietals. subtle white wine with floral- Produces aromas a delicateand honey and flavors. When blended it can provide quality and finesse to other white wines. Tim O’Brien Printed with assistance from the Minnesota Dept of While Minnesota certainly provided the largest number of Polly Perkins and DaveAgriculture’s Christenson Minnesota Grown Program. August 2014 entrants (Over twice the amount from the next highest, Connie and Michael Wittek neighboring Wisconsin) the ICCWC looks forward to growing the number of out of state entrants next year. Vineyards are The Minnesota Wine Tour brochures are updated annually with springing up in cold climate areas and will be sure to keep the a complete listing of Minnesota Farm Winery licensed wineries ICCWC competitive into the future. and produced by The Department of Agriculture - Minnesota Grown. They will be mailed, in bulk, to MGGA member wineries. Please contact Cheri Anderson for additional mailings.
Page 10 MGGA KEEPING UP WITH THE MDT & Associates TIMES by Dave Mohn, MGGA Membership/Web Site 3319 York Ave. N. We are very pleased to announce the Minneapolis, MN 55422 Local: (763) 529-4355 launch of our new web site!! Some of Toll Free: 1-888-530-7082 you have already noticed this if you have Fax: (763) 522-5843 attempted to use the old site since last E-Mail: [email protected] week. Not too long ago we took the plunge and downloaded www.mdtgrow.com 3,000+ records of past and present members, vendors, exhibitors, associations and many other contacts from past Call MaryJo for a free catalog activities into the web site state of the art database. SERVING GROWERS Supplies for Vineyards LIKE On Oct. 08, we sent an email to all the current members to SINCE 1986!YOU Pruning Shears, Saws, Loppers ask each of you to go to the site and login to your personal Grafting Supplies profile. The email will have a user name and password for you to enter. We would deeply appreciate each of you taking Grow Tubes and Bamboo Stakes a few minutes to enter the information into your profile. Your Trellising Hardware, Earth Anchors, Wire, Tying supplies information will automatically be stored on the database and Bird Netting and Applicator, Bird Gard Alarms, Cannons is only accessible by you. The days of maintaining member Refractometers and pH Meters spread sheets manually are gone forever! While you are Deer Repellent, Picking Shears, Grape Forks at the site, please look at some of the new features we are MacroBins and Picking Lugs offering. You will notice we have a knowledge base menu Viticulture and Wine-making Books item. We hope to grow the knowledge base with an extensive collection of best practices information and other related Fast, Friendly Service! resources to help you get your vineyard or winery to a great state of success. We can now offer space to advertise your winery or vineyard. Indian Island As an example I placed an ad for my own winery ‘Flower Valley Vineyard’ in that space. Recent data has shown the WINERY MGGA site has had as many as 17,000 hits during one month, Enjoy Award-Winning Wines - Grown & Made Local! so this is definitely worth considering. Family Owned and Operated We also have a ‘LOCATE A WINERY’ page where you will see a Minnesota map broken out to four regions. When you click the region, it will take you to a page with detail information and links to the wineries in that region. Commercial winery members are eligible to be listed on these pages. The COMMUNITY menu item has a submenu that allows you to see all of the previous Notes of the North articles. You will be able to search for a certain subject and it will find past articles dealing with such. June - September Hours: Please view this site as the beginning of large work in progress. Mondays: Closed Tuesdays-Thursdays: 12-6pm, no kitchen hours During the coming years we hope to see the site content grow Fridays: 12-9pm, Kitchen: 4:30-8:30 to many times its current size and be the leading source of Saturdays: 12-9pm, Kitchen: 12-8:30 information for our growing industry. Sundays: 12-5pm, Serving only Pizza from kitchen 12-4:30 Indian Island Winery With any website conversion, there are bound to be a few Book your Private Events 18018-631st Ave. Call 507-317-7914 ‘bugs’ to work out. We appreciate your patience while we Janesville, MN 56048 507-234-5469 www.indianislandwinery.com resolve certain issues, and we fully expect to hear from you if Ask for Ray [email protected] it is not working properly or if you have trouble finding what you need. Page 11 Volume 40 • Fall • Issue 3 KDL® 0-0-24 Get a jump on frost with KDL
Many wine grape growing areas routinely face spring frost(s). The extent of damage from a frost event depends on many environmental factors that growers can’t control and the steps growers can take or don’t
SERIES take to mitigate frost. Irrigating can put heat into the vineyard and wind machines can be helpful if there is
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KDL is a unique sugar-based potassium that when applied within 12-48 hours of a frost event has been shown to help improve frost tolerance. During spring as vines begin to put on new green tissue the demand for nitrogen peaks. At these early growth stages the nitrogen to potassium ratio strongly favors nitrogen. Young tissue and flower clusters high in nitrogen that have not yet hardened off are more susceptible to frost damage. Applying KDL prior to a frost event can change the nitrogen to potassium ratio in the tissue and improve cold tolerance.
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ELMER SWENSON SCHOLARSHIPS The Minnesota Grape Growers Association (MGGA) has MINNESOTA GRAPE GROWERS ASSN. established a scholarship fund in the name of Elmer Swenson to President: Irving Geary MGGA honor his legacy as a citizen scientist and a Father of cold climate Vice President: David Mohn 433 W. 3rd St., Ste. 1 viticulture. Scholarships of $1000 will be awarded to select Secretary: Teresa J. Savaryn Red Wing, MN 55066 students in recognition of demonstrated interest, aptitude, Treasurer: Larry O. Olson Past President: Ronald L. Barnes and creativity in advancing cold climate viticulture. The awards Board of Directors: Aaron Berdofe, Alexandru Bortnov, Josie Boyle, will be based entirely on merit, and the recipient(s) will receive Kent Cunningham, Jenny Ellenbecker, Dr. Gary the award and be recognized for this honor at the MGGA Cold Gardner, John Howe, John Maloney, Bob Olson, Climate Conference Gold Medal Gala Banquet on February 7, Kent Schwickert, Steve Unverzagt, Dr. James 2015. Luby - ex officio Administrative Director: Missy Machkhashvili To be eligible for this award: Editor: Cheri Anderson Purpose Statement: The Minnesota Grape Growers Association A student must be a full-time student in an accredited institution (MGGA) was formed to further the art and science of growing grapes in cold climates. The Association of higher education in Minnesota or Wisconsin. sponsors grape growing instructional workshops and events for those interested in learning more about grape Must be studying some aspect of cold climate viticulture. growing and winemaking in Minnesota. Membership Levels You will be asked to provide a description of your academic program and statement of career objectives including your $50/Individual Electronic NFTN; $65/Paper & Elec. NFTN $100/Professional Vineyards/Incl. up to 2 members experience and interest in cold climate viticulture. $200/Farm Wineries &/or large vineyards/Incl. up to 4 members $250/Associates - Vendors Your resumé Membership Level Details: www.mngrapes.org and click on MGGA Info/ A letter of recommendation from a faculty member which Services Email: [email protected] certifies that you are a full-time student and provides evidence or send a check to MGGA address. of your interest and ability in cold climate viticulture. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: Unless otherwise noted all material may be copied, quoted, etc., provided the author and MGGA are credited. The editor authors all Email your application material to [email protected] material and photographs without a designated author or source.