ND Grape and Wine Association

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2019 NDSU Trial Grape Results

December 24, 2019 By admin

Microvin Results, Minot, ND

By Chris Asmundson, NCREC

It’s that time of year again when we roll up our sleeves and get down to the wine research.  The weather here, like so many other places, did it’s best to make everything more challenging.  With a killing frost coming in especially early, we had to harvest everything all at once and go from there.  The whites were processed right away and the reds were cleaned and frozen to be processed later. Twenty-two whites were finished and evaluated.  Overall I was pleased with the results considering the high acid content of the not-quite-ripe fruit.  We have started bottling the first finished reds (of which there are 67) and are eager to see how they do as well!  

Data for the reds should be released the first part of January, 2020.

Download data here: 2019 White Wine Microvins Minot

NDSU Trial Grape Results, Miles City, MT

By Bob Thaden, Tongue River Winery 

I thought you all might be interested in the results we’ve had at Tongue River Winery with the 5 NDSU cultivars we’ve been trialing here.  NDSU  had me set up a replicated research trial here 4 years ago.  Marquette, King of the North and Frontenac Gris were grown at NDSU’s request also as controls.  As you can see, Marquette doesn’t like our site very well!

Samples of these wines, except for 04 #1 (wasp damage:  developed acetic acid before we realized it.) will be available at the NDGWA Annual Meeting.

My general take on the reds so far is that I like 04 #1 best of the three.  The two whites really have some potential.  As you can see, they were massive producers, equal to King of the North.  And not a single trunk of the NDSU cultivars has died back over the past three winters.  We’ll see how this winter goes.

Download data here: 2019 Trial Grape Results Miles City

Filed Under: #NDWine, education, grape growing

2019 Conference – in the bag

February 4, 2019 By admin

The 2019 NDGWA Conference and Annual Meeting was held in Mandan, ND on February 1-2. At the meeting we heard exciting updates on new cold climate cultivars from the NDSU. We learned that you can crop the heck out of Frontenac with minimal affects on the quality of the fruit in a talk and information about the differences between Petite Pearl and Marquette. John Thull, from the University of Minnesota, not only gave us a great talk about how to grow Itasca, he brought samples of the wine for everyone to try! Tami Bredeson, Co-owner of Carlos Creek Winery, provided a very insightful look at the relationships between wineries and growers and discussed best practices for making contracts. Her husband, Kim, spoke about the life of a vineyard and how to manage it from winter through harvest. We learned from Bob Thaden about how interns can be integral in a winery and vineyard operation with a win-win educational experience. Certified Sommelier, Justin Blanford, offered his insight into what consumers are looking for as it relates to our cold climate grapes and led us through a tasting of some local wines.  We found out how to prevent flaws in our winemaking and how to measure the alcohol. Overall our lineup of speakers seemed to be better than ever.

At our annual association meeting we elected new board members and officers. Randy Albrecht stepped down as President and board member after serving valiantly in that position for the last year. Rodney Hogen was elected as our new president and we welcomed Sean Ballinger onto the board as a new member. All other board members and officers were reelected or remain in there term until next year. We also announced the winners of our People’s Choice wine competition. More on that later.

One of the important aspects of our annual conference is the opportunity to meet and discuss issues face to face. This year there are two competing winery bills threading their way through the legislative process. One was introduced in the house and one in the senate. There are many passionate opinions on these bills and the future direction of our industry. We purposely scheduled multiple sessions for all of the members to talk openly with each other in order to share our points of view. This was very healthy for our organization and we have come out of this meeting stronger than ever. As there are two different bills and neither really reflect what will end up being the final bill standing after all negotiations have been completed, the North Dakota Grape and Wine Association has decided to stay neutral on these legislative bills at this time.

I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2019 NDGWA People’s Choice Wine Competition. This year there were 45 entries in 5 different categories. The commercial wines and the hobbyist wines were tasted blindly together and the top vote getters in each were awarded certificates. Every single entry received at least one vote! Each category also had a best of category for the overall top vote getter. It was nice to see that hobbyists were able to wine some of these! Every year we say the quality of the wines made in North Dakota improves and I didn’t think it could get better. But it did by leaps and bounds this year. The wines were truly outstanding. You can find the details of the award winners on the 2019 Competition web page.

Thank you all for participating and if you didn’t get to make it this year, we look forward to welcoming you to our conference next year.
Cheers!
Greg

Filed Under: #NDWine, education, grape growing, NDGWA event

Growing Grapes in North Dakota

May 31, 2018 By admin


Download brochure and registration form here:

A series of hands-on workshops focused on grape
production all the way to wine making and marketing.
No experience necessary.
Price is $10.00 Join us for all of the workshops or only one.
For more information, and to pre- register, contact:
North Central Research Extension Center south of Minot (NCREC)
5400 Highway 83 South Minot, ND 58701
Phone: (701) 857-7679 or
Email Phil Koapke
Pre-registration encouraged.Download brochure and registration form here:

Basics of Viticulture
June 28, 2018 at 6 p.m.
North Central Research Extension Center
5400 Highway 83 South
Minot, ND 58701

Maintaining a Vineyard
July 17, 2018 at 1 p.m.
Carrington Research Extension Center
663 Hwy 281 N
Carrington, ND 58421

Enjoying the Fruits
August 21, 2018 at 6 p.m.
Pointe of View Winery
8413 19th Ave NW (off Hwy 2 & 52)
Burlington, ND 58722

Filed Under: education, grape growing

Dickinson’s First Winery

February 20, 2016 By admin

A great article in the Dickinson Press this morning about Fluffy Fields Vineyard.

Wine fresh off the vine, Dickinson’s first vineyard looks to open in late spring

By Andrew Haffner Today at 5:30 a.m.

Western North Dakota doesn’t come to mind as a wine-producing region, and with good reason.

The state was the last in the U.S. to federally license a commercial winery, and opened its very first in 2002.

More than a decade later, Fluffy Fields Vineyard — Dickinson’s first and only federally licensed commercial winery — could soon give visitors a taste of homegrown North Dakota wine.

The winery is a brainchild of Dickinson couple Kevin and Deb Kinzel and is being constructed on their property near Sundance Coves, east of the city, with hopes of opening for business sometime in the late spring.

Deb Kinzel said her family’s foray into serious winemaking began with a glass carboy — a jug used for fermenting small batches of wine — given to her husband.

The family had already planted some grapes as part of their garden and had dabbled in fermentation, but Deb said that first carboy started a series of expansions that rapidly grew into a building.

“One carboy led to 50 carboys which went to bigger tanks to this,” Deb said, gesturing to the winery around her. “We had one grapevine at first. Then we bought 10, and the next year he ordered 600 — and next year we’re getting 1,000, which we’re planting north of town.”

As the Kinzels delved deeper into their hobby, they invited friends and visitors to the farmers’ market they hosted on their property to taste the wines they were creating.

Those initial tastings went well enough for the couple to consider selling their wares — which wasn’t possible to do legally without extensive permitting and official winery status.

Deb said the options were simple.

“Either I was going to be a bootlegger and end up in jail, or we were going to start a winery,” she said with a laugh.

Kevin said the winery is set up with four 500-gallon fermenters and will soon have a chiller to control the temperature of the fermentation process.

As soon as that piece of machinery is installed, he said, “we’re ready to go.”

Kevin said he’s stocked with enough fruit and grape juice — much of the latter brought in from growers in Iowa, to begin with — to make about 3,000 to 3,500 gallons of wine in the first run.

At five bottles per gallon, the winery could be flowing with as many as 17,500 bottles by the time it gets through its first season of fermentation.

Kevin said the process of making a large amount of wine is basically the same as a small batch, but admitted with a laugh that the undertaking was “a little scary.”

Despite that, Kevin, who has worked at Winn Construction for the past 26 years, said he enjoys driving around on a tractor through the grapes more than anything.

“Seeing the grapes on the vine — between doing that and walking into the building — it’s still enough to make me step back and say, ‘Wow,’ sometimes,” he said.

Moving forward, the Kinzels hope to make the business a family affair both in its staffing and clientele.

Deb plans to open the indoor and outdoor spaces at the winery for weddings, bridal and baby showers, and other larger gatherings in addition to regular tastings and open hours.

Joining the Kinzels in running Fluffy Fields are the couple’s son, Kody and their daughter and son-in-law, Krista and Kenny Jessop.

The Jessops will work on the office end of the winery and Kody, 25, and will serve as Fluffy Fields’ vinter, or wine maker, and oversee production.

Kody said he studied the craft through online courses and spent two months working at Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery in Carroll, Iowa, to prepare himself for the role.

So far, he said the experience, while unexpected, has been a good one.

“My parents kind of woke up and said they wanted to grow grapes,” Kody said with a laugh. “ … At first I was a little leery. I’m not a gardener. But just going to school and learning about the process of making wine and the science of it, it’s actually really fun.”

Kody said North Dakota’s wine-producing culture is “still young,” and while breeding programs from North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota have produced some varieties of grape that can survive the region’s harsh winters, there’s still work to be done to develop and promote cold-climate viticulture, or grape production.

At the same time, he said he saw his parents’ endeavor as well-positioned in a larger industry.

“It’s going to help Dickinson get on the map a little more,” Kody said of the winery. “And it’ll be in a good place when it gets bigger, and more wineries come up here when they find out they can grow grapes and make good fruit wines in a colder climate.”

Filed Under: #NDWine, grape growing, In the news, winery

ND Wine industry on KFGO

November 14, 2014 By admin

149393_10152345128876557_2501193561651231485_n4 Elements Winery owner Greg Cook talks with Dayne Del Val about his winery and the ND Wine industry on KFGO’s Mike McFeely show.

http://kfgo.com/podcasts/mike-mcfeely-show/983/greg-cook/

 

Filed Under: #NDWine, grape growing, In the news, winery

Vine to Dine

September 5, 2014 By admin


Purchase Vine to Dine Reservation (select member or non-member)
You can select and change the number of reservations on the next screen.



v2dheader

Curious about how grapes are grown? harvested? crushed? fermented? Want to know more about pairing wines with food? Looking for ideas to use unripe grapes? grape leaves? vine prunings? Well, join the North Dakota Grape and Wine Association on Saturday, September 27 and find out. At the Vine to Dine event, we will have informational sessions during the afternoon for you to learn about the wine process from the beginning on the vine, through crush and fermentation, to the final result – enjoying with food. We have recruited the culinary talents of Chef Ted Swiontek from Oven Door Catering to prepare a fantastic meal pairing local North Dakota wines with local foods. Information sessions will run from 2:00-5:00 pm with dinner following. This is an event you simply cannot miss.

Sessions include: Harvesting grapes, crushing/destemming, chemistry testing, winemaking, cooking with wine

The North Dakota Grape and Wine Association

presents

Vine to Dine
Saturday, September 27, 2014
@ Red Trail Vineyard

3510 142nd Ave SE Buffalo, ND 58011
Take I-94 to Exit #317 (Ayr Exit)
Then go 2 miles north on County Road #3

$50 NDGWA members / $60 non-members

Seating limited – reserve your spot by 9/23

RSVP via PayPal


Purchase Vine to Dine Reservation (select member or non-member)
You can select and change the number of reservations on the next screen.



Filed Under: #NDWine, education, grape growing, NDGWA event

New ND grape varieties announced

August 2, 2014 By admin

KVLY channel 11 reports on wine from new grape varieties being tasted at Red Trail Vineyards. Also two new wineries will be opening in 2015 in the Red River Valley – 4 Elements Winery and Agazzis Shores (Rookery Rock Winery).

Filed Under: #NDWine, grape growing, In the news, winery

Pruning TWC vines with Rodney

August 1, 2014 By admin

Rodney Hogen from Red Trail Vineyards demonstrates how to prune his St. Croix vines.

Filed Under: education, grape growing

Latest News

  • NDGWA Mobile App June 26, 2020
  • 2019 NDSU Trial Grape Results December 24, 2019
  • 2019 Conference – in the bag February 4, 2019
  • Cottonwood Cider House Rules August 9, 2018
  • Dakota Sun Shines at the 2018 Indy International Wine Competition June 22, 2018
  • Growing Grapes in North Dakota May 31, 2018

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