ND Grape and Wine Association

2019 Conference – in the bag

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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

Dakota Sun Shines at the 2018 Indy International Wine Competition

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Dakota Sun Gardens & Winery walked away with top honors at the 2018 Indy International Wine Competition winning gold and double gold for their wines and being named Winery of the Year! Bruce and Marleen Gussiaas have been hosting guests and producing amazing North Dakota wines for almost a decade and are putting quality fruit wines on the international map. At the 2018 competition they received a double gold medal for their Crabapple Wine which also won Best of Class in their category. They also garnered gold medals for their Pear, Apricot and Haskap wines. But the feather in their cap is certainly being named Winery of the Year out of hundreds of wineries from across the country and around the globe. This is a testament to the consistent quality of wines they are making.

2018 Wine Competition

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People’s Choice Award Results

COMMERCIAL WINES

  • Red Grape Wines
    • 1st place: 4e Winery – Bison Tale (King of the North)
    • 2nd place: Bear Creek Winery – Crimson Pearl
    • 3rd place: Eagleview Winery – Burning Combine (Marquette/Brianna)
  • White Grape Wines

HOBBIEST WINES

  • Red Grape Wines
    • 1s place: Mark and Nancy Lunde – Red Blend (Marquette/Petite Pearl)
    • 2nd place: Steve and Pat Sagaser – St. Croix/Frontenac
    • 3rd place: Greg Krieger – Marechal Foch
  • White Grape Wines
    • 1st place: Mark and Nancy Lunde – Frontenac Gris
    • 2nd place (tie): Mark and Nancy Lunde – La Crescent
    • 2nd place (tie): Greg Krieger – White Blend (La Crescent)
    • 3rd place: Steve and Pag Sagaser – La Crosse
  • Non-Grape Wines
    • 1st place: Mark and Nancy Lunde – Haskap
    • 2nd place: Steve and Pat Sagaser – Strawberry Rhubarb
    • 3rd place: Opie – Aronia

Fluffy Fields wins Project of the Year Award

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Congratulations to Fluffy Fields Vineyard and Winery. They have done the Project of the Year award from the Economic Development Association of North Dakota. What a great recognition for all of their hard work getting their business off the ground.

Newsdakota Article about this year’s awards:

October 20, 2016
By: Warren Abrahamson (NewsDakota.com) 

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Economic Development Association of North Dakota (EDND) presented its annual Economic Impact Awards for Project of the Year and Community Development on Oct. 19 during its fall conference in Valley City.

The Project of the Year award recognizes a project that has made a significant contribution to the economic health of a community or region in terms of job creation, partnerships and overall economic impact. The award is presented in a large and small community division. The 2016 recipient of the large community division award is Fluffy Fields Vineyard and Winery, a project aided by Stark Development Corporation. The recipient of the small community division award is Bowman County Development Corporation’s project, the Bowman Gateway Industrial Park.

The Community Development award recognizes an economic development project that has increased the quality of life. The 2016 recipient of this award is the Tioga Economic Development Corporation’s Drone Camp for Kids.

“Economic developers around the state are dedicated to improving the economic health of North Dakota, and EDND is pleased to recognize the stand-out programs and projects of all our Impact Award winners,” says EDND President Connie Ova.

EDND represents more than 80 state economic development organizations on the front line of economic development efforts throughout North Dakota. The primary purpose of the organization is to support the creation of new wealth and the diversification of North Dakota’s economy. Additional information is available at www.ednd.org.

4e Winery featured on WDAY

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WDAY showcased 4e Winery in a segment on March 6.

What started as a hobby for a local couple has turned into much more: a winery

Fargo, ND (WDAY/WDAZ TV) – What started as a hobby… has now turned into much more.

The second season of “4-E Winery” near Mapleton kicks off April 16th.

Barely a mile off of Interstate-94, you’ll find this historic Bonanaza farm.

“We get to welcome people to this wonderful little piece of the prairie,” said Lisa Cook.

Lisa and Greg Cook bought the farm a few years back and after renovations and additions, the couple turned this old 20th century farmstead into a winery.

Now it’s called the 4E winery to represent the four elements. Owners say they just want to get people back to their natural roots.

“What we need to do is educate people of North Dakota of its wines and how good they can be,” said Lisa.

Lisa and Greg have been making home-brew wines for more than 20 years.

Greg, who is a chemist at NDSU, says he has always been interested in how wines are made.

“I realized early on that its more art than chemistry in the wine cause it’s a natural living beverage,” said Greg.

4e Winery uses all natural ingredients in their 14-different styles of wine.

Some are hybrid grapes bred for cold climates, others are local berries and rhubarb.

“Now it’s not going to be chardonnay, we can’t grow those or Merlot grapes, but we can grow grapes that grow really well here and they are going to have that taste of the North Dakota prairie,” said Lisa.

Grapes are planted, picked, and then fermented for months.

The wine is transferred from tank to tank throughout the winter, to remove unwanted sediments.

Then, one of the final touches, adding any necessary sweetener.

“Then it’s filtered and bottled, all by hand,” said Greg.

The bottling will continue all throughout the summer, as some of the wines still need to finish fermenting.

The wine can then be purchased through the 4e’s tasting room, which is open every Thursday through Sunday, starting on April 16th.

“It’s more about the experience than it is necessarily the wine, you’re tasting what was grown and produced by hand right here,” said Greg.

The winery also hosts special events like tours and bachelorette parties.

Dickinson’s First Winery

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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.”

Vine to Dine 2

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Vine to Dine 2
Friday, October 16, 2015, 6:30 pm
Harvest Brazilian Grill
308 W Main St, Mandan, ND 58554

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Curious about how grapes are grown, harvested, crushed, and fermented in North Dakota? Want to know more about pairing wines with food? Well, join the North Dakota Grape and Wine Association on Friday, October 16 for a culinary wine experience you won’t forget.  We have recruited the culinary talents of the chef of the Harvest Brazilian Grill in Mandan to prepare more than a dozen heavy appetizers to pair with North Dakota wines. You will learn about food pairing and have the opportunity to meet wine producers from the state.

NDGWA Wineries shine at Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

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The results of the 2015 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition have been released. Among the award winners were several wines from our very own NDGWA affiliate wineries. This is a testament to the quality products being produced right here in North Dakota and Montana. Way to go!

Dakota Sun Gardens 

Aronia Wine – Gold Medal
Black Currant Wine – Bronze Medal
Haskap Berry Wine – Gold Medal

Pointe of View Winery

Mead (Honey wine) – Gold Medal

Tongue River Winery

Black Currant Wine – Gold Medal
Frontenac Trio Rose – Silver Medal
Aronia Wine – Bronze Medal

ND Wine Inspiring

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Inquiries from afar inspire reflection on N.D. wine scene

By Ron Smith, Fargo Forum

Link to the original Forum article

The past year of writing this column has been full of rewards for yours truly. From the first column on, I have received encouragement from readers, both locally and as far away as New York and California. The digital Forum reaches far and wide, well beyond our Upper Midwestern region.

I am asked one question more than any other: “What are your favorite white and red wines?” I begin to rattle off the typical ones that I commonly favor: riesling, moscato and gewürztraminer for the whites, and merlot, cabernet sauvignon and carmenere for the reds, but then I stop and think for a moment. I’ve also tasted some great wines by our local wineries as well, like Pointe of View winery in Burlington, N.D., Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D., and the tasty creations coming from Bear Creek Winery in south Fargo.

Perhaps the best part of the past year of writing this column was the “discovery” on my part of just what all is going on at the Red Trails Vineyard in Buffalo, N.D. They have spring grape vine pruning for volunteers to become involved in, grape stomp parties in the fall and wine tastings galore, where some of the hybrid grape wines developed by North Dakota State University researchers can be tasted and evaluated. In addition, developing vineyards and wineries like 4Elements and Agassiz Shores, owned by Greg Cook and Mark Vining, respectively, have typically had some of their future wines available for sampling. Every one of the samples has an outstanding future for the North Dakota resident and tourist to enjoy.

Several of the wineries across the state have some fruit wines and honey (mead) wines on the market for pleasurable consumption. Wolf Creek Winery in Coleharbor, N.D., offers fruit and berry wines, along with cold-hardy, North Dakota-grown grape wines to enjoy. Located on Lake Sakakawea, it gives one the “feel” of a California vineyard in sight of the ocean – a little imagination required of course – but nonetheless a beautiful location to visit and do some tasting. BearPaw winery, located just 20 minutes east of Bismarck, specializes in honey wines, which are sourced from the Turtle Mountain wildflowers and trees.

There is much to enjoy wine-wise in North Dakota. As spring continues to encroach on winter’s fury, sit down and plan a route around our great state’s wineries. The North Dakota Tourism bureau and the North Dakota Grape Wine Association have information on their websites to help you plan and route a trip or two to these developing and fascinating wineries and vineyards this growing season.

I hope you know a little more about wine after a year of weekly columns. I know I have. It is my hope to continue well into the future in the mutual education and pleasure we can gain from studying and understanding the World of Wine.

Ron Smith, a retired NDSU Extension horticulturist, writes weekly about his love of wine and its history. Readers can reach him at tuftruck1@gmail.com.

Online www.ndgwa.org

www.ndtourism.com/listings/wineries

Vine to Dine

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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

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Local Wines get Rave Reviews

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Fargo Forum columnist, Ron Smith, recently attended the tasting and dinner for new ND wine grape varietals held at Red Trail Vineyards. His write up was quite flattering.

from In-Forum:

World of Wine: North Dakota wine industry aging well

By Ron Smith 9/2/2014

Is there a future for North Dakota wines? Judging by a recent tasting and the visible commitment by all in attendance, the answer is a resounding “yes!”

During the wine tasting at Red Trail Vineyard in Buffalo, N.D., several good wines were noted that the local consumer and passing tourist will want to procure and relish with their meals or as a standalone pleasure.

The “featured wines” for tasting were from the Bear Creek Winery in South Fargo, owned and operated by Rod Ballinger and his wife. The tastings started out with a numbered, light red wine, which was strongly acidic in taste, but drinkable. Next, another red wine that had a longer barrel oak time, had a smoother, more rounded taste – again very drinkable. The last one, without a dispute from anyone, was a fantastic, full-flavored red wine made from a grape known as “Petite Pearl.”

Few area residents would dispute this past winter’s severity of low temperatures, and any marginally hardy plants pretty much met their doom as a result. Petite Pearl – a hybrid grape – has survived freezing winter temperatures as low as -36 degrees. Tom Plocher, a northern climate viticulturist and grape breeder, as well as a renowned author, worked for years developing this cold-hardy and disease-resistant wine grape.

Being cold hardy is an important first attribute for our region of grape growing, but unless it is dependably productive and can make a good wine, it is of no use. The Petite Pearl grape has another quality that makes it attractive to wine viticulturists – it has a relatively low acid level, making it a good, standalone varietal wine that also serves as a valuable blending source.

The wine is a dark red, garnet color, showing complexity in aroma and flavor. The fruit flavor comes through without the ‘pucker power’ of some other northern varietals, but with a rounded tannin flavor that gives the taster the desire to take another sip.

Relatively speaking, Rod Bollinger is new to the winemaking industry, and yet he has found a way to make this hybrid wine a sure-fire, high-demand product. He plans on planting more vines of this variety because of the popularity of the few bottles he has made to date.

While Bear Creek wines were the featured formal tastings, another notable wine came to my attention. It was a white produced by the 4 Elements (4e) Winery, known as a Brianna – another cold-hardy, good-tasting wine developed by the late Elmer Swenson in Minnesota – and has been successfully grown in the northern regions. The recent plantings at 4 Elements will not be productive for another 3 years, so put it at the top of your list to sample!

Other wineries present at the Red Trails tasting were Agassiz Shores Vineyard and Orchard and Uncorked. With wineries like these getting established in eastern North Dakota, visitors and residents alike will have something to look forward to in the near future.

A final note: Mark September 27 on your calendar to attend the “Vine and Dine” festival at Red Trail Vineyard. For details, contact the vineyard at (701) 633-5392.

Ron Smith, a retired NDSU Extension horticulturist, writes weekly about his love of wine and its history. Readers can reach him at tuftruck1@gmail.com.

Local wines win medals

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grapesKudos to local wineries who have won medals at the 2014 Mid-American Wine Competition. The competition was held July 11-13, 2014 in Ankeny, Iowa and features wine from the middle of the US. For the first time Montana wines were included in the competition and NDGWA member, Tongue River Winery won two medals. They received a Gold medal for their absolutely delicious La Crescent and a bronze medal for their sweet frontenac-based Warm Front. Also bringing in high honors with a bronze medal in the berry fruit wine category was the aronia wine from Dakota Sun Gardens.

Congratulations to Bob, Marilyn, Bruce and Marleen!

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