More Wine Awards!

We didn't enter many wine contests last year due to time constraints and poor (cold) conditions for transporting wine. Yesterday, however, we picked up a Bronze for our Frontenac and a Silver medal for our Frontenac Rose' at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Rochester, New York. Our highest placement ever in this competition!

...And the Countdown Begins!

The vineyard re-opens on April 14 2012 and there's lots to be done in the next few weeks. Don's burning the midnight oil moving wine this evening. It's a cold, tired, wet night. And the MOSQUITOES are already biting!

Balancing wine from the harvest of '11 this year is truly an art...truly is...hard work. Nonetheless it's a labor of love for us to actually grow our own grapes. We believe you taste the difference - that's why we win more medals.

Lots to look forward to this summer. We're excited about the Northwoods Red and our new Solara White that's already for sale on the website. Make plans to visit the vineyard next month. Come find out why we're working so hard on a miserable March night. The end result is SO worth it!

Kansas Winter in Minnesota

Yes it is feeling like Kansas here...more than ever before, Dorothy! The Crofut vineyard has moved from a 4A to a 4B temperature zone in the new USDA plant hardiness map.
Learn more.

gonna be in a calendar!

The 2013 Lang Calendar will feature farm scenes and one of its pictures was created by local artist Rollie Brandt (www.rolliebrandt.com) and features the barn at the Crofut Vineyward.

We're hoping Rollie's artwork will be selected for the calendar cover as well -- she's an incredible talent! We'll post some of her other work here and on our website in the future. Congratulations, Rollie -- we're proud to be included in your portfolio!

Thanks to my harvesters!

Hey everyone, thank you SO MUCH for showing up to help harvest the grapes this weekend. After all the work of the successful Grape Stomp the week before, it was daunting to look out in the field and see so many grapes all ripening at the Exact. Same. Time. (Can you say 'panic'?)

We picked, crushed and processed 26 tons of grapes in 72 hours this weekend. Not only were all the grapes at their peak of ripeness, but the sugar content was exceptionally high and the acidity was low. We can look forward to yet another batch of award-winning Minnesota wine next year!

Where to start with the personal thanks? Dale K (the garden guy) helped spread the word on his show and blog that we needed harvesters. Barb Hunt's crew turned out, as did Hans and the "Jeffs" with their crews.... thanks to John, Don, Dave and April... I apologize for all the wonderful people whose names I'm omitting just now. This year has been a wild ride and we couldn't have done it without you.

On behalf of the Crofut Family Winery, thanks to everyone who has helped make this such a terrific year (after a rocky start). We hope you'll join us this Saturday night for our year-end bonfire and celebration. Check our website for details!

Grape Update

It was all humidity, all hot in the vineyard this past week. Remind me not to pray too hard for summer. This past week brought back memories of growing up in Oklahoma. Drenching humidity, rain, storms the likes you have never seen.

The vines are just lapping this weather up. They love it. Grapes grow just like corn; sit still for a while and they actually look like they are growing before your eyes.

If we have another 2 weeks of this heat and humidity, the crop should come in right on time. Three weeks and we might even be ahead of schedule. With the humidity, our challenge is to keep the mildew out. Thankfully the windy conditions (albeit from the south) keep it in abeyance.

We now have music in the vineyard on Saturday afternoons. Check out the music schedule, bring a picnic (or purchase an Organic Valley cheese and cracker tray at the winery). Yes, on a hot day, you can watch the vines grow...if you squint real hard.

Check out my Purple Viking and MinneSNOWta sangria recipes on our Crofutland recipe blog. They're made using our new series of Northwoods wines, and provide a refreshing end to a long, hot Minnesota workday.

See you in the vineyard!
Don

July in the Vineyard

Things are heating up in the vineyard! We've got a full roster of fun activities at the vineyard every weekend, so stop on by. After hours, we're busy bottling next year's offerings. Tonight we'll finish the rose' and start on the Northwoods Red. Hopefully we'll get that finished on Saturday morning.

Last year we were open on the 4th of July for the Corvette Club, but this year we'll be closed. We need a day to recuperate from the weekend!

-Don