Year-End Harvest Bonfire

Our Black Friday Sale runs Nov. 26-28 this year. We'll have 15% off on all wine and gift items. Don't miss it!

Our thanks to Marshal for videotaping a record of our year-end harvest bonfire and posting it on YouTube... we think. It was a fantastic year and a really fun way to end it with family and friends.

To all of our Crofut Winery fans and customers, thanks for your support and continued business. Have a great holiday season!
-Don

Vineman - Sunset Bonfire

Tom Wavra entertained with his acoustical guitar at our Sunset Bonfire on October 16. We then burned our "vine man" and all the other dead vines from the vineyard. The ashes will serve as fertilizer for next year's vines. What a perfect October night!

Great Weekend

What a great weekend, with the Art Crawl in the vineyard, the Ladies Tailgate Party, and weather in the 80s. The Art Crawl was a huge success and I wish only the best for all the fantastic artists we had the honor of showcasing this past weekend. A HUGE thanks to Rick Thake and his wife Theresa for bringing the Rube Cube to our Ladies Tailgate party. The beast gets an amazing 6 gallons a mile!

One final thinks to Richard and Molly Dollarhide for all their work on the Fun with Wine series this summer. You guys are great.

The best part? We're not done yet! Join us this coming Saturday for a bonfire in the vineyard, or check out the annual Sips of History event Oct. 21-23, 2010.

For more details, or to see a great montage of pics from this past weekend, check out the Events page on the website. We'll see you in the vineyard!

Pics, Harvest and Weekend Plans

If you were in the vineyard for the Grape Stomp or the Unbridled Chocolate weekend, check www.crofutwinery.com for links to photo galleries from those events. We always welcome new photos, so don't hesitate to send us yours to post, too!

We're cancelling tomorrow's grape harvest since the rain is predicted to last thru the morning. We got a lot done on Tuesday and Wednesday, though. Between harvest and all the vineyard events these past two weeks, Don is wiped out and sleeping in. He'll be back in the vineyard picking grapes this Saturday morning, weather permitting, and we hope you'll join us at 8:30 am.

There's lots more to do this weekend in Scott County, including:

- Scott County's annual City to Country tour takes place this Saturday, Sept. 25 from 11am to 4 pm. Find out more.

- The Pure Country Alpacas Farm is having a boutique and craft festival on both Saturday and Sunday. Visit www.purecountryalpacas.com for details.

- Glewwe's Castle Brewery Open House takes place on Sunday, Sept. 26. There will be music and root beer samples, as well as demonstrations on apple pressing, soda making, bottling and more. Find out more.

This weekend is a great time to visit Scott County. We'll see you in the vineyard!

Harvest 2010 (First Day)

Ahhh vineyard after first day of harvest. The grape is ON.

Patty Wagon

Patty and her "Patty Wagon" took us for a ride in around and thru the vineyard!
Love great friends and holiday weekends.
-Don

MN State Fair Wine Competition

The Minnesota State Fair provides the time and place for the annual International Cold Climate Wine Competition. This year the Crofut Family Vineyard brought home two silver medals for our Frontenac Rosé and Prairie Blanc wines, plus two bronzes for our Essence du Nord and La Crescent.

We'd really like to rock this competition since it takes place in our own backyard. However, the ICCWC judges seem to consistently favor the sweeter wines, and that's not where our own preference lies. I guess we'll just have to console ourselves with the 59 new medals we've brought home in the past two years.

Congratulations to the Crofut Family Vineyard and all the other 2010 ICCWC winners!

August 2010: Indy International Wine Competition

We won a boatload of medals in 2009, but haven't entered many contests in 2010 because the weather didn't cooperate with competition deadlines. (Fluctuating temperatures during shipment can affect the color and aroma of wine, if not the taste.) We did send some to Indiana for this summer's Indy competition, though. The results are:
Prairie Blanc 2008, SILVER
Frontenac Rose` 2008, BRONZE
Frontenac Red 2008, BRONZE
Essence du Nord 2008, BRONZE

Be sure to swing by the vineyard to pick up a few bottles of our award-winning wines for your dinner tonight!

Augusting in August

Veraison (augusting or turning) is in full force. Thanks to Marshal (from Cities 97) and Carol from coming out to the vineyard and hanging with us.

Want to pick?
We welcome all volunteer grape pickers who show up on weekends in late September through early October. Email and tell us you want to participate. You pick, then enjoy a home-cooked meal and wine after a MN morning harvest. Take home a bottle of our wine and a full tummy after a morning of playing with (er... harvesting) grapes.

Vineyard Growing Update

The grapes are about two weeks ahead of schedule and filling out nicely. They love this heat and I don't complain about it, either ...after piling on 3 layers in January.

The Frontenac Red is a hit. I have never heard so many visitors just gush bout the juciness and the balance of this wine. Come and try some at the tasting room!

We've been busy serving at many summer festivals, but now we're hunkering down and preparing for our own Grape Stomp Festival, Sept. 11-12. Registrations for stage stomping opens online this Saturday morning at 8 am. Even if you don't sign up to get covered in grape juice, mark your calendars. We're looking forward to seeing you at the Stomp!

Weekend Survivors

Yes we survived Basilica and Prior Lake Blues/Jazz Festival the same weekend. Chester Bay, VV Brown and of course Weezer and BNL were hot!

Menus are posted online for our weekly Friday Prixe Fix and July 25's Fun with Wine event. Everything look luscious in the vineyard. Come check it out!

Pictures: Above-Basilica Block Party tent; Below-BT from the CITIES 97 morning show poses with Cathy and Don from the vineyard.

Vettes in the Vineyard

The Corvette Club met in the vineyard for an Independence Day celebration. Great food, great wine, great weather, and great company. The 'vettes looked like thoroughbreds being stabled as they parked in the vineyard.

It was a kick to read all the vanity license plates, too. What a fun day!

Check out the video here.

City Pages Raves about Savor MN

April 2010: City Pages writer McKenzie Martin gave high marks to the first-annual Savor Minnesota event at Canterbury Park, which featured the best of Minnesota wine, food, and beer. She singled out the Crofut Vineyard and our Frontenac Gris in particular. Thanks to all our fans!

For more details, check out her blog entry.

Traveling Wine Bottle Goes to New England

Don traveled to the ancestral homeland of the Crofuts and hung with cousin Alan (aka Chef Alan of Unbridled Chocolates) last weekend. We had family visits, wandered all over New Hampshire/Vermont, and walked where our ancestors walked, lived and still live. It was my first opportunity to see Crofut Tavern, where Ethan Allen, Remember Baker and some Crofuts met to forge the beginnings of the state of Vermont!


We also visited Walpole Valley Winery and Vineyard and shared the passion of the grape with Virginia, its owner. What nice wines and the view at sunset was breathtaking.

We collected pollen from some of the wild grapes on the banks of the Battenkill river in Vermont just in front of Sidney Crofut's house he built a 100 years ago in Arlington, Vermont.

On Sunday nite, I crossed some of the pollen of the Battenkill grapes with some of my test vines in the front vineyard. Sure am hopeful in five or six years we may have a Crofut grape cross from the pollen we collected. All in all, a memorable trip. (Thanks Cuz!)

See you in the vineyard!
Don



<< Cousin Alan Crofut (of Unbridled Chocolates) stands in front of Crofut Tavern, where the American patriots met to discuss their options during the Revolutionary War.



>> Sidney Crofut built his home over 100 years ago in Arlington, Vermont. He also planted the grapes a long time ago and great-grandson Jamie rebuilt the arbor several years ago. Crofut Pond is over the hill. Norman Rockwell painted Sidney as a youth skating on the Battenkill River (on the green next to the chapel).


<< Crofut Perch - this granite slab juts out of the water in front of the Sidney Crofut home and has become part of our family lore.

Sun Shades...

Ooops, I forgot to add a photo of the sun shades.

I was so excited about the straw bale gardening that I forgot to add a photo of the shades. That and the frost; worrying about the hail...

Actually, I think it is so very, very beautiful in a modern architectural kind of zen.

Here it is, the first photo of the shady deck. The floral will follow. Mark (Sailers Greenhouse) I will be back to empty the back greenhouse on Friday.

The deck is ready for you to come and enjoy a view over the vineyard...and the Crofut Family will be there mowing, trimming, tieing, training, watering and ...you know...for us, we get the ultimate back tan.

Great grapes are not just grown, they are nurtured with passion. We think the passion of grape growing shows in our wines.

55 medals in the past 2 years may give a little credence from a little vineyard in Minnesota.

We work really hard, and we think it shows in our wines. It truly is our passion. My boys don't think so most of the time, but they will.... they are teenagers. The soil, the grapes and the passion will show fruit.

See you in the vineyard...with a glass of wine.

Don

Sun shades & Straw bale gardening?

Hi everyone,
C and the Crofut crew planted the garden to be used for this year's Fun with Wine and Friday Fix Prixe events over the Memorial Day weekend.
It is our the annual planting event (big thanks to Peggy & Mark Sailer (Sailer's Greenhouse) for the heirloom vegetables.

Guess what.... we now have 2,400 square feet of shade and the straw bale garden will have absolutely no weeds. Yes, no bending over to weed or harvest. Most importantly... it's all organic!

Sun Shades.
It has only been about 10 years since I thought I needed more shade. Working in the vineyard gives a great tan, but most of us Minnesotans just want to chill on the deck each summer, overlook the vineyard, drink copious amounts of wine and listen to great music.
THINK WINE & Music!

The shade is now here and the music is whatever you want it to be, so bring your ipod or cd and we can plug it in for you.

The Straw bale garden.
Who'd a thought that you can grow really great veggies and herbs in a straw bale. We have the garden really cooking...literally. When we planted the vegetables on Saturday morning, the straw bales were over 80 degrees at 9 in the morning. Straw bales as they decompose create heat and allow the veggies and herbs to uptake the vital nutrients to grow very healthy.

Best thing is: remember, no more weeding and never bend to harvest. I am just thinking of ways to create a symbiotic microclimate to grow grapes. Seriously, it will not work as the grape roots grow over 10 feet deep if you have the topsoil. But we will have the most incredible heirloom veggies (the hawaian tomatoes can grow to 2 pounds) will be great each Friday or Sunday. Fresh harvested and freshly prepped by the best chefs/caterers in the upper midwest. Do not miss out.

Hmmm, photos of the sun shades and the strawbale garden will be on the website soon, and most importantly, do not miss the opportunity to come visit and learn something new. Let's "grow" each day. Great wisdom from my grandpa and dad. Want to learn more about straw gardening? We have great information on straw bale gardening at the winery/vineyard while you get to chill in the shade....drinking wine!

It is going to be a great summer, I will be in the vineyard, but yell at me and I will come in to share the passion of the grape on the deck with you!
don

Travel a "Green" Route

Are you living a "greener" life these days? GreenRoutes.org gives you a way to incorporate your values into your travels.

Green Routes can help you find green businesses that are rooted in their communities; places to eat where the food is not only fresh from a family farm, but where you might bump into the farmers who grew it; places to have fun while helping to ensure that our natural and cultural resources will be around for many generations to come. It makes it easy to find fun and rich experiences and places.

Take time to explore the back roads and learn about a region from the people who live and work there. Crofut Winery is proud to be recommended by GreenRoutes.org.

Vineyard Growing Update

The early warm spring gave us a quick boost to the growing season. By May 8 the vines had budded out over 2 inches. There was a frost alert for Saturday, May 9 but we sneaked by at 34 degrees that night. Whew!

If the weather continues warm, expect an early harvest! Bloom should be 2 weeks early, so come out the weekend before and the weekend of Memorial Day & smell the subtle perfume of the grapes blooming.

Red wines are taking the oak slow, so expect all of the red wines to be ready by July 4th. River Valley white and Crow's Nest white will be ready to go in June. We'll look forward to seeing you in the vineyard!
-Farmer Don

Shh! Book your group event now

When it comes to planning your private event, the Crofut Vineyard is one of the best-kept secrets in the metro area. The word is getting out, though, and we are booking quite briskly this year.

Don't wait to book your spot! Whether you want an agricultural education as the backdrop to your event or just plain FUN, the vineyard is the right place to be.

We can host up to 30 people during indoor and off-season events, but our outdoor seating (canopy optional) can accommodate up to 100 people. For prices and available dates, call 952-492-3227.

March in the Vineyard

What's March been like in the vineyard so far? It's a swamp! We'd hoped to re-open for the season in mid April, but there's just too much wet out there. We're holding off our big season opener until Saturday, April 24.

The grapes love 2010 so far - lots of snow and moisture followed by an early thaw. Unfortunately, we weren't able to enter a couple wine tasting contests this February because the temps were too cold to risk it. Our wines can stand toe-to-toe with any warm-climate wine, but not if our bottle gets a bad case of freezer burn on the road to the judge's palate.

We might not enter as many contests this year, but that doesn't mean we can't match last year's medal count. We've got another great vintage coming up. Come visit the vineyard this April and give them a try!

-Don

Winter Work in the Vineyard

The winery is closed to the public until April 17th, but this is one of our busiest times of the year.

Winter in the cellar is challenging, space is tight. Something always else needs to be cleaned, scrubbed and sanitized. The racking and fining of the wine creates the opportunity to taste, and to imagine what the wines will be when they pass from the adolescent stage in their life.

Due to the long growing season and warm September, the 2009 wines have a muscular concentration of fruit. The Frontenac technically (sugar/acids/ph) is the best we have ever grown, and it fermented for 20 days on the skin to pull as much flavor and tannin as possible. It is impressive in the silkiness at this stage of development. Also, we will be introducing our Marquette (limited supply) this summer, and from initial barrel tastings, it is robust and spicy. It reminds me of a young Gigonda or Vaqueras at this stage of development.

And then there's the winter work in the vineyard. There is an old saying, "the best fertilizer is the owner's footsteps", and in Minnesota, you may just catch us in snowshoes!

Last month we started pruning the vineyard, and in addition to some sore muscles, we also have to guard against snow burn... yes snow burn. The glare off the snow WILL give you a tan. It is actually quite amusing to dig around for the suntan lotion before you head out into the snow.

If I could claim a soul-deep connection to the vineyard, I would also claim that in winter, the vineyard has a different soul. In all other seasons, the vineyard is about the grapes. There are no grapes present in winter, and that stillness pulls deeply on the subconscious. That deep unrelenting quiet, at times... a pulse of the collectiveness can be felt.

We're looking forward to spring, but the vineyard brings us joy in all seasons. What a great workplace!

Traveling Wine Bottle goes to Hawaii

The traveling wine bottle was in Hawaii from January. You never know where that wine bottle will show up!

Send us your photo and story of the traveling wine bottle. Now the incentive...we will provide a bottle of Crofut Family wines for your submission.

January 2010

Took some cool pics of the vineyard covered in hoarfrost on a cold winter morning. Hope you enjoy!
-Don

PS> The vineyard is now closed for the season. See you in April when we reopen!