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

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It rained on our National Picnic Day celebration. In fact, we've had one Saturday without rain over the past eight weeks.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. This weekend we're planning a Rain Day. Come sit under our shelter and enjoy a glass of wine as you watch the cool summer rain. Tom Wavra will be playing guitar on Saturday from 2-5pm. We have dinner events in the vineyard on Friday and Sunday.

So stop worrying about the rain, and come enjoy the vineyard greenery this weekend. Even if it ends up being bright and sunny, we'll still manage to have some fun... somehow.

2011 Wine Selection

Someone asked me if we're introducing any new wines this year. Since every one of our current wines has won a national award, we decided to stick with our winning line-up. We might fine-tune the grape blend in our Northwoods Red, but that's it.

The wine is tasting really good this year! That extra year of seasoning has smoothed them out. We also had a terrific growing season last year so we're really excited about where we're going.

-Don

Comment to Share (from Richard)

Went to the National Restaurant Show and the Wine, Spirits & Beer Show in Chicago this past weekend. Met an Italian wine maker that barely spoke English and was extremely proud of his wine. He opened a bottle up and said we would never taste anything like it. As soon as we sipped the wine Molly and I looked at each other and said "frontanac".

I'm not kidding you. His wine was Exactly like your frontenac. The bouquet, the taste, the balance.. I grabbed his card and info because I wanted to find which grape he was using.

(This note is from Richard Dollarhide. He and Molly are our chefs for the Friday night Prix Fixe next Friday and the Fun with Wine event on Sunday, June 26. Hope to see you in the vineyard!)
-Don

Spring is coming... at a crawl

Big news! We're hoping to re-open the vineyard for the season the weekend of April 16, weather permitting. Little things like parking areas still being buried under snow may delay the opening.

January 2010 was mild enough that we were pruning in the vineyard. This year we're hoping to get in for the first time this coming weekend. (If you're interested in helping, call Don!)

That puts us behind on the vineyard maintenance, but we've got a good layer of moisture to kick off the season this year. Last year's grapes are going to make some awesome wines and we're really looking forward to what's to come once the snow melts. Come visit us in the vineyard this April!

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.