Roger Halvorson is pictured in his two-acre rural Fayette vineyard. Halvorson began cultivating grapes in 1999.

Below are listed the varieties of grapes that we currently grow in the vineyard.

Frontenac

Frontenac reflects the best characteristics of its parents, V. riparia 89 and the French hybrid Landot 4511. This vine has borne a full crop after temperatures as low as -33ºF. It's very disease resistant, with near-immunity to downy mildew. Frontenac is a consistently heavy producer, with small, black berries in medium to large clusters.

Wine Profile

Frontenac's deep garnet color complements its distinctive cherry aroma and inviting palate of blackberry, black currant, and plum. This versatile grape can be made into a variety of wine styles, including rosé, red, and port.

La Crescent

La Crescent combines St. Pepin and a Swenson selection from V. riparia x Muscat Hamburg. With this hardy heritage, trunks have survived an amazing -36° F. Moderately disease resistant, leaves sometimes exhibit downy mildew, which can be controlled with a standard spray program. Proper conditions and care result in very productive harvests.

Wine Profile

La Crescent's intense nose of apricot, peach, and citrus lends itself to superior quality off-dry or sweet white wines. Produced in a Germanic style, La Crescent wine is reminiscent of Vignoles or Riesling. The grape's high acidity provides good structure for excellent dessert or late-harvest style wines.

Frontenac gris

Frontenac gris, the white wine version of Frontenac, started as a single bud mutation yielding gray (thus named gris) fruit and amber-colored juice. The vine exhibits the same optimum growth characteristics as Frontenac, and requires the same cultural practices. Arching canes and minimal tendrils provide easy training and pruning to simplify vine management. In Minnesota, Frontenac and Frontenac gris ripen in late mid-season, and are good sugar producers with 24-25° Brix not uncommon.

Wine Profile

Frontenac gris wines present aromas of peach and apricot with hints of enticing citrus and tropical fruit. A brilliant balance of fruit and acidity creates lively, refreshing wines. Unique and complex flavors make this an excellent grape for table, dessert, and ice wines.

White seeded table, wine and juice grape. Hardy to -30 F. Excellent disease resistance and adaptability. Has a pleasing labrusca flavor, which becomes more pronounced the longer it hangs on the vine. While mostly a table and juice grape, some very popular sweet wines have also been made. Ripens early season. Selected by Elmer Swenson.

Marquette

Marquette is a cousin of Frontenac and grandson of Pinot noir. It originated from a cross of MN 1094, a complex hybrid of V. riparia, V. vinifera, and other Vitis species, with Ravat 262. Viticulturally, Marquette is outstanding. Resistance to downy mildew, powdery mildew, and black rot has been very good. Its open, orderly growth habit makes vine canopy management efficient.

Wine Profile

Marquette's high sugar and moderate acidity make it very manageable in the winery. Finished wines are complex, with attractive ruby color, pronounced tannins, and desirable notes of cherry, berry, black pepper, and spice on both nose and palate. As a red wine, Marquette represents a new standard in cold hardy viticulture and enology.

White wine. A sister seedling of LaCrosse but hardier, to around -26 F. This variety is pistallite, meaning that it has only female flowers and must be planted near other varieites to ensure proper fruit set. It should be pruned to a high bud count to make sure there is adequate fruit production. Small berries are formed on medium loose clusters. Ripens mid season to about 20 brix and 1.0% total acidity. One row of St. Pepin next to one row of another variety will do well. Excellent wines have been made from St. Pepin as a varietal and also blended with LaCrosse. When well ripened, fruit quality is similar to Reisling. Selected by Elmer Swenson.