More Minnesotans will soon be able to raise a glass to Itasca, the state’s newest cold-hardy grape.
The low acid yet very hardy grape is being heralded as one of the best, if not the best, Minnesota cold-hardy grape for white wines.
“It’s a dream for vineyards. In my opinion, it’s the best thing out there so far,” said Ray Winter, whose family owns Indian Island Winery and Winterhaven Nursery & Vineyard.
While most wineries in the state are producing wine from Itasca for the first time this year, Indian Island has been making Itasca wine since 2017. They got a jump on others because as a nurseryman Winter gets new grape varieties developed by the University of Minnesota early and propagates them to sell to other vineyards.
Winter’s daughter and Indian Island winemaker Angie Netzke said Itasca is great for making a standalone dry white Itasca wine or for blending in with other white wines.
“So far we’ve only been using Itasca on its own, but it’s a great variety to blend into other varieties to bring acidity down in those. We’ve found that blending just a little of something else in can take wine to a new level.”
Winter said Itasca is perfect for Minnesota vineyards. “It comes through the cold very well.”
John Taylor, winemaker at Chankaska Creek Ranch & Winery near Kasota, just bottled their first Itasca wine. It is made from grapes harvested last fall.
“We’re really excited about it. We ferment it in our smaller oak 60-gallon wine barrels and leave it alone for 10 months,” Taylor said.
They will begin distributing it via their Wine Circle in October.
“We think it has high potential for a nice oak-aged dry wine,” Taylor said.
“It’s a variety that is cold-hardy but it also has a high level of ripeness and it’s less acidic than other white varieties from the U of M previously. The low acidity gives you a richer wine. You don’t have to work with sugar to balance out high acidity.”
Chankaska is growing Itasca grapes right along the entrance to the winery. “It likes poor soil — the poorer the soil the better. You get vigorous vines and it doesn’t set a big canopy, so you have fruit optimization.”
The U of M first identified the seedling in 2009 and later released it to licensed nurseries.
The university is committed to creating demand for delicious, distinctive Minnesota wines, Matt Clark, assistant professor of grape breeding and enology in the department of horticultural science, said in a statement.
“With its low acidity and high sugar levels — coupled with its high resistance to common grape pests such as downy and powdery mildew and the insect phylloxera — Itasca is well-positioned to create a robust market for grape growers and help winemakers succeed.”
Itasca has shown cold hardiness as far north as USDA’s Zone 4, and so far more than 100,000 Itasca grape vines have been sold to Minnesota and other northern vineyards across the United States. It joins other cold-hardy grapes known as Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, La Crescent and Marquette, all developed by the university.
The university’s wine grape breeding program began in the mid 1970s. In 2000, an enology lab and research winery opened at their Horticultural Research Center in Chaska. Today more than 12,000 experimental vines are cultivated on 12 acres, and thousands of seedlings are produced each year using a diverse genetic base.
“Breeding a new grape like Itasca can take 10 to 15 years of painstaking work, including cross-pollinating plants by hand and cloning new seedlings from cuttings,” Clark said.
The Link LonkSeptember 23, 2020 at 06:15PM
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New Itasca grape celebrated by wineries - Mankato Free Press
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