Wisconsin Expert Addresses State of the Grapes

Mark Ganchiff

Mark Ganchiff is the publisher of Midwest Wine Press, the leading source of news on the growing wine industry in the central United States. Mark has been a wine judge at the 2012 and 2014 INDY International Wine Competition, the 2014 Cold Climate Wine Competition, the 2013 Mid-American Wine Competition, the 2012 Illinois State Fair Wine Competition and the 2013 Michigan Wine Competition. He also enjoys speaking at wine events including the Cold Climate Wine Conference, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Annual Meeting, the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference and the Wisconsin Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Mark's articles about regional wine have appeared in Vineyard & Winery Management, WineMaker and several regional magazines. Mark is a Level One Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers. He lives in Louisville, but also has a residence in Chicago.

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5 Responses

  1. Peter Botham says:

    As I have stated before, anyone who is willing to pay 1400.00 per ton for anything grown in Wisconsin has either lost their minds or has no common sense regarding the market for fruit. At their best, hybrids when grown where they actually get ripe are worth maybe 500.00 to 700.00 per ton. Sorry to say that ain’t Wisconsin. Never will be unless global warming changes things.

  2. Paul Read says:

    An interesting article and Dean is to be complimented on his work. One note of disagreement is that although ‘Brianna’ has found favor with growerrs in Nebraska and quite a bit has been planted, it is not “the state grape of Nebraska”. If any grape could lay claim to that epithet, it would be ‘Edelweiss’, but actually, unlike Missouri (‘Norton’) and Indiana (‘Traminette’), Nebraska has not officially named a “state grape”.
    Cheers,
    Paul Read, University of Nebraska Viticulture Program

  3. Mark
    Excellent article on Dr. Volenberg’s important work. I am impressed that the data published here is from the Peninsular Experiment Station where the growing season is much cooler than most of the rest of the Midwest. If he can get that level of ripening at that site there is hope that ripening in much of the rest of the region willl be well within necessary parameters. Also impressed that Dr. Vollenberg was not shy about describing unique wines made from these Midwestern grapes. In my view this is an advantage we have over more established wine regions. Dragging out another tired old Cabernet or Chardonnay and trying to pass this one off as “high quality” is a problem we don’t have. Our grapes are unique and the wines are also. We should emphacize our uniqueness as the public loves it and buys them. These grapes are our strength, not our weakness.

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