w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m
M a r - A p r 2 015
|
V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 7 1
sidered one of the best wineries
in the U.S. for cold-hardy wines,
winning double gold at the 2013
Finger Lakes International Wine
Competition for its 2012 Marquette
Reserve.
WISCONSIN BREEDING
If Vermont seems an unlikely
place to grow wine grapes, consid-
er breeding grapes on the Wiscon-
sin shores of Lake Superior. That's
the passion of Mark Hart, who has
an experimental vineyard near Bay-
field, the main entry point for the
Apostle Island National Lakeshore.
His vineyard is on a 350-foot-high,
south-facing hill, a mile from Lake
Superior, at 46.4° north latitude.
Hart now does about 150 cross-
es per year and has 16,000 to
19,000 vines on 3.5 acres, all sur-
rounded by Lake Superior. The
main goal of his research is to cre-
ate early-ripening grapes for areas
that have around 1,800 to 2,000
growing degree-days. He has not
released any grapes commercially
yet, but his cultivars are currently
being tested in Illinois, Vermont and
Minnesota, as well as in Quebec
and Europe.
Hart has emerged as a leader
in the international grape-breed-
ing community. He moderates
an online grape breeders' forum
that has approximately 175 active
members who share information
about cultivating both new and rare
grapes. Hart took over manage-
ment of the forum from Lon Rom-
bough, a respected Oregon grape
breeder who died in 2012.
Hart is also one of the organizers
of Vitinord, an international confer-
ence with a mission to promote
the advancement of viticulture and
enology practices in cold northern
climates. Vitinord started in Latvia
in 2006. In November 2015, Viti-
nord will be in the U.S. for the first
time, at the Lied Lodge and Confer-
ence Center in Nebraska City, Neb.,
Breeder Mark Hart is working to create
early-ripening grapes for areas with
1,800-2,000 growing degree-days.
