One writer's rhapsody over Marquette

A most pleasant read, and great to see Marquette getting fine reviews. I am especially glad to see its role in the new American viticulture recognized as well.

New Grape Revolutionizes Red Wine Potential in Cold Climates

My only nitpick is the harsh words about Foch and Dechaunac: Maybe these old-line hybrids don't ripen well in the Midwest (I really don't know - we never get any of those wines here), but in Ontario, very fine wines have been made from them - Foch especially.

Thanks Paul,

It's nice to see that press on Marquette is reaching some international channels. it is a variety that I'm very interested in and am thinking about planting...

wow, 3rd post or article in last couple weeks referring to a hybrid that produces good wine as "holy grail." Maybe Monty Python can reform to do a film.

Thanks Paul,

It's nice to see that press on Marquette is reaching some international channels. it is a variety that I'm very interested in and am thinking about planting...

Bill,

I am delighted to see such articles. Marquette is apparently due for release in Canada very shortly - I will be very keen on following its entry into cold-climate viticulture areas, such as Central Ontario and Quebec. I know that growers up in those areas are quite eager to get Marquette into the ground, based on discussions that I take part in there.

Thanks Paul,

It's nice to see that press on Marquette is reaching some international channels. it is a variety that I'm very interested in and am thinking about planting...

Bill,

I am delighted to see such articles. Marquette is apparently due for release in Canada very shortly - I will be very keen on following its entry into cold-climate viticulture areas, such as Central Ontario and Quebec. I know that growers up in those areas are quite eager to get Marquette into the ground, based on discussions that I take part in there.

Keep me posted on any progress.

Dale,
I was one of the people to use the phase "Holy Grail" when referring to the elusive Great Wine from a red hybrid. I first heard the phase in the Finger Lakes in 1974 while drinking mediocre wine with a New York winemaker. The term has stuck with me over the years because, though I've been lucky enough to drink and own a reasonable amount of really wonderful red wine(and white, too, of course) I have yet to encounter a red wine made from cold hardy grapes that impressed me. I'm waiting to try Noiret, Cornell's recent release, and Marquette from Minnesota, as both have had some serious praise. However, I respectfully suggest that your remark about Monty Python, besides not being particularly funny, misses the interesting point of this discussion. Is there some quality, genetic or chemical, that limits we humans who love wine so that ONLY vinifera tastes really wonderful? Why has nobody, here or at winetherapy.com leapt to the defense of some red wine made from vines that have survived heavy snows in the winter? I know that vintners have been trying to make such wines at least since wine writers began to write books in English. I've got ones from before Prohibition that mock northern wines. So maybe, just maybe, a great red wine from cold hardy grapes IS The Holy Grail.

...I'm waiting to try Noiret, Cornell's recent release...

Bill - I bought a case of Presque Isle Noiret last year and have a few bottles left. Here are 3 links to tasting notes that include Noiret:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11621
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9837
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9139&p=72709

[David M. Bueker]

I thought this post was going to be about Tom Creen leaving to coach Indiana.

[James Roscoe]

I thought this post was going to be about Tom Creen leaving to coach Indiana.

I thought it was a basketball post too, especially with Paul's name attached to it!

I thought this post was going to be about Tom Creen leaving to coach Indiana.

I thought it was a basketball post too, especially with Paul's name attached to it!

I would have had no clue who Tom Creen even was. Shows how very different people's interests can be!

Howie,
Thanks for the links! I remember seeing Paul's comments, but the others were interesting. I agree with the term "weedy" for so many hybrid reds, but I also feel that they all seem to have a narrow spectrum of flavors, with the exception of Michurinetz, and possibly Zweigelt.... but I've only had two vintages of Dial's Cuvve d'Amur and 5 or 6 Zweigelts, so I'm hardly an expert on those two European varieties. Over the years, I've probably tried well over a hundred different red hybrid wines, and only those blended with some vinifera rise above mediocre. The best of those blends is probably Voyager, from Alexis Bailly Winery outside St. Paul Minnesota. However, I just got home with half a case of 2007 Noiret from Candia Vineyards here in New Hampshire. I'll post my thoughts here when I try the first bottle! I still wonder if a blend of hybrids could somehow create something with greater mouthfeel, real substance and a pleasing finish. In other words, a reaaly good red wine. Perhaps, in my lifetime, I'll be able to hop in the car and take my well washed bottles to the winery down the road like my professional colleagues in France and Italy do. Damn, the stuff they bring home is tastey!

Howie,
I agree with the term "weedy" for so many hybrid reds, but I also feel that they all seem to have a narrow spectrum of flavors, and possibly Zweigelt.... but I've only had two vintages of Dial's Cuvve d'Amur and 5 or 6 Zweigelts,

The best of those blends is probably Voyager, from Alexis Bailly Winery outside St. Paul Minnesota.

Hi Bill,

I love Nan Baillys Voyageur. She has reason to be proud of it (I think it rivals many CA red blends of the same price.)

Zweigelt isn't a hybrid, but a crossing of the European vines Sankt Laurent and Blaufränkisch.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Hooper,
I see you're out there where many of my Hopkins & Larson relatives still live. One of my cousins used to live in Osceola and said Elmer was a real nice fellow, but kind of odd, with all them grapes, and all. Have you tasted Marquette? I assume if you have you can comment on the hype. I spent some time on the phone with Nan Bailly, but forgot to ask her about blending varieties of cold hardy grapes. However, I'm getting more and more curious about this as I investigate. After more than forty years of drinking, studying and teaching about the well known wines of the world, I'm getting a bit bored with Robert Parker, Tanzer, the Spectator and the too many wine people, many who love this website and post hundreds of forgettable inane thoughts. Having been here a lot longer, you know who I mean. I want to spend time on where wine is going, too, and not just on where it's been. Cold hardy grapes are, to me, a more interesting and exciting area than tasting the latest hip and trendy wine that just got a great write up somewhere. Anyway, thanks for your insight. By the way, though I've had a few Northwestern Lembergers, the same grape as Blaufrankisch, I've not bumped into a S. Laurent, and had it in my mind that it was a Pinot-French American hybrid. Now I wonder what makes it, AND Zweigelt cold hardy. I think I remember seeing a table of cold hardy grapes somewhere that included it, and will go surfing to find it.
Bill Hopkins

I want to spend time on where wine is going, too, and not just on where it's been. Cold hardy grapes are, to me, a more interesting and exciting area than tasting the latest hip and trendy wine that just got a great write up somewhere.

Bill, you are a kindred spirit. Those are my thoughts exactly and have been pretty much ever since I got interested in wine. I bypassed the whole popularity thing from day one - my favourite wines are Pinotage, Ontario (and Eastern American, when I can find them) hybrids, native labruscas, Central European wines (of which Grüner Veltliner has become quite popular of late) and Eastern European wines, some of which still need some fine tuning but can be really good - e.g. Georgian Saperavi.

But as regards cold-hardy new-generation American hybrids, I agree - it's an extremely forward genre. Too many would still begrudge the Midwest its own home-grown wine culture; I call that head-in-the-sand thinking.