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My carboys are stored at 55 all winter, so hopefully that helps.

It was actually pretty warm leading up to harvest, although the nights were getting cold. I did buy a bottle of Itasca from Parallel 44 and it was wonderful! So at least I know it can be a great white wine! Do you leave your Itasca in a cool location throughout fermentation or only first day...

I made a very good wine from last year. I had 100% Marquette, and also a Marquette/Petite Pearl blend. I adjusted for sugar/Brix and ph. Used RC212 yeast on both. I added Malolactic and oak cubes to my glass carboys. I aged that for 6 mos (without sulfiting after malo), then bottled. This is...

Yes, I’m not only a few miles from Lake Superior. Makes the spring cool, but moderates the fall tempatures. But it’s dipping close to the 30’s at night this week, so I hope the grapes will still be ok Friday. I thought my grapes were pretty ripe this year, but the ph didn’t come up much. I...

Picked Itasca (24 Brix and 2.95 ph) and Marquette (21 Brix and 2.78 ph). I was really hoping my ph would have come up more this year. I have much better sugar, but still low ph. 😞 I know my soil is probably the issue, but I’ve been top dressing with lime at least twice a year for the last 5...

Did some Brix testing in the vineyard today. Brix - Itasca 18 Petite Pearl 10-11 Marquette 16-17 Frontenac 15-16 Still have a couple weeks of decent weather, so I hope it makes it to 20. Little disappointed in PP. It always seems to lag. 🙄

I am significantly behind everyone since I am further north in Upper Peninsula of Michigan, plus we had a cold rainy June which put things behind. These are my Marquettes. I am hoping they will be ready by mid Oct. much later than that and frost will be an issue.

Yeah, this year I’m pushing harvest as late as possible. I’m also thinning out clusters a lot to try and improve the quality of clusters. I’m hoping if I can get the ripeness up, hopefully the ph will improve too.

Welcome! I’m in the UP of Michigan and have been growing all of those grapes except Frontenac Blanc. I’ve made two harvests so far. Biggest issue for me is getting them ripe. However, I have drinkable wine from the last two years already with hopes of improving each year. 😊

it was the second year for a crop, but I am going to be much more aggressive about thinning clusters next year.

I guess I just live too far north to get these grapes really ripe. I’m hoping next year we will have a warmer summer. The ph was 3.00, so I’ve got to make an adjustment there too. The joy of trying to grow grapes in a northern climate!

For those of you with Petite Pearl, do you have trouble getting a high enough Brix? I harvested today and the grapes looked great! They are full clusters with very few green berries, almost a black purple, but the Brix seems stuck at 13-15 and the berries are really compact and don’t seem to...

Sorry to hear you’re not having good luck. I read through the morewinemaking guide suggested for white wine. I already see a few things I need to change for next year, but I’m hoping to get to the finish line this year with something I can bottle.

I have my very small harvest in a 1 gal carboy fermenter. I was very disappointed in yield! Part of the problem is I do not have a press, so I had to use an old Victorian strainer (cone shaped thing they used years ago for separating tomato skins and seeds from juice). Anyway, the berries were...

I’m going to be picking my Itasca in a few weeks. I have 10 vines, but I don’t think I’m going to get your volume of fruit! I’m anxious to try a good commercial bottle to see what to strive for. I’m hearing very good reviews!

I’m in UP of Michigan, so I’m still waiting for Petite Pearls to ripen. Marquettes look pretty good, although thin clusters this year.

What winery? I know Parallel 44 does a nice job, but not sure their whole process.

So I have been doing taste testing of my first real harvest from last year. It all went in bottles early May, and I wanted to see how things were going at 3 months. The Petite Pearl was tart, but drinkable. It made a great spritzer. The Marquette was very drinkable and I was impressed with how...

I went to good old Amazon and found this one. there are several similar, and I’m thinking this might be an option. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FMKG4JZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3TAX0K2WG2NP6&th=1