Minnesota, Wisconsin Vineyards Seeing Polar Vortex’s Bite

“All of the vineyards north of the metro are either showing a 100% loss or near 100% losses for all of their grapevines,” Irv Geary, president of the Minnesota Grape Growers association tells KARE-TV of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.

Vineyards throughout the state of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and other Eastern states are noting a drop in production — even with cold-hardy cultivars — thanks to prolonged sub-zero temperatures throughout the early part of 2014.

“Certainly in our young grape industry, it was probably the roughest winter we’ve seen,” says Jim Luby, horticulture professor at the University of Minnesota in the KARE-TV news report.

Edelweiss grapes were the hardest hit at Four Daughters Winery in Spring Valley, WI, and make up 15% of the winery’s production says winemaker Justin Osborne in a report from WXOW-TV in La Crosse, WI.

“Right down here, this is called the fruiting wire, and normally there are supposed to be grapes every step of the way there. There are none here. So, this is an example of the kind of damage that the cold can do,” Osborne says in the interview.