Marquette is a promising red wine variety that combines high levels of cold hardiness, disease resistance, and excellent wine quality. It has withstood temperatures as low as -36ºF without serious injury. Moderate disease resistance to infestation by foliar phylloxera. Wines made with Marquette have an attractive deep-red color, with aromas of cherry, black pepper, spice, black currant, and berry. Best as a medium-bodied red table wine.

La Crescent produces a good quality white wine with apricot-like flavor. The off-dry, sweet white wine pairs well with appetizers, seafood and chicken. La Crescent has excellent winter hardiness with moderate disease resistance that requires a standard spray program.

Frontenac Gris is a bud sport of Frontenac, identical in most respects but lacking dark skin color. Frontenac Gris is usually cold-pressed to make a white wine that can present aromas of peach and apricot with hints of citrus and tropical fruit. The unique flavors make this an excellent table grape as well.

Frontenac is an extremely cold hardy, red wine grape. It has been used to produce dry red wine, rosé, and port. The deep-colored wines have cherry, blackberry, black currant, and plum notes that pair well with duck, pheasant, lamb, beef, pasta dishes. Frontenac produces grapes with high sugar and high acidity, so acid reducing techniques are often used by the winemaker.

Faith is a blue, non-slipskin, seedless grape that ripens early, late July to early August in Arkansas. It has a largely neutral flavor with slight fruity flavor in some observations. Vines usually have moderate vigor and yield and exhibit good hardiness in Arkansas. This new variety should complement Jupiter for the early local market for table grapes. USDA Hardiness Zone 5b.

Hope is a white (green) seedless grape with a fruity flavor and high yields. Berries are non-slipskin with occasional traces of seeds. Texture is soft. Harvest of Hope is usually around Aug. 20. Vines are moderate in vigor. Negative observations on Hope have included excessively tight clusters and moderately thick skin. USDA Hardiness Zone 5b.

Joy is a blue, non-slipskin, seedless grape with exceptional fruity flavor. The skin of Joy is very thin, likely the thinnest of any Arkansas-developed grape. Average harvest date is Aug. 11 in Arkansas. Vine yield is usually moderate to high and vines have moderate vigor along with consistently good vine health. Occasional hard seed traces were seen with Joy. USDA Hardiness Zone 5b.

Gratitude has an exceptional crisp texture with seedless, green (white) berries. Skin is very thin for Gratitude and in most years no seed traces were found. Flavor is neutral, similar to most Vitis vinifera table grapes. Fruit cracking was not observed on Gratitude, an exceptional characteristic for a crisp, thin-skinned variety grown in an area with occasional rainfall near maturity and harvest. USDA Hardiness Zone 5b.

This early maturing blue variety has large berries on medium-sized clusters. This is a great disease-resistant seedless variety with a distinct muscat flavor! The leaves can be used for stuffing. Jupiter does require fungicide sprays for successful production. USDA Hardiness Zone 5a.

For more information on these varieties, contact Double A Vineyards, 10277 Christy Rd., Fredonia, NY 14063; 716-672-8493; fax 716-679-3442; DoubleAVineyards.com; DoubleAWillow.com