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76 WINES&VINES June 2015 GRAPEGROWING WINE EAST A WINERY INSPIRED BY MARQUETTE Ken Albert, owner of Shelburne Vineyard in Shel- burne, Vt., started planting grapes in his back yard more than 35 years ago. When he retired from IBM in 1998, Albert leased 3 acres of land from Shelburne Farms and planted Riesling, Cayuga and Vignoles on a parcel that sloped down toward Lake Champlain. He and a partner, Scott Prom, started the winery in 2000 and released its first vintage the next year. "One thing convinced us to invest in our winery and go ahead from a relatively small scale," Albert told Wines & Vines. "It was probably 2003 or 2004 when Cornell Exten- sion Service did a tasting in Plattsburgh, N.Y. They brought a 5-gallon carboy of Marquette. When we tasted that wine, that's what gave us the courage to go ahead and invest in our winery buildings on Route 7 and really expand." In 2006, Albert and Prom purchased 14 acres near the Shelburne Museum, a major tourist destination in that part of Vermont, and planted the site exclu- sively with northern grape cultivars. The new cold- climate varietal Marquette had just been named and released, and Albert bought Marquette vines that spring from a Vermont nursery that had been working with the University of Minne- sota to test the new cold-climate cultivars. He planted the vines on 10- x 8-foot spacing and added more Marquette in 2007 (also on 10 x 8 spacing) and in 2010 (with 9- x 6-foot spacing). Currently the winery has 2.6 acres of Marquette on that site, now known as the McCabe's Brook Vineyard. The vineyard also has the cold-climate cultivars LaCrescent, Louise Swenson and St. Croix. All vines there are on high-wire bilateral cordon. McCabe's Brook Vineyard is also the loca- tion of Shelburne Vineyard's new winery and tasting room, which were designed to meet LEED Green Building Standards and opened in February 2008. Additional Marquette was planted in 2013 at the Mount Philo Vineyard, which became a part of Shelburne Vine- yard's production when owner, Sam Cop- pola, a Montreal attorney, joined the winery partnership that year. Shelburne Vineyards now has 17 acres of producing vineyards. Albert leased a third vineyard, known as the Meach Cove Vineyard, in 1999; it is the only site that is planted with Riesling. Lo- cated close to Lake Champlain, the vineyard also produces Vidal Blanc and Arctic Reisling, a variety Albert obtained from Dr. Konstantin Frank in Hammondsport, N.Y. By Linda Jones McKee Natural Corks Champagne Corks Twinline Corks Bartops VISION Synthetic Corks G-Cap® Screw Caps Sales Representatives: Chris & Liz Stamp info@lakewoodcork.com lakewoodcork.com 4024 State Route 14 Watkins Glen, NY 14891 607-535-9252 607-535-6656 Fax PIONEER INNOVATOR PARTNER