Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/696561
July 2016 WINES&VINES 59 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS P rairie du Sac, Wis.—By mid-May, most winemakers across the country aren't worrying quite so much about spring frosts. Dur- ing the weekend of May 14-15, however, grapegrowers in southern areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin had temperatures drop below freezing. At Wollersheim Winery in Prairie Du Sac, Wis. (just northwest of Madison), the temperature dropped to 27° F on the morning of May 15, and the result was devastating. Philippe Coquard, owner (with his wife Julie) and winemaker at Wollersheim, told Wines & Vines that 75% of the red grapes and 25% of the white grapes were lost on their 30 acres of vineyard. "We lost 20% of the grapes on the slopes, and 70% to 80% on the flat," he said. Even some of the cold-hardy Minnesota varieties such as Frontenac Gris and Marquette were frozen, as they had four leaves out. St. Pepin and La Crosse, on the other hand, were two weeks behind the other earlier budding Minnesota varieties and suffered only a 10%-20% loss. The winery, along with its sister winery Cedar Creek Winery in Cedarburg, Wis., produce more than 200,000 cases of wine each year. The wineries purchase some of their grapes from Washington and New York state, but as Coquard said, "You can't go out and re- place estate-grown grapes." Nan Bailly, owner of Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings, Minn., sprayed vines with Kocide on May 13 to protect those with 4-inch to 5-inch shoots. Bally estimates that she may have had as much as 50% damage. "It was pretty bad, but not as bad as it could have been." Steve Johnson, president of the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association and owner of Parallel 44 Vineyard and Winery in Kewaunee, Wis., told Wines & Vines, "Some people have a romantic view of growing grapes, but it's still farming, and Mother Nature can step in at any time." —Linda Jones McKee Wine East Covering Eastern North America Frost Devastates Vineyards in the Upper Midwest One Maréchal Foch bud survived a late spring frost event, while its neighbor on the same grapevine died at Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings, Minn.