Great efforts are being made in Big Sky country to grow grapes to make wine. Last month Flavors Under the Big Sky talked to Yellowstone Cellars and Winery in Billings and Tongue River Winery in Miles City. While Yellowstone Cellars sources their grapes from eastern Washington, Tongue River Winery makes much of their wines from grapes and fruit grown on site.
Those who pursue growing grapes in Big Sky country where Mother Nature is moody and often, unpredictable must equip themselves with fortitude and tenacity for these pioneers have chosen a road that hold many challenges.
Near Hamilton, in Corvalis right under Willow Mountain in the Bitterroot Valley, Brian and Roxann McGuire are making wines with grapes grown on their 20-acre property, and if the season does not produce the grapes they need, they buy from Montana growers. They began their journey into grape growing and wine production in 2013 when they purchased their property. Their first wine vintage was three years later.
“It was Roxann’s idea to grow grapes and make wine. It was my idea that if we’re going to do it, that it has to be economically viable,” Brian shares.
“Six to seven acres, typically for the economic viability,” he says of allowing them to be independent and not having to purchase grapes from growers. They then converted the barn on this once horse ranch into their winery.
Roxann grew up on the Hi-Line in Glasgow in a ranching family so was very cognizant of the potential hardships. “My background in Montana is in agriculture, but in beef cattle ranching and beef processing in the packing plant.”
Her heart and soul were grounded in Montana. Although Brian’s roots are originally from New York, he has spent the last 35 years in the Bitterroot Valley.
To get the knowledge to make wine and grow grapes, “we went back to college at WSU (Washington State University). I studied viticulture and oenology, the raising of grapes and the making of wine. Brian has an accounting degree, wine business management economics from that education,” Roxann shares.
The McGuires also traveled to Italy, Spain, France and Argentina but Roxanne wanted to be certain that they could not raise grapes in Montana “before we leave Montana permanently.”
They planted grape hybrid vines bred from the crossing of indigenous American grapes with Vitis vinifera. These grapes have been bred to withstand the cold temperatures and ripen in the short growing season. “We talked to a significant number of the breeders, mostly in the eastern half of the United States,” Brian says. Then they discovered that Al Putnam had owned a property nearby. Putnam had put in “15 years’ worth of grape varietal experimentation” along with winemaking” so became an important resource. Also nearby, the Montana State University Western Agricultural Research Center researched the crops that could survive in the Bitterroot Valley providing more information from years of research.
While waiting for their initial plantings to mature, the McGuires sourced grapes from Washington. They now make their blends of white wine from Itasca and La Crescent while Marquette, Marechal Foch and Petite Pearl make for their red combination.
“I love sparkling wines,” Roxanne says as her eyes light up. “So we decided to try it and it has been very successful and fruitier than most champagnes because the grapes can reach their full maturity, and yet still have the chemistry that I need.” Frontenac Blanc, St. Pepin and Prairie Star grown on their estate go into making her sparkling creation.
The natural acidity and full ripening of their fruit provide the natural ingredients for making sparkling wine utilizing the traditional Méthode Champenoise. In California or France, where the traditional Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are used in making sparkling wine or champagne, Roxann feels that “they are having to harvest a little bit earlier to keep the acid up and keep the sugars down, so they don’t get the full maturity in the grape.”
When the fruit is not available for their wines, the McGuires look for farmers within the state. They source from Rich Torquemada in Stevensville, Rod and Linda Allen in Victor and Aaron Felder in Laurel which Roxanne shares results in “completely different wines.” With skillful blending, Brian believes they can create wines that are welcomed by drinkers, wines that represent the terroir they come from.
While the hybrids produce juice that is higher in acid and fruitier, there is a lack or absence of tannins that are found in the European species. Tannins gives the wine structure and can aid in its longevity. “We don’t have a lot of tannins in the skin of these grapes, so I choose, as winemaker, to let the wine be what it’s supposed to be,” Roxanne shares of not altering the natural product. “If you’re adding a bunch of tannins and trying to alter the wine, you’re wasting your money because a lot of that’s going to fall out.”
Aside from being vineyard workers and winemakers, the McGuires also market their own wines. They visit restaurants and retail outlets to familiarize vendors with their product in hopes they pass on sips to customers.
However, there is still a stigma associated with Montana wines. “Wine drinkers all know what they like, and they know what they’re drinking. When they get something that’s unfamiliar to them, it doesn’t fit and so it’s wrong,” Brian shares.
“The state of Montana has remarkably simple shipping with UPS and we’re able to have wines delivered anywhere in the state in one day. So for a retailer, it’s actually a pretty good system, much more economical than using a distributor.”
“All I have to do is to call them regularly to make sure that they’re keeping an eye on their inventories, and we ship it out.” Making sure their customers are well stocked and taken care of take attention away from their production.
Also, getting their wines to a wider audience could be facilitated with a distributor, but distributors are reluctant to take on representing Montana wines for many reasons.
John Kiely from Lieu Dit Distribution in Red Lodge shares, “I think the wine industry is in a really interesting place. It’s definitely going through a hard time right now which started with COVID and the restaurant industry’s need to make as much money as possible when their cost of doing business is so high. So a lot of restaurants have really leaned into trying to be cocktail focused, which has affected the wine industry a little bit.”
However, Kiely is optimistic about the future of wine. “It will bounce back on its feet.” He believes that these wines need to get in front of chefs, sommeliers and beverage purchasers.
In any business, it is the bottom line that sways decisions on what to offer customers. “The distribution chains all throughout the country are their business first, and that’s how they take care of people and make sure that there’s food on everyone’s table,” Kiely says. “Unfortunately, a lot of the things that we love are hand sells.”
Those hands belong to pioneers like Brian and Roxanne McGuire as they continue to make wine for their Willow Mountain Winery.
