In Big Sky country, Mother Nature shares her deepest emotions. Those who work the land here face challenges not found in other parts of the country. When an individual makes the choice to grow grapes in Montana, the decision requires the need to embrace and tackle the whims of Mother and her nature. Her moods, unfortunately, are not completely conducive to grape growing. Subzero temperatures, early frost and late ripening are some of the challenges.
Yellowstone Cellars and Winery in Billings made the decision to buy grapes from Washington to make their wines while Tongue River Winery creates their ferments from fruit grown on their property and purchasing grapes when necessary. For the wines made at Willow Mountain Winery in Corvalis, the majority of grapes come from their own land, but they continue to have the need to supplement their own harvest.
Al Putnam, Fenced Out Mule Deer Vineyards
There are different microclimates throughout the state and with time, the specific grapes that can grow in each place will probably be established one day. In Corvalis, just east of Hamilton, Dr. Al Putnam, retired horticulture professor from Michigan State University, has spent years experimenting with various grape varietals. From the Midwest, he relocated to Bozeman to then the Bitterroot Valley in 2004.
“My first thought was, let’s get as many varieties as we can, put them in the ground, and see how they do here, and if they will perform as well as they did in Michigan.” He planted on 10 acres with 36 different varieties of grapes. Unfortunately, in his first year, he lost 75% of his grapes.
“I learned very quickly that the only varieties that were available at that time that were going to survive here in the valley were either things that were developed by the University of Minnesota or by a long-time grape breeder named Elmer Swenson, who lived in Wisconsin.”
Putnam found that Marquette and Frontenac red grapes grew well for him while St. Pepin and Prairie Star were whites that thrived in his vineyard.
To his dismay, mule deer quickly discovered his tender crop of grape vines. He put a fence to keep them out and decided to name his farm Fenced Out Mule Deer Vineyards. “Between 2005 and 2017, I had about 80 different seedling plants occur on the fence. And having a background in science and horticulture, instead of regarding those as weeds, I decided, let’s let them grow and see what happens.”
He credits the birds for depositing the seeds. Those seeds led to vines that produced grapes that ripened early in early September before the weather became unfriendly for the maturing of the fruit. Putnam’s excitement about the plants led him to take cuttings to the Western Ag Research Center. “Since 2019, they have confirmed, with this progeny from cuttings, this earliness does still hold up in the progeny plants.”
The new variety that Putnam discovered was given the name of Harbinger. Harbinger is defined to be something that comes before and shows what will follow in the future.
“In a couple of years, the harbinger grape may become the fruit of choice for successfully making wine in Montana,” Putnam says. The patent was this grape was recently approved and have been released to nurseries that are propagating it.
Larry Robertson, Flathead Lake Winery
North of the Bitterroot Valley, at Finley Point, Larry Robertson who has worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Resource Consulting Services, has been making wines for 50 years and also trying to discover the grapes that will flourish in Montana. He makes wine for his winery, Flathead Lake Winery.
He farms some of the grapes he puts into the bottle on a ¾ acre property owned by Dudley and Ann Page. The property facing the south and gently sloping down towards the lake with good drainage in “gravelly, loamy, fine sand” is an easement on sustainable forest land.
Robertson discovered that L’Acadie blanc was one of his grapes of choice for survival ability and production. He describes the signature hybrid grape from Nova Scotia as “chardonnay like” and lauds its major characteristic. “The thing with L’Acadie is that it’s a speed ripener” which means the grapes will have a chance to mature before the temperatures dropped.
The wines for Flathead Lake Winery are made in Robertson’s home basement in Polson. To optimize the flavor and color of his wines, he utilizes the steaming method. “You heat it up rapidly, stirring it constantly so that you don’t get it too hot. You shut it down before it gets much over 140 degrees. You throw it all into a bucket and then you have to wait for it to drop to 130 degrees and then you put in high temperature pectinase for 12 hours. That works on breaking down the cell walls and breaking down the solids so they will settle out.” Yeast is then added at this point.
“Many winemakers make the decision to not go through the added step,” Robertson shares. When tasting his Marquette, Petite Pearl, and Crimson Pearl blend, the wine “has just such an extraordinary thick color you can’t even see through it. It is just so rich. That’s why I started doing it.”
Ricker and Mandy Olson, Montana Vine and Wine
Heading east 400 miles to Shepherd, Ricker and Mandy Olson grow grapes in the dessert plains just outside of Billings. The Olsons began their wine drinking journey sipping sweet wines. “I used to enjoy Hutterite wine,” Ricker admits. The first vines he grew were Valiant and Edelweiss grapes.
Mandy was at first intimidated by wine believing it was “highfalutin. His taste buds have changed a ton, and so have mine. I think, at first, we liked the really sweet, and now we’re more into the dry.”
The Olson’s journey into growing wine grapes started in 2018 after he talked to Bob Thaden from Tongue River Winery. “So in 2018, I put in just under a hundred wines and then that summer I learned about a workshop in Laurel with a family in Laurel.” After participating in a workshop with Aaron and Kasey Felder, “I put in the additional 600 vines. The end game at that point was to sell fruit to recoup some of your expenses,” Ricker shares.
From that workshop the Olsons believed they could grow grapes and then sell them to winemakers. However, “Now that I know what these guys are willing to pay, that no longer satisfies my interest. Ultimately, the money is in the bottle.”
The couple has stepped into wine making but they are still finding the grape that will grow dependably for them. The steadfast Frontenac they first planted failed them this season. “Some of the mature plants that were possibly planted back in 19 or even 20 did not survive the winter.”
“The white Itasca is very vigorous. We tried Marquette, which was supposed to be hardy, supposed to grow everywhere. It did nothing for us.”
Sam Bergman, North Slope Vineyard
For Sam Bergman, the Marquette grapes grow very well in his small vineyard just below the rims in Billings. “So last year we harvested maybe five, 600 pounds of grapes. Mostly we harvested Marquette.” Marechal Foch has also grown well for him.
“Rather than making red wine out of them, we direct pressed them and made a rose out of them with the intent of making a sparkling wine in the same style as champagne. It’s got the acid profile that it needs,” Bergman says believing the grapes will make a good Blanc de Noir.
Bergman grows his grapes as a “passion project” and that he can produce wines so drinkers can “taste the ultra-local terroir of Billings at a local restaurant serving local food.”
Aaron Felder, F3 Bar Vineyard
On 3 acres, Aaron Felder has planted 1475 vines just above the Yellowstone River in Laurel. “I got into winemaking because my neighbor had a vineyard. When I was wondering, what am I going to do with all this land I bought my wife, the neighbor said, ‘Hey, you can plant vines.’”
On this day, in the first week of October Felder is harvesting his Petite Pearl. In four hours, 475 plants, approximately 500 pounds of grape clusters are cut off the vines, placed in a large bucket to be destemmed and pressed in the early evening. After the addition of pectinase, the juice is strained and yeast is added.
“This is a vine that we’ve been having here in the vineyard for six years now. Even though this year is a little bit low of a yield, it’s still a good crop.” Felder placed netting over the grapes to keep out birds and yellow jackets along with setting up electrical wires to detour racoons from destroying his harvest in the late summer.
Felder tastes his pressed juice and talks about adding Malbec juice that he has processed from grapes he brought back from Washington or putting in wood stalks for flavor or structure. In the weeks and months to come, he will continue to monitor the chemistry and taste the progress of his wine.
In a future Flavors, we will taste Felder’s wines paired with food created by local chefs.
The phrase coined by the Montana Grape and Winery Association. “Montana, The Last Best Wine Country” encapsulates the fortitude and determination of those who make the effort to grow grapes in the state under the Big Sky. The passionate pioneers who have embarked on growing vines with the advent of subzero temperatures, short growing seasons and challenging soils make them all as still standing and preserving in the grape growing and wine making process.
