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Winemaking Information

This is a handy chart used by winemakers to find the correct amount of sugar to add to their wines. Just measure the specific gravity of the must and add sugar to the level of alcohol you wish.

Read more: Making Red Wine at the Farm

The main difference in making red wine and white wine is that red grapes are fermented on the skins and when making white wine the grapes are pressed first and only the juice is fermented. This article shows how to make 5 gallons of sweet or dry red wine....

Frequently people ask if Michigan produces a wine similar to one of their favorite California or European wine varieties. Usually the answer is yes. Cayuga White and St. Peppin are very popular for soft semi-dry wines. These wines with their prominent fruit flavor and flower bouquet are quite reminiscent of the German style of wine making. Because Germany and Michigan have similar cool climate conditions, these grape varieties have a tendency to evolve to the desired sugar and alcohol levels that provide soft, fruity and extremely palatable wines for all wine consumers.

This is our Winemaking and Grape resources page and also a link to our more comprehensive links pages. We hope this will give you some direction to supplies.

When making white wine, only the fresh pressed juice is fermented. This article shows how to make 5 gallons of sweet or dry red wine....

Home winemaking is simple, easy and fun! Here are a few steps to get you started. How to make dry or sweet fruity red wine. How to make dry or sweet white wine.

Baco noir (pronounced BA-koh NWAHR; Baco noir is also called Baco 1) is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced from a cross of Vitis vinfera var. (Folle Blanche, a French wine grape) and an unknown variety of Vitis riparia (an indigenous North American grape species). Baco noir was first created by French wine hybridizer Maurice Baco (hence the name of the grape).

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Vineyard FAQ'S

What do grape blossoms smell like?

Walking through the vineyard when it is in full bloom is a unique experience. The scent is slightly more subtle than other fruits. Each flower blossom will develop into a separate berry...

How do you propagate grape vines?

Grape vines are propagated by taking dormant shoots pruned off during the spring. These 3 to 4 bud long cuttings are planted in garden soil and grown one year. The next year they are ready to plant in your vineyard. They will be the same variety as the vine that they were taken from.

What time of the year should I prune my vines?

Grape vines may be pruned any time that the leaves are off and they are dormant. Many vineyards with huge acres of vines to prune may work all winter, but we prefer to prune in the spring. In the spring, any winter damage that has occurred will be visible and pruning adjustments will be made.

Do Michigan vines need to be grafted?

Most vinifera vines that are grown (such as Cabernet, Reisling, etc) need to be grafted on to a strong rootstock because they are not tolerant of the Phloxera louse, a pest that will kill the vines. Most all vines in California and any vinifera vine grown in Michigan are grafted for this reason.

Do grapes need a frost to ripen?

Absolutely not. There are early and late season varieties, an early season grape left on the vine until frost will be mushy and overripe.

Once a frost hits the vine and all the leaves are burned off, any further photosynthesis or ripening will cease...

How is our vineyard different than others?

I do not know any other vineyard that has more than 20 varieties of grapes and sells 100% U-PICK!

Since we are not a winery we do not keep the premium grapes for ourselves and sell what is left to local customers.

YOU are our only customers!

What is your favorite grape?

We get this asked of us all the time. Which grape makes the best wine, best jelly, best juice, etc. This is very difficult to answer & also varies from season to season. Many of our customers have very different tastes than we do.
My personal favorites as of April, 2007:

Read more...

Do you recommend oak barrels for winemaking?

Oak barrels can be very useful in winemaking, but they can be problematic and I prefer glass carboys.

Oak barrels are excellent for large amounts of wine such as 55 gallons. The ration of air to wine is just right. When you use smaller barrels...

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"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty."

John F. Kennedy

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And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), Inaugural address, January 20, 1961

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And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

Lee Greenwood

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"A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget....As the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues. Prosperity is the real way to balance our budget. By lowering tax rates, by increasing jobs and income, we can expand tax revenues and finally bring our budget into balance."
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963), September 18, 1963

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Only a respect for the law makes it possible for free men to dwell together in peace and progress.... Law is the adhesive force in the cement of society, creating order out of chaos and coherence in place of anarchy.

John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

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Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

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Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004

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America is the greatest, freest and most decent society in existence. It is an oasis of goodness in a desert of cynicism and barbarism. This country, once an experiment unique in the world, is now the last best hope for the world.

Dinesh D'Souza

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If you take advantage of everything America has to offer, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

Geraldine Ferraro

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America will never run... And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders.

George W. Bush (1946 - )

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"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."

Norman Thomas (1884-1968) (US Socialist Party Politician)

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"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”"

Dr Martin Luther King Jr, I Have a Dream: August 23, 1968

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The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004

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