Contributed by Dan Wolfe, Associate Winemaker.

I’ve been visiting the vineyards for the past several weeks looking at the grapes and talking to the farmers. The native grapes are all looking pretty good with a heavy harvest of Concord. With the last two winters hitting temperatures exceeding -20°, the vinifera and hybrids have taken a real hit and mostly died back. The grape growers are training new shoots or just replanting new varieties.

If Mother Nature cooperates this year, we are hoping to see at least a 50% crop next year on the vines being started with shoots coming up. The Finger Lakes have also experienced some discouraging weather and will also be in short supply this year.

Due to lack of some varieties not being available in the Lake Erie region, we will source grapes for our home winemakers and commercial customers possibly from Long Island and the west coast. If they are out there, we will find the varieties you need for your wine making needs. 

See our Grapes and Juices Page to see our entire line of juice and grape offerings for this seasons, and to see what is available now.

Dan Wolfe joined PIWC in 2011 and is our Associate Winemaker. Dan started making wines from Wine kits in 2007 and the hobby quickly became an obsession. His habit then escalated to buying Fresh Grape Juice at harvest time, and he started experimenting with blending different wines. Dan has entered his wines in many local and out of town competitions, bringing home Gold medals and best of show in places like California. He is a member of the American Wine Society and judges wine competitions locally and around the state.