Table Grapes
Great River Vineyard is the largest grower of fresh table grapes in Minnesota, with Bluebell our most popular variety - the grapiest grape grown. Bluebell is an old University of Minnesota variety, released in 1944. There was little interest in local grapes then and it nearly died out. Pat Pierquet, a technician working at the Horticultural Research Center at Excelsior, Minnesota, currently working as an assistant winemaker for the University of Ohio, Wooster brought it to our attention in the late 1970's. He had made a project of collecting early University of Minnesota Hybrids and found that of those released in 1944 Bluebell, in his view, was easily the best.
We grew it at several sites since then and have concluded that he was right. It is a very high quality table grape and with its early ripening, good hardiness, extreme disease resistance beautiful appearance and delicious flavor it was just the grape we needed. Bluebell is very much like the Concord grape but is three weeks earlier to ripen, sweeter, juicier and grapier. It is also much more cold hardy. It is so disease resistant that it requires little or no spraying and ripens by Labor Day almost every year. A true grape for the north and a treat for the taste buds as well. Quite unexpectedly we have found some wineries are using it to make a delicious red wine as well.
Somerset Seedless is a newer addition to GRV's stable of table grape varieties, an Elmer Swenson Hybrid which may well turn out to be his greatest contribution to northern grape growing. The clusters are a little smallish and the berries small as well but its bright red color (when fully ripe) and full grapey flavor makes it a winner with almost anyone who tries it. Although it has a seed it is soft and collapses when bitten. It is rapidly becoming our most popular grape as it in line with the American public's strong preference for "seedless" grapes.
We also grow
King of
the North a
table grape that is a bit later to ripen and somewhat tart but is very grapey in
flavor and is hardier than either Bluebell or Somerset Seedless. It
is a grape of uncertain origin as it was originally discovered growing on a farm
outside of Madison, Wisconsin but has since been found to grow well, bear heavily and
is very cold hardy. This is a large juicy grape that can be used for eating, juice,
jelly or wine. In fact and quite unexpectedly we have found that it
produces an aromatic and delicious sweet wine as well. This vigorous, heavy bearing
all-purpose variety is available from GRV right at the end of
the growing season.
For
a more complete variety description click here.
Contact us at: grv@mchsi.com