Grape and Juice Sources
Various vineyards in Minnesota and Wisconsin may have grapes available in the fall. For Minnesota vineyards, go to: minnesotagrown.com and search for "grapes".
Several folks associated with the club bring in fresh or frozen grapes or juice. Information about varieties available, prices, timing, etc. is usually available sometime in August or early September.
Jill Baer
Phone 952-913-5386
Fremont Vineyards is located in Montgomery, MN and has pick-your-own grapes for sale. Purple Foot club members can get Frontenac Gris at half price. Other grapes available at Itasca and Marquette. Check out their website for latest information on availability and current grape brix and pH.
Duane Van Hoever
Phone 651-373-5302
Duane brings in fresh grapes and pails of fresh juice, mainly from central California. These are good, affordable grapes and juice, and generally make very pleasant wines. Grapes normally come in 36# lugs, and usually arrive in late September. Must be pre-ordered; a crusher-destemmer is often available for use at pick-up. Juice pails arrive a few weeks after the fresh grapes, often in early October.
Mike Little
Phone: 952-994-0146
Mike coordinates a group buy of high-quality fresh red grapes from Washington state. These come in 900# pallet-loads; interested folks buy one or more units of 1/5 of a pallet-load of a particular grape (roughly 180 lbs, should make 10 -12 gallons of wine). The grapes normally arrive in one or more shipments in September or October, depending on harvest conditions in Washington. Varieties of pressed white grape juice may also be available.
Wine Grapes Direct
Wine Grapes Direct sells frozen pails of premium crushed red grapes and white juice, similar to Brehm Vineyards. They have no affiliation with the Purple Foot, but club members have ordered pails from them before, and had good results. Shipping costs may be significant for small purchases.