Millner Heritage Winery, just south of Kimball, opened its doors, officially this May. But they’ve been busy making and bottling wine for several years already.
In the past month, thanks to an overabundance of volunteers, the winery’s nine acres were harvested more quickly than planned.
Each variety must be harvested at once, stemmed and crushed, then piped into separate vats to begin the fermenting process. Sometimes the skins are left on for a couple of weeks, imparting their flavors and color. Sometimes the grapes are pressed first, and only the juice is put in the vats.
Vintner Jon Millner is a master at blending the grapes, and controlling the temperature, sugar, oxygen, and other factors to elicit incredible flavors from these otherwise commonplace fruits. He’s been making wine commercially since 2004, but he’s been around it all his life thanks to his father Don who started the winery.
Last Tuesday I paid a visit to the winery to see two shipments of grapes come in from other Minnesota growers. The Millners’ nine acres of vineyard host a wide range of northern varieties of grapes, but do not produce the 20 tons or more of grapes they use each year to make wine.
The grapes delivered that day were Frontenac, the first variety introduced by the University of Minnesota. These grapes were stemmed and crushed, and the slushy mess of juice and skins and fruit was piped through 4- or 5-inch hoses into a vat. Jon added a half-barrel of Frontenac grapes that had been fermenting without oxygen for a few days, a process called carbonic maceration where the grapes nearly crush themselves, exploding with flavor.
In a couple of weeks, the contents of this vat will be run through a press, removing the skins and seeds. Then back to the vat for about six to seven months of controlled aging before it is bottled.
Most of this year’s harvest will be made into the Millners’ established varieties of wine, several of which have won prizes. But Jon is always thinking of new things, new twists on established methods.
For one thing, the winery purchased its first two barrels, one of Minnesota oak, and the other a mixture of French and Appalachian oak. While Jon can mimic these flavors in the wine, there’s nothing quite like authentic oak-barrel aging.
He may try making ice wine this year, too, depending on the growers. For ice wine, the grapes must freeze on the vine several times. The frozen grapes are pressed, releasing the grape essense, not the frozen water crystals. The result is a more intense flavor, but about half the volume of wine.
Millner’s Heritage Winery will be open through December, then again in March. They open at 11 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays, closing at 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and 6 p.m. Sunday. They have live entertainment from 2-5 Sundays. Check their events schedule on-line at www.millnerheritage.com.
After the harvest, let the wine-making begin
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