Time for wine?: Kalispell Chamber promotes grape research initiative

Are there varieties of cold-hardy grapes that could generate enough fruit to sustain a number of wineries around Flathead Lake?

It’s a question the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce would like local Montana State University Extension Agent Pat McGlynn to explore.

Once the Flathead cherry variety trial that McGlynn is overseeing is fully up and running, there will be time while the cherry trees are growing to focus on a research initiative for grapes, she said.

“The Kalispell Chamber is interested in the potential of increasing tourism by developing wineries around the lake,” McGlynn said. “It’s amazing how much money wineries bring to an area.”

Kalispell Chamber President Joe Unterreiner said the grape initiative is in its early stages. The chamber’s agriculture committee has formed a “wine group” that includes representatives with a wide range of expertise.

“It’s something we’re looking at in the evolution of the tourism industry,” Unterreiner said. “Even after you plant the grapes, it’s a lengthy time before they produce. For us, we’re more in the research and development category right now.”

McGlynn grew up in the Finger Lakes area in New York that has a thriving local wine industry using cold-hardy grape varieties. She also was at Cornell University for seven years before joining the MSU staff.

“I have a number of growers that would like to try cold-hardy grapes, not only along the lake but along the Flathead River and on hillsides,” McGlynn said. “We won’t know until we try. There are a few successful vineyards already. I hope to be able to meet and work with these growers soon.”

Areas surrounding a large body of water such as Flathead Lake are more successful for growing fruit because the water mitigates temperature fluctuations, she said, adding she’s not sure yet if the Flathead River is a big enough body of water to influence a more even temperature range for cold-hardy grapes. That’s where the research would come in.

McGlynn plans to leverage the success of the sweet cherry variety trials on Flathead Lake and use those trials as a model for the grape study. In the cherry trial, 244 trees were planted in six orchards around the lake last year to determine if other cherry varieties could be grown here to extend the season.

“The public and the other cherry growers have shown increased interest in the trials since the planting in May 2010,” she said. “If there are farmers willing to donate a quarter acre [for grape research] we could end up with some varieties” that would work well in this climate.

McGlynn will write grant applications to fund the project. The cherry research now under way was funded through a combination of state and federal funds.

“It will be exciting to see if we can make wine-making profitable in our valley,” she said. “The special events and festivals related to wineries could mean a boon to area communities. It would be a wonderful tie to our historic cherry industry.”

Wine consumption has grown steadily through the years in the United States. In 1980 Americans consumed 480 million gallons of wine, according to The Wine Institute; in 2009 consumption had grown to 767 million gallons.

Much research on cold-hardy grapes already has been done in Minnesota and North Dakota, states that also border Canada and face growing-season challenges in their northern tiers. McGlynn intends to tap into that research.

The University of Minnesota conducts extensive research on cold-hardy grapes. Its program encompasses more than 10 acres of research vineyards with 10,000 experimental vines.

The Flathead Valley is home to two commercial wineries, according to the state of Montana website.

Flathead Lake Winery, located north of Columbia Falls, is a small, family-owned craft winery that specializes in small-batch wines made from Montana fruit such as cherries, huckleberries, chokecherries and grapes.

Owner Paddy Fleming said the winery uses grapes grown at Finley Point for its Pinot Noir and grapes from Thompson Falls for its Gewurtztraminer limited run production. He also expects to use grapes from a vineyard in Eureka that will produce its first crop next year.

“People are already doing this [grape production] on their own,” Fleming said. But weather is a factor that often affects the harvest, he added. Sometimes local growers get a crop only once every three years or so.

Fleming said he thinks a research initiative is a great plan, since consistent production in the Flathead Valley will have to rely on cold-hardy varieties.

Mission Mountain Winery is a family-owned winery on the west shore of Flathead Lake in Dayton. The winery’s first vintage was 1984; it currently produces about 6,500 cases of wine a year. The vineyards in Montana grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and small amounts of Riesling, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer, according to the winery’s website. The other grapes are grown in the company’s vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills of Washington.

Unterreiner said the Walla Walla area of Washington is an area that “popped up as a good comparison” with the Flathead Valley in that it’s of similar size and already has a number of wineries that enhance tourism. At some point, Chamber members involved in the wine initiative may tour the Walla Walla area, he said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.