Chankaska Creek releases first sparkling wine
KASOTA, MN — (November 18, 2015) — Chankaska Creek Ranch and Winery is set to release their first ever sparkling wines this holiday season. Equinoce, made from Frontenac Gris, will be released this Saturday, November 21, followed by DewDrop, made from Marquette, in early December.
Chankaska is one of a handful of Minnesota wineries making sparkling wine from Minnesota grapes in the traditional French Champagne method and the only Minnesota winery using the Marquette grape in sparkling wine.
This method involves multiple steps to get to the final product. Unlike carbonated wines, which are injected with carbon dioxide in a tank, the bubbles in a traditional-method wine are created naturally inside the bottle by selected yeast strains. This natural carbonation method also adds to the complexity of flavors and aromas in the wine. Throughout the process, a bottle of Chankaska’s traditional method sparkling wine is handled no less than 5 different times from beginning to end. So it’s a complex and time-consuming task to make our sparkling wine.
“It’s a labor of love. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t feel passionately about sparkling wine or the traditional process. I started making sparkling wine here to share my love of bubbles with Minnesota” says assistant winemaker Josie Boyle.
Boyle learned her craft of sparkling wine making at L. Mawby Vineyards, a premium sparkling wine producer in the Traverse City, Michigan area. L. Mawby has been making traditional method sparkling wines since the 1980s and is renowned as the only winery exclusively making sparkling wine in the Midwest. Boyle moved back to Minnesota in 2012 and since then has worked toward the goal of making sparkling wine with cold-hardy grapes in Minnesota.
ABOUT THE WINE
The name “Equinoce” was chosen as a play on the idea of the equinox: an equal balance between daylight and darkness. It’s the idea that sparkling wine can be enjoyed at any time of day – in mimosas with brunch, as the first wine of the evening, or as the midnight toast on New Year’s” explains Boyle. In addition, the concept also plays with the notion of old traditions with new grape varieties. Equinoce is made primarily with Frontenac Gris, which is a cold-hardy variety of grape developed in the past 20 years by the U of MN. Using the traditional method of making sparkling wine with a new Minnesota grape variety, there is a balance of old and new to make a unique and new Minnesota wine.
The DewDrop label was developed to make sparkling wine casual and approachable without losing its classy appeal. This year’s release is made from Marquette, a red grape also developed by the U of MN. Marquette is almost exclusively made into a dry red wine and only sometimes made into a rosé. However, Chankaska is the only winery in Minnesota at the moment making it into a sparkling wine. It’s a wine for the adventurous, for the spontaneous, and the different.
Equinoce will be released Nov. 21, followed by DewDrop’s release in early December.
ABOUT CHANKASKA CREEK RANCH AND WINERY
Chankaska Creek Ranch and Winery is a cold-climate vineyard and winery located in the heart of the Minnesota River valley in Kasota, MN. The winery is home to a seven-acre vineyard and a 12,000 square foot facility complete with state of the art equipment which allows for artisan winemaking techniques with. The tasting room opened in May 2012. Chankaska Wines produced approximately 8,500 cases last year and projects close to 10,000 cases this year. Chankaska’s grounds also play host to five unique event venues for weddings, corporate functions, birthdays and other special events.
For more information on Chankaska Wines, visit www.chankaskwines.com.
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