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World Wine Travel Writers Explore Hybrid Grapes/Wines
This month, our writers are looking into hybrid grapes and the wines made from them. Hybrid grapes are becoming increasingly important as they can be bred for increased disease resistance and tolerance to different temperatures while hopefully retaining the ability to make tasty wine. Keeping all these features is not easy! Our writers have sought out wines from hybrid grapes and will certainly have something new for you to try. Take a look farther down in this post for links to all the articles.

Vitis Vinifera Challenges
Nearly all the wines we drink today come from a single species of grape: Vitis vinifera. There are thousands of different cultivars (a bit like breeds of dog or cat) which have various characteristics, like Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are great, but the grapevines are sensitive to temperature extremes and especially to a host of diseases such as downy mildew, powdery mildew, and various forms of grape rot. Growers typically need to use a variety of chemicals to treat the vines, chemicals which are causing increasing concern over their environmental impact.

Marquette Hybrid Grape Development
Developing a hybrid grape takes skills and patience. The University of Minnesota has a longstanding reputation for expertise in fruit development (Honeycrisp, SweeTango, Zestar apples) and they have had a hybrid grape development effort for many years. Hybrid grapes are cross-bred between a variety of grapevine species to bring favorable characteristics into a new breed of grape. In developing a hybrid with both extreme cold hardiness as well as disease resistance and good taste, researchers identified a good candidate for a new red wine grape back in 1989. At the time, it only had a number designation, Minnesota 1211. This grapevine was propagated and tested over a number of years to determine if it truly met all its’ requirements. It was selected for commercialization and given a name in 1994 and was eventually released in 2006, 17 years after its original identification! Marquette has Pinot Noir as one of its grandparents and Frontenac (another hybrid) as a cousin.

(Click on any photo in this post to see a full-size image or slideshow)

Marquette Grape Character
As a grapevine, Marquette has excellent cold resistance. Marquette will survive and produce fruit after exposure to temperatures of -35F, not uncommon in Minnesota! It also has excellent resistance to downy and powdery mildews and black rot. Wine made from Marquette has ruby color, attractive acidity and tannins, and desirable notes of cherry, berry, black pepper, and spice. As a young grape, winegrowers are still experimenting to find the best approach for grapegrowing details, harvest time and winemaking. Remember, most wines made from Vitis vinifera grapes have been tested over hundreds or even thousands of years.

The Marquessa Informal Appellation
The appellation system has a long history in Europe. The purpose of the appellation system is to ensure quality and consistency of wines from a region – an appellation. When you enjoy a Sancerre AOC wine from France, you know the grape (Sauvignon Blanc) and a bit about what you should expect. Wine appellations have strict requirements for the allowed grapes, vineyard and winery practices. Appellations often have tasting panels of vintners to ensure a level of quality and consistency in the wines. We have AVA’s in the US, but they don’t have the same level of control, only specifying the geographic boundaries of the origin. Grapes, vineyard and winery practices are all up to the individual winery.

In the spirit of developing quality and consistency with the Marquette grape, a group of wineries in Minnesota and Wisconsin have formed a Marquessa Consortium to share their experiences and mutually benefit with what may be the best approach to production of wines based on the Marquette grape.

The following outlines the current Marquessa requirements as shared on the Dancing Dragonfly website:

“Standards can change each year, as determined by the members of the Marquessa™ Consortium.  The requirements for 2020 – 2022 vintages of Marquessa are:

► It must be composed of at least 75% Marquette grapes;
► It must have spent at least one year in oak barrels (for 50% or more of the component wines); and
► The vintage must be declared (which means 75% must come from that year’s vintage.)

Within the constraints, the producers of Marquessa wine compete (in a collegial way) to produce the best Marquessa wine.  You be the judge.”

Marquessa Showcase 2023
I attended the Marquessa Showcase event last July and had the chance to chat with winery staff and winemakers from Dancing Dragonfly, Rustic Roots, and Chateau St. Croix wineries. I purchased a bottle of each winery’s Marquessa wine to give a more in-depth evaluation.

Rustic Roots Winery Marquessa American Off-Dry Wine 2021 ($44 at the winery) 13.6% abv
All Marquette, some carbonic maceration, multiple barrel types including French, American and 1 bourbon barrel to add character.
Eye: Pale ruby
Nose: Medium plus intensity aromas of rose, tart cranberry, underripe cherry, strawberry, vanilla, bouquet of fresh herbs – chamomile, thyme, sage, tomato leaf
Mouth: Off-dry, medium acidity, low tannins, medium plus body, medium alcohol, medium plus flavor intensity, medium finish. The fruit takes on a candied note on the palate with more intense vanilla.
Observations: This wine will appeal to those who enjoy popular red blends that are off-dry. Appealing on its own, the sweetness shows in the presence of food. The sweetness is in balance with the fruit, enhancing the overall fruitiness of the wine.

Chateau St. Croix Marquessa Reserve Marquette, Wisconsin Red Wine 2020 ($37 at the winery) 13.0% abv
Eye: Medium ruby
Nose: Medium plus aromas of fresh ripe strawberry, blueberry, subtle green pepper, vanilla,
Mouth: Dry possibly a touch of residual sugar, medium plus acidity, medium minus fine-grained tannins, medium body, medium alcohol, medium plus flavor intensity, medium finish. Flavors echo the aromas.
Observations: Nice fruit sweetness with an overall dry impression giving a fruit forward but dry impression, nice with a summer meal of steak and fresh tomato salad.

Dancing Dragonfly Winery Marquessa American Red Wine 2021 ($38 at the winery) 12.7% abv
78% Marquette, some Petit Sirah (check) mostly French oak, mostly 2nd + use.
Eye: Medium ruby
Nose: Medium plus intensity aromas of bright ripe cherry, cranberry, rosemary, smoke,
Mouth: Dry, medium plus acidity, medium minus fine-grained tannins, medium body, medium alcohol, medium plus intensity flavors echoing the nose
Observations: Of the three wines, this wine will most appeal to a traditional dry wine drinker. Good balance and acidity, nice complexity, a fine companion to a summer steak dinner with bright fresh side salad.

Marquessa Over Dinner
True to its exploratory nature, the Marquessa wines showed similarities but also some marked differences in approach. They were all nice with a steak dinner on a summer evening. Which one would best match your preference depends on your experience with cold climate wines. Most cold climate grapes have high acidity and to achieve balance are often a bit sweet. This is a preferred taste for many local wine drinkers. These wines ranged from clearly off-dry to fully dry, so there would be a wine for just about any preference.

World Wine Travel Writers and Hybrid Grapes
As promised, the following are links to our posts on the subject of wines made from hybrid grapes.

• Camilla at Culinary Cam shares “A Taste of the Mid-West: Double-Decker Butter Burgers & A Multi-County Marquette from Wisconsin + Fun House Potatoes from Minnesota“
• Terri at Our Good Life shares “Missouri’s Most Popular Hybrid: the Norton“
• David at Cooking Chat shares “Exploring Marquette Wine Pairings“
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “Marcel Zanolari and PiWi Grapes in the Valtellina Valley“
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass shares “Vidal ice wine brings back memories of NY Finger Lakes” 
• Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog shares “A Taste of Mad Marvlus Wines“
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Enjoying the Hybrid Wines of Old Mission Peninsula“
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator shares “Oh, hi,  hybrids! Adam Tolmach experiments with UC Davis to replant his Ojai Vineyard“
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Marquessa – a Marquette Hybrid Appellation“