I’m going to Alaska! YAY! This gives me an excuse to learn about the wines made in Alaska. I’m sure those won’t be served on the boat. But it’s still a good reason to learn what the state has to offer.
Does Wine Really Exist in Alaska?
WineAmerica tells us that “while the climate is certainly not conducive to growing vinifera grapes (which are imported as juice from California), honey and several native fruits suitable for the environment thrive and are transformed into mead and fruit wines. Wineries include Bear Creek Winery and Solitude Springs Farm and Vineyard.
The grape that is most popular is a red one called Valiant. It is a Vitis labrusca grape instead of a Vitis vinivera grape, which is what we know and love. Valient was developed at South Dakota State University and is cold-hardy to -50 degrees F. It has a sweet, rich, tangy flavor.
Bear Creek Winery
Bill Fry started his wine-making hobby in the mid-1990s using all kinds of fruits, from rhubarb to berries. According to their website, “we…provide a premium wine-tasting experience and luxurious guest lodging. Our small-batch wine-making model ensures excellent wine quality, and we offer 9 core varietals and 5 seasonal wines in our expanded, comfortable tasting room. We have grown from 5 gallon batches to 250 gallon batches and from producing 600 gallons our first year to 20,000 gallons in a year but we have not forgotten our history.”
Bear Creek‘s wines include a 20th-anniversary red blend, which features Bordeaux grapes (don’t know from where) and cranberries. Another is a sweet berry blend of 60% strawberry, 20% rhubarb and 20% blueberry. Yet another is 55% pomegranate and 45% raspberry. It definitely sounds like a sweet fest. They don’t say what fruits are included in their port. I’d love to know.
Solitude Springs Farm & Vineyard
This winery, in Fairbanks, AK, has a 28-minute video on YouTube where they talk about planting grapes, walnuts, raspberries, blackberries and marion berrries and logan berries. It’s a fun video to watch. He talks about all the challenges he experiences, including the joys of having a destructive porcupine and wasps that visit them.
A friend of mine used to live in Maine, where she worked for a winery that did similar non-grape wines. Their apple wine was their version of Chardonnay. It was pretty good. Have you tasted any non-grape wines?
