The Story of Our Vineyard

Where:  Besides the few vines located on site with the tasting room, we also have over an acre of grape vines planted east of Afton, Michigan about 10 miles away.  We will continue adding to that piece of land every year.

Vines:  We are currently growing five cold hardy hybrids, three red hybrids: Catawba, Frontenac, and Valient and two white hybrids: Elvira and Swenson White.

WINE FACTS, STATISTICS AND TRIVIA

Age of vine before producing useful grapes—3 years

Age of vine before full production—5 years

Productive lifetime of a vine—30-35 years—Although the quality can remain good, the yield begins to decrease after that

Grape clusters in bottle—4-5

Grapes in a bottle—500-600

Clusters on a vine—40

Grapes in a cluster—75-100

Grape clusters in one glass of wine—1

Vines per acre—500-1300

Pounds of grapes produced by one vine—8-12

Tons per acre—4 (average—can vary greatly)

Gallons of wine per ton of grapes—120

Gallons of wine per acre—less than 500

Barrels per acre—13.5

Bottles per vine—4-6

Bottles per ton—500—700

Bottles per acre—4,000

Cases per barrel—24.6

Glasses per acre—16,000

Glasses in a bottle—5-6

Bottles per 60 gallon barrel—300

Calories in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—100-125

Fat in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—0

Carbohydrates in a 5 ounce glass of dry wine—1-2

Cost of acre of new vineyard in Napa Valley—$120,000 (some existing property has been sold for $300,000 an acre)

Cost of French oak barrel—$600-850

Cost of American oak barrel—$300-550

Average age of a French oak tree used to make barrels—170 years

Number of years an oak barrel is used—5-8