Trout Brook Vineyard

Trout Brook Vineyard Growing cold hardy grapes in the St Croix Valley to a higher order, we are a family run farm providin

Located in the Saint Croix River Valley, Trout Brook Vineyard has been growing grapes since 1993. Specializing in cold-hardy hybrids of the refined vitus vinifera and the wild vitus riparia, Trout Brook Vineyard grows nine distinct varieties on 12 acres. At Trout Brook Vineyard, we believe that a healthy vine is the foundation for vigorous fruit and delicious wine. Through integrated pest manageme

nt and a nutrient feeding program, we cultivate resiliant vines able to fend off pests and disease without depending on pesticides. Grapes are sold to local wineries in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Icy frosts call curfew on a dry year of rampant sunlight. We have fed the leaves, roots, and soil — and so to bed.
10/26/2021

Icy frosts call curfew on a dry year of rampant sunlight. We have fed the leaves, roots, and soil — and so to bed.

This serein scene just down the gravel road from our Trout Brook estate, catches a glimpse of the herd of neighboring ho...
10/06/2021

This serein scene just down the gravel road from our Trout Brook estate, catches a glimpse of the herd of neighboring horses as they graze at dawn in the morning dew and poses so much wonder as to whether the moisture in the air rises from the fields of forage or else falls from a cloudless sky.

Can you believe we only have one day of harvest to go? Soon we’ll be sipping port by the fireside after a sauna planning...
09/30/2021

Can you believe we only have one day of harvest to go? Soon we’ll be sipping port by the fireside after a sauna planning for next year. 🔥 🍷

Nice, cool, autumn day to pick grapes. All the Frontenac Gris and Marquette are off the vines. Arguably the most beautif...
09/25/2021

Nice, cool, autumn day to pick grapes. All the Frontenac Gris and Marquette are off the vines. Arguably the most beautiful fruit we have seen but the lowest yielding by a country mile. Be that as it may, it was a picture perfect pick and a high time. THANK YOU for all who brought in this day of the 2021 harvest. 🙏🏻

Although the harvest up top begins this Saturday with the Edelweiss, there is still time to savor the teeming life at th...
08/26/2021

Although the harvest up top begins this Saturday with the Edelweiss, there is still time to savor the teeming life at the valley floor. Saw more bounding deer than we could count and plenty of fragrant wildflowers to cut for bouquets. Such a dreamscape.

Nice to see the Frontenac Noir ripening in late summer sun today.
08/18/2021

Nice to see the Frontenac Noir ripening in late summer sun today.

A glimpse at the deer pressure all around the estate at Trout Brook Vineyard catches a doe face to face with Lotte throu...
08/02/2021

A glimpse at the deer pressure all around the estate at Trout Brook Vineyard catches a doe face to face with Lotte through a music room window.

How do we prevent the deer from decimating the land under vine?

The estate is a healthy and enticing mix of field and forest, meadows and ponds, vegetables, flowers, and vines.

To protect all the esculent plantings, we have fenced in various parcels behind tall, gated, deer fencing to keep our Cervidae neighbors from the fruits of our labor while permitting them to roam the rest of the grounds to forage, quench their thirst, rest, fawn, and raise their young. In the end we have a sustainable arrangement to embrace all that we love about living in the country.

Veraison is upon us as seen here by the Frontenac Noir turning from green to red -about a week earlier than the previous...
07/28/2021

Veraison is upon us as seen here by the Frontenac Noir turning from green to red -about a week earlier than the previous year.

An important stage of ripening when chlorophyll wanes as anthocyanins begin to rise, acidity begins to drop as sugars increase. It is a time for most cold-climate winegrowers to thin clusters to concentrate those that remain and yet given our warm, dry summer, we thinned leaves to expose the fruit and pace ripening as one might in warmer climates. We also spray nutrients as foliar feeds in the forms of Potassium to build sugars and Magnesium to help develop uniform color and quality in terms of ripening. A week or two after these, at 17-19 Brix, we spray calcium based nutrients as a foliar feed to encourage even cell development. Depending on the grape variety and the vicissitudes of vintage, the moment of veraison reveals to a wine grower in this climate that there are 50 to 65 days until harvest.

For language lovers who dig through the meaning of words to their historic roots, the etymology of “veraison” in the English language comes to us by way of the French “véraison” which is first recorded in the Côte-d'Or of Burgundy in 1877. Its roots stretch further back to the South of France (Pézenas vairasoú “ripening while speaking of the grape”), derived from “vairá”, “to begin to mature", and also from Burgundy where it is derived from “vairir / verir”, "to begin to ripen" first encountered in the written record around 1585 in the form of “verir”, and "vair”, “changing". In the Mâconnais there are similar records of “vairiaison”, “time when the grape begins to ripen” about the time the word entered parlance throughout the Côte-d’Or.

No matter what one calls it, this is a cheerful time often celebrated by vignerons as seen in the Fête de Véraison of Châteauneuf-du-Papes. Perhaps once the world is safely vaccinated and returning to social gathering, we can gather to mark this moment with festivities ourselves!

Sundowner over blocks III, IV, V and VI with the mid meadow down below.
07/28/2021

Sundowner over blocks III, IV, V and VI with the mid meadow down below.

As more apricots ripen each day, there are more to pick and glean every time we pass — and harvest is always better shar...
07/16/2021

As more apricots ripen each day, there are more to pick and glean every time we pass — and harvest is always better shared in good company.

Among the vines, the fields, and the greenhouses, the Livingstons have grown as plants people at Trout Brook Vineyard.We...
07/11/2021

Among the vines, the fields, and the greenhouses, the Livingstons have grown as plants people at Trout Brook Vineyard.

We are excited to see them continue on this path and grow plants at Trout Brook now for the inspired gardeners who choose Squire House Gardens.

Please follow Squire House Gardens on Facebook and Instagram to join them on this journey as they reopen come springtime.

Martin Stern, the longtime owner of Squire House Gardens in Afton, announced Friday that he is retiring from the store and closing the business next month. The garden shop in Afton’s Old Village wi…

Recent rains inspired a verdant luster among the vines and with any luck will see them through the heat to come.
07/09/2021

Recent rains inspired a verdant luster among the vines and with any luck will see them through the heat to come.

Address

1212 Trout Brook Road
Hudson, WI
54016

Telephone

(715) 549-5999

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Located in the Saint Croix River Valley, Trout Brook Vineyard is the family estate of the Betkers who have been growing grapes since 1993. Specializing in cold-hardy hybrids of the refined Vitus vinifera and the wild Vitus riparia, Trout Brook Vineyard grows nine distinct varieties on 12 acres. At Trout Brook Vineyard, the Betker family believes that a healthy vine is the foundation for vigorous fruit and delicious wine. Through integrated pest management and a nutrient feeding program, the family cultivates resilient vines able to fend off pests and disease without depending on pesticides. Grapes are sold to local wineries and distilleries in Minnesota and Wisconsin that have turned the fruits of Trout Brook’s labor into award winning wines and spirits. The vineyards stretch back decades, now reaching ideal maturity, yet the inspiration to grow grapes for making wine goes back much further. The first vines planted were a Father’s Day gift to Ernest Betker from his four childrenwell over a decade after Ernie began making wine with his dear friend and colleague Don Garofalo. “Uncle” Don’s family were Italian immigrants who settled in Saint Paul at the turn of the last century. Hailing from Calabria, the mountainous coastal region that makes up the “toe” of the Italian boot, Don’s family treated wine as a food and a way of life. In this gifted region, the Calabrese served wine alongside most meals and this custom had every household making what they needed according to their own tastes. Stateside nothing changed and thanks to stipulations in the Volstead Act, Americans were permitted to make 200 gallons of wine per household for personal consumption. Don recalls crushing grapes as a boy with his family and being pulled back from the heady tanks during punch downs lest the carbon dioxide take his breath away. Don practically grew up in the cellar working barrels and helping wines along at every stage. Working life introduced Don to Ernie during their days at Anderson Windows and it was during this time they spent many autumns together fermenting grapes and years spent crushing grapes and fermenting wine under ambient yeasts. This time fostered a deep respect for the nature of winemaking and the fellowship it inspires. Needless to say, the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Mediterranean makes for a vastly different climate than that of the Saint Croix River Valley. Here cold hardy grape varieties are de rigueur in order to withstand the deep subzero temperatures of midwestern winters. Over the years Trout Brook grew from a few vines to a block of Saint Croix then Frontenac Noir, Louise Swenson, Prairie Star, Sabrevois, Frontenac Gris, Marquette and La Crescent to Edelweiss with more cuttings going in every year. Today Ernie’s labor of love is shared with his wife Lynn and their children’s families.