The Frontenac grape was developed at the University of Minnesota as a new hybrid designed to survive the extremes of Minnesota’s climate. Unlike the French varieties we grow, Frontenac does not have to be protected to get through the winter, thus greatly reducing our labor practices in the vineyard. The Frontenac has been recorded as surviving -35 degrees below zero, not an uncommon temperature reached in our cold northern winters.
We make a big, robust style of wine from this hardy grape, loaded with black berry fruit and a deep, richly pigmented color (a real tooth-stainer!). The wine is aged in new American oak barrels made from Midwestern grown wood staves in order to give the wine a smoky, earthy balance to its intensity of fruit.
The wine label for our Frontenac was the very first label that our founder and father, David Bailly, designed for Alexis Bailly Vineyard, and the first commercial wine label ever used for a Minnesota grown wine. We’ve brought the label back for our Frontenac, a truly original Minnesota wine.
Style: A dry red table wine, full-bodied
Alcohol: 13% with no residual sweetness
Grapes: Frontenac, Leon Millot (Minnesota Estate Grown)
Cellar: Drink now or within 2 – 4 years
Food Match: BBQ, roast meats, robust pastas
Foods to Match: Game meats like duck and pheasant; lamb or beef; pasta dishes made with meat or tomato; eggplant dishes; flavor ingredients like black olives, pepper, mushrooms, herbs like mint, thyme and rosemary.
Classic pairing: Grilled Foods, especially meat, to match the smoky, earthy flavors in the wine.