Undeterred
by viticulturists who asserted that no wine
grape could withstand Minnesota winters, David
A. Bailly, a Minneapolis attorney, rose to the
challenge of establishing a new viticultural
region. In 1973, Bailly bought a 20-acre field
of winter rye and planted it with French grapes.
Yet
to produce just a Minnesota wine was not Bailly's
intention. An amateur oenologist with an educated
palate, Bailly aspired to make a great Minnesota
wine. French winemakers have long held that in
order to produce great wine, the grapevines must
endure hardship - wind, sleet, snow, drought.
Enthusiastically, Bailly adopted the motto, "Where
the grapes can suffer."
Bailly
chose grape varieties, not for their hardiness,
but for the flavor and excellence of the wine
the variety produced. Consequently, this made
his job as grape grower difficult: French viticultural
practices had to be adapted to the Minnesota
climate, new methods of training needed to be
developed, and, to survive the sub-zero temperatures,
each vine had to be laid down and covered with
dirt in autumn. All the laborious field work,
however, made his job as winemaker simple, for
the key to making great wine is growing quality
grapes.
To
house his enterprise, Bailly designed and constructed
a winery made from Minnesota limestone and white
knotty pine. The winery opened its doors in 1978,
when Alexis Bailly Vineyard released its 1977
vintage, wines produced from 100% Minnesota-grown
grapes.
Not
only did Bailly's risky venture survive, it
thrived. The grapes may have suffered, but praise
and sales did not. Alexis Bailly wines have
won over 45 national awards.
David
A. Bailly died in 1990. His daughter, Nan, now
the master winemaker, carries on her father's
romantic fantasy of producing world class wines
from a vineyard in Minnesota.
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