Da Big Grape Stomp!

There is a fabulous, little-known nugget, just 30 minutes west of Fargo, two miles north of the 317 exit on Highway 94.

The Red Trail Vineyard is an agricultural and entertainment phenomen new to North Dakota. The vineyard was started in 2003 with only 60 vines planted by a couple of farmers who’d grown up on the farm across the road.

Rodney Hogan and his brother Steve have 2300 vines this summer. As you drive up, a house appears in the middle of all these vines with an inviting front porch, a gazebo to the side, a waterfall, a patio and a parking lot big enough for party tents and parking. The house was an old granary from the Casselton area. It was moved onto the property and the Hogans have landscaped the yard and renovated the house into a charming event center and wine tasting bar.

They didn’t want to leave anyone out so they serve a variety of beers as well. The setting will transport you to the halcyon days of rural North Dakota farmland at its finest-peaceful yet exciting. The air is clean, the land productive and green, with a lot of sky--and then there’s something different--rows and rows of grapevines.

Grapes haven’t been a common crop until recently because domestic grapes weren’t hearty enough to endure the cold climate, until Elmer Swenson developed a new breed of grapes.

Elmer Swenson was a research scientist from the University of Minnesota. He spent years crossbreeding cold climate wild grapes with domestic varieties acclimated to this geographical terrain and weather.

The Red Trail Vineyard is a superb example of agricultural tourism combined with the hospitality of the North Dakota farming community. This weekend the Red Trail Vineyard will host the 3rd Annual North Dakota Wine and Grape Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp. The gates open at noon on Saturday, the 23rd of August and at noon on Sunday.

The festival will be merry with food from the Santa Lucia Restaurant; Cool Beans, the hot dog specialty shop in Casselton; and pulled pork by Deb Jenkins.

There will be arts and crafts exhibits all around the grounds and you’ll eat to the sound of Bluegrass music. The Lloyd Larson Trio starts at 1 p.m.; Seth Mulder and the Goose River Boys at 2, and Monroe Crossing, the Minnesota Hall Of Fame Inductees, at 6 p.m.

Dave Richmond will offer rides in his horse-drawn wagon and Jeffery Saveson will be a wandering magician. Games Galore will have those big air-filled jumping things for kids on Sunday, family day.

This could be the last big outing before school starts.

And then the best part, the grape stomp. It’s a competition for a pair to team up to get the most juice out of a bucket of grapes by stepping on them like they did way back in the old days. Adults stomp grapes on Saturday and children on Sunday. Prizes will be given to the winners who weigh in with the most juice at the end of their stomp.

Two big buckets are filled with grapes from Hornbacher’s. One team member squishes and stomps while the other uses their hands to move the grapes to best advantage. A minute and a half later the bell rings, the mash is put through a strainer and the juice weighed. Whoever has the most juice wins the contest. Sign up when you get there. This event is reliably hilarious!

The Red Trail Vineyard makes a limited quantity of delicious wine. They sell each bottle for $17.99.

The wines are a wonder. Whodathunk North Dakota wine could be so good? Red Trail Red is a surprisingly complex merlot. The white table wine is crisp and floral with a very clean finish-really delightful! They even produce Gewurztraminer Rhubarb, that does taste like rhubarb, tart but not bitter or too sweet.

The wine I found most interesting was the Alpha Rose-St Croix, a blush dessert wine with the happiest grapey flavor, sweet and reminiscent of a grape popcicle, but in a winey way that is fun but grown up. The Hogans blend two kinds of grapes, the Swenson red and the Blue King of the North, to achieve this pleasant taste.

The harvest will be in late September, weather permitting, and volunteers are invited to help.

If You Go:

What: ND Wine Festival
Where: Red Trail Vineyard, Buffalo, N.D.
When: Aug. 23 & 24, 12 noon
Info: 701.633.5392