New USDA Plant Hardiness Map is Here!

Big News for Grape Growers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, & Ohio

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released an updated Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) for the first time since 2012. This map helps gardeners and growers identify which plants are likely to thrive in a specific location. The 2023 version, developed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Oregon State University, is more accurate and detailed than previous versions.

The map is a crucial resource for approximately 80 million American gardeners and growers. It is also used by the USDA Risk Management Agency for crop insurance standards, and by scientists in research models, such as those studying the spread of weeds and insects. 

The new map shows a shift of about half the country to the next warmer half zone, indicating a warming trend of 0-5 degrees Fahrenheit in those areas.

Key points about the 2023 PHZM:

• Available online at https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/.

• Based on 30-year averages of the lowest annual winter temperatures.

• Divided into 10-degree Fahrenheit zones and 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zones.

• Incorporates data from 13,412 weather stations, compared to 7,983 in the 2012 map.

• The new map shows a shift of about half the country to the next warmer half zone.

• Most of the midwest has historically fallen within zones 3, 4 and 5, so only cold-hardy hybrid grapes could be grown there. The new map shows Zone 6 is pushing into more areas of the midwest.

• In Zone 6,  it becomes possible to grow some classic Vinifera grapes like Riesling, Cabernet, Merlot, and more.

What is a Plant Hardiness Growing Zone?

A USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) growing zone, often referred to as a Plant Hardiness Zone, is a geographic area defined by the average annual extreme minimum temperature. 

The zones are further divided into half-zones (labeled as "A" and "B"), representing 5-degree Fahrenheit increments within the larger zones. For example, Zone 6 may have sub zones 6a and 6b.

These growing zones are valuable and used widely by grape growers for selecting plants that can withstand the winter temperatures typical of a particular area. 

Commercial growers and Gardeners alike use the USDA growing zones as a guide to choose plants that are well-suited to the climate conditions of their region, ensuring better chances of successful growth and survival. 

How Does The New Map Affect Midwest Grape Growers?

Changes in the Plant Hardiness Zone Map can have significant implications for grape growers in the Midwest. Here's how: 

Plant Selection: This is the main takeaway from the new map. The updated map indicates a warming shift in the hardiness zones for certain areas in the Midwest. This shift could impact the types of grape varieties that are suitable for cultivation in a particular region. 

For example, Some small areas of Michigan had already been growing classic Vinifera wine grapes like Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet for years, since they were already in Zone 6 (Vinifera grapes are best grown in zones 6+). 

Most of MI, however, was in Zone 4&5, so most of the state was better suited for cold hardy grapes. But now, In the new map, most of the state of MI has moved squarely into zone 6, meaning more growers can now begin testing Vinifera varieties with less risk of winter damage.

Wisconsin’s hardiness zones have also changed slightly, with Zone 5 expanding North and West. 

Most notably, there’s also now a larger strip of Zone 6 in SE Wisconsin, and our Anton Vincent vineyards happen to be in that spot. Thanks to the warming effects of Lake Michigan, our vineyards are in a small pocket of land that can now potentially grow classic wine grapes, in addition to the cold hardy grapes we already grow.

I’ve been predicting this shift / expansion of zone 6 in our area, which is why we started planting test vineyards of Riesling last year. Just a decade ago, I wouldn’t have even bothered trying to grow Riesling in my location, due to the higher risk of winter damage.

Indiana and Ohio also saw some big changes to their zones, with both states moving almost entirely into zone 6. Growers in these states will also have the opportunity to potentially expand the kinds of grapes they grow for wine making.

Other Ways The New Map Impacts The Midwest Grape Industry 

Risk Management: The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is used by the USDA Risk Management Agency for setting certain crop insurance standards. Changes in hardiness zones could influence insurance policies and risk assessments for grape growers. Understanding and adapting to these changes is crucial for effective risk management.

Pest and Disease Dynamics: Climate changes can influence the prevalence and distribution of pests and diseases. Grape growers may need to monitor and manage new or shifting pest pressures as a result of changes in temperature and growing conditions.

The History of Grape Growing & Winemaking in Wisconsin

The history of grape growing in the Midwest dates back to the early 19th century. At that time, settlers brought grapevines with them as they migrated westward from the East Coast. These early grapevines were mainly used for eating or making grape juice, but some settlers also attempted to make wine.

In the mid-1800s, the first commercial grape vineyards were established in the Midwest. This was driven in part by a desire to develop a domestic wine industry that could compete with European imports. The Midwest proved to be a favorable region for grape growing due to its fertile soils, ample water supply, and suitable climate.

The history of grape growing in Wisconsin specifically, dates back to the mid-1800s. During this time, German and Swiss immigrants brought their knowledge of grape cultivation to the state and established vineyards primarily in the southern part of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s Winemaking Pioneer

The first notable wine grape vineyard in Wisconsin was established in the 1840’s near what is now Prairie du Sac by Agoston Haraszthy.  

Haraszthy immigrated to the United States in 1840 and settled in Wisconsin, where he became interested in viticulture. After establishing successful vineyards in Wisconsin, he then moved west to California, driven by an interest in the gold rush and a desire to find warmer climates to grow grapes.

Haraszthy is known for his contributions to the development of the Wisconsin and California wine industries. He introduced many European grape varietals to California, including Zinfandel, which became one of the state's most popular grape varieties. He also experimented with different winemaking techniques and helped to establish quality standards for wines.

Haraszthy is sometimes referred to as the "father of California viticulture," and he was inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame in 2007.

Troubles on The Horizon

In the late 1800s, the grape industry in Wisconsin continued to grow. This was driven in part by a growing demand for wine in the United States and a desire to develop a domestic wine industry. However, the Prohibition era dealt a severe blow to the grape industry in Wisconsin, as it did in other parts of the United States. Many vineyards were abandoned or converted to other crops.

After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the grape industry in Wisconsin slowly began to recover. In the 1960s, a renewed interest in grape growing and winemaking led to the establishment of new vineyards and wineries throughout the state.

The Wisconsin Grape Growing Boom Begins

In 1994, Wisconsin was granted its first American Viticultural Area designation, forming the Lake Wisconsin AVA in Southwest Wisconsin. 

An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated, prime wine grape-growing region in the United States that is recognized by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). An AVA is a specific geographic area that has distinguishing features, such as climate, soil type, topography, and other environmental factors that affect the grapes grown in that area.

In 2012, The Wisconsin Ledge AVA was established in the coastal area of northeast Wisconsin. The AVA runs from Door County in the north, down to Ozaukee County in the south, with Anton Vincent Winery being the most southern commercial vineyard in the region.

Wisconsin Ledge takes its name from the Niagara Escarpment — a limestone ledge that runs through the region which provides ideal conditions for grape growing. The region has a cool climate and a short growing season, but the limestone soil is well-suited to growing cold-hardy grape varieties, and the proximity to Lake Michigan helps to regulate temperatures during the growing season.

Today, Wisconsin is home to over 100 wineries and more than 1,300 acres of vineyards. The state's grape industry continues to boom, driven by an increased interest in new hybrid grape varieties that can withstand Wisconsin's winters, such as Marquette, La Crescent, and Frontenac. These varieties are quickly gaining national recognition for producing high quality wine and being pest and disease resistant. 

The Future of American Winemaking

As climate change continues to put strain on California vineyards through droughts, fires, and scorching hot temperatures, winemakers are left to think about the future of the industry. As temperatures warm, traditional American wine-growing regions may become too hot to grow certain grape varieties, and some winegrowers are already moving their operations to cooler regions like the midwest to get in on the new midwest grape boom.

2022 Project Update

Our second vineyard season is now wrapping up! While most vineyards in the midwest are just starting to harvest their fruit, we won’t be producing any grapes this year since our vines are only 2 years old.

Next year, most of our vines will be fully mature so we’ll be able to get a partial harvest. And that means 2024 is on track to be the first official full harvest!

We’ve been working hard this year to establish the vineyards, growing the plants up the trellis and forming strong trunks so the plants can begin producing fruit next summer. 

A 2-year old St. Pepin grape vine growing in the north vineyard

2022 has been an ideal growing season with good weather and ample rain. Most of the plants are now 6 feet tall and still growing! Did you know, that when the weather is right, grape vines can grow more than an inch per day (1 foot per week)!

We now have over 2,000 grape vines growing across 2.5 acres of vineyards. Next spring we’ll be adding another small test vineyard to try out some new grape varieties that I’m really excited about. If our tests go well with the new varieties, we have 6 more acres of open space that we can eventually plant into more vineyards.

Our new custom, hand-painted sign at the entrance of the vineyards

Our original goal was to start construction on the winery building and tasting room this year, but unfortunately our construction costs have tripled since receiving our first bids. The economy is a bit shaky right now, and inflation, labor shortages, and increased cost of building materials have contributed to soaring prices for new construction.

We’ve decided to wait until fall to re-bid the construction and to see what the market does, before locking in a new build-date. This is just a timeline delay and we have every intention of getting started as soon as possible.

Since there is no guarantee, however, that costs will ever come all the way back down, I’ve spent much of 2022 working on contingency plans for the new costs of the project.

In order to generate additional funding for the winery, I made the tough decision to sell a company that I started with my business partner 8 years ago, in Austin TX. We put the company up for sale in the spring, and I’m happy to say we just signed the final paperwork to sell the business!

With my other company now sold, I’m able to focus 100% of my time and resources on getting the winery built.

Scenic views from the pond near the vineyards.

I’m so excited to start making wine again and I know that many of you who are reading this are eagerly waiting for the winery to open. I appreciate the ongoing enthusiasm and I hope that I can give you an updated date for construction soon.

The new target would be to begin construction next year, so that the winery would be fully up and running in time for the first harvest!

Timeline delays are a pain, but they’re also expected with a project like this. And in winemaking especially, patience is everything. I once tasted a mind blowing wine that was aged in oak for 20 years, then in concrete tanks for another 6 years. The grapes were picked in 1986 and didn’t get bottled and sold…until 2014. The winemaker spent more than 30 years waiting for the wine to be perfect, which is an unbelievable amount of dedication to the craft.

Incredible wines like this have inspired me as a young winemaker. The amount of work, planning, dedication, and time that go into a single bottle of wine is extraordinary. But in the end, the joyful experience of opening a good bottle of wine with friends and family makes it all worth while.

Stay tuned for more updates, and as always: if you’re interested in the project and want to come by for a tour, reach out — I always have time to talk about grapes and hang out with friends in the vineyard!

Cheers,

John Leo Weber

Owner/Winemaker at Anton Vincent Winery

john@antonvincent.com

An Update, Plus the Story of Why I Make WI Wine!

I grew up in Ozaukee county, living in Cedarburg and Grafton until I turned 18 and went away for College. After College I moved to Austin TX for work, and spent 10 years building a career, making amazing friends and eating the best damn tacos north of the border.

In Texas, I absolutely fell in love with the food scene, the breweries, the wineries & wine bars —Austin has a spectacularly vibrant food & drink culture.

The culture looks like this: Grab some locally made beer/wine/liquor, make some traditional food (bbq, tacos, and crawfish boils mostly) , then put on your boots and go share it all with friends and family until the wee hours of the morning. Texas is so damn proud of their local products and their food traditions, and I loved that.

But one day I had this realization: “I like Texas, but I’m not proud of it. I’m proud of Wisconsin.”

I decided right then and there: the winery business plan I’d been working on for 5 years is finally ready so it’s time to head back to Wisconsin and get to work.

My core motivation for building Anton Vincent Winery in my hometown is to give Wisconsinites another thing to be proud of: great wine made from local grapes, to share with your friends and family.

A Recap of 2021 at Anton Vincent Winery

I’ve now been back in Wisconsin for just over 13 months, and it’s been a real whirlwind of a year.

In the past year (with so much help from friends and family), we’ve managed to:

• Start raising money form investors

• Purchase 20 acres of beautiful land

• Buy (and learn how to drive) a tractor!

• Plant 2 full vineyards (2,000 grape vines!)

• Get local town approval to begin the construction process

We had originally planned to start construction on the tasting room at the end of 2021, but lumber and construction costs skyrocketed at the exact wrong time, causing our projected building cost to triple! We made the tough decision to delay to see if costs come down.

What’s In Store for 2022:

Now, in 2022 my major goal is to finish raising investment capital, so that as soon as we’re comfortable with the construction costs, we can pull the trigger and start building!

I’ve made some good progress on raising capital, but there’s still a ways to go — so I’m asking for your help!

If you know of any local investors who might be interested to learn more about investing in the winery, I’d greatly appreciate an introduction! I’d love to connect with people who share my passion for wine, sustainability, local products, and giving back to the local community.

Feel free to reach out to me if you know someone I should talk to! I can be reached at: john@antonvincent.com

Wishing you all an incredible and fulfilling 2022! Cheers,

John Leo Weber

Owner/Winemaker at Anton Vincent Winery

john@antonvincent.com

Some Big Updates!

First off, I want to say a few thank you’s to everyone who has reached out with kind words of encouragement as we continue to turn this gigantic dream into a reality: 

A special thanks to everyone who has purchased t-shirts through the online store -- the outpouring of support has been incredible, and thinking about all of you wearing your Anton Vincent t-shirts puts a big smile on my face! 

Thank you to Joe, Josh, Ryan, Nick, and all of the other mentors who have been willing to kindly share their time and experience with me as I navigate all of the moving pieces of this project.

Finally, a HUGE thank you to my family for helping out with this project at every step of the way, and always encouraging me to keep pushing when the going gets tough. To Laura, Rich, Doug, Kolina, and all of the Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles who have lended their support: it means so much, since family is the main reason I’m doing this project in the first place!

Now, on to the updates...

The Land

It’s official! We’ve purchased 20 acres of land in the town of Grafton, WI which will be the future home of Anton Vincent Winery. The land is absolutely beautiful, with a scenic hilltop for the new winery building, a 1 acre pond, a prairie, and plenty of room for the vineyards. 

We’re excited to have a property where we can restore native prairie and wetland, and improve the property for both our visitors as well as the wildlife in the area. We’ve been working with lots of different people to help develop a sustainable agriculture business that promotes healthy biodiversity, which is the key to growing good fruit (and making good wine).

If anyone wants to come get a walking tour of the land, feel free to reach out -- I’d be happy to take you to the site to see what we’re doing!

The Vineyards

Now that the land is secured and spring is here, we’ve started prepping the fields for the vineyards. Our grape vines will start arriving in May, so we have the next 30ish days to get the land ready for planting. This means mowing, fertilizing, planting cover crop, building the trellises, and digging 2,000 holes for the grape vines. Many of you have volunteered to help during planting, so I’ll be reaching out to each of you once I have a better idea of the dates, but it’s looking like planting will be around the 2nd or 3rd week of May.

The Financing

Financing is by far the most grueling and challenging part of starting a new business from the ground up. And the unfortunate reality is that some major components of the original project funding dried up when Covid hit last year, so I’ve spent the last 9 months working with investors and banks to figure out how to get the project launched. 

Luckily, I’ve found some great investors and banks that really believe in this project and want to help finance the business. With their help, we’re on track to start construction this year with the goal of opening to the public early in 2022.

With that being said, a project of this scope is expensive and I expect that we’ll need to grow quickly, so I’m always open to talking with more investors. If you’re interested in learning more about investing in this project, you can reach out to me directly at john@antonvincent.com and I’m happy to share more info with you!

The Building

We’re in the early stages of planning construction for the tasting room and production facility. We’re currently working through the budget, the grading plan, and the plumbing/electric plans before we move on to the final design and layout of the building! The building is going to be crucial to a great customer experience, so I’ve been losing sleep over getting this right. Here are some early concept drawings for the tasting room that give you a first look at what the winery building might look like:

The Design

Since I’m a marketing nerd, one area of the project that I obsess over is design and branding. Everyone knows that label designs have a huge impact on how we buy wine, so I want to get this part right. 

I’ve been working with my friend Josh for over a year now on our logo and branding, and we’re getting close to finalizing some of the work. I’ve been a fan of Josh’s art and design work for a long time, so I knew I wanted to work with him from the start. 

As soon as the logo and branding is finished, I’ll be putting it up online, as well as adding some new t-shirt designs to the online shop. Stay tuned, I can’t wait for you to see it!

What’s Next

The entire project is really starting to come together — the land, the construction, and the design work are all moving forward full steam. The project has been in the planning phase for over 2 years, so it’s very exciting to see everything coming to life.

The project is on track, and we’re hoping to begin construction this summer. If the timeline holds up, then we can open the doors to the public as soon as spring of 2022!

Thanks for your continued support, and feel free to reach out if you have questions or if you want to come see the land!

- Brother John / Owner of Anton Vincent Winery

Wisconsin Wine? That’s a Thing?

99% of the time, when I tell someone that I make wine in Wisconsin, they reply “there ARE wineries in Wisconsin?”

People just don’t seem to know that Wisconsin is a flourishing wine region, now with over 100 active wineries in the state. The lack of Wisconsin’s visibility in the wine market is unfortunate, because there are a handful of world class wines being produced here currently.

One major hurdle in getting consumers to enjoy Wisconsin wine is that we don’t grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet here — the varietals that most Americans know and love. Our climate is not suitable for these traditional “Vinifera” grapes because our Winters are far too cold, plus the humidity in the Summer can create additional mold and rot problems.

Instead, we grow “hybrid” grapes that can withstand the unique challenges of our climate. Some of the most popular wine grapes grown in Wisconsin are:

• Edelweiss

• LaCrescent

• St. Pepin

• Frontenac

• Marechal Foch

• Marquette

• St. Croix

Never heard of any of these wine grapes before? I’m not surprised! In fact, as a certified sommelier, I can tell you that midwest grapes are almost never mentioned in wine training books and courses. Midwest wine, in general, is a young industry and it will take time for the public to become familiar with our wines.

Promoting Wisconsin Wine

As a winemaker in Wisconsin, it’s my job to help spread the word about our wines and to educate consumers about wines they don’t understand.

• Do you normally drink Riesling? Then you would love wines made from Edelweiss grapes.

• Do you enjoy California Chardonnay? Then you should definitely try a St. Pepin wine aged in oak.

I look at WI wine as a personal challenge — I’ll promote our state’s wines until I’m blue in the face, and until Wisconsin gets it’s due recognition.

I want Wisconsin residents, especially, to know that they don’t need to travel all the way to Napa to go wine tasting. Visiting a local winery is a great way to support our wine industry, but also to support a local business.

Remember to Ask for Wisconsin Wine!

It’s important to note, when you look for a local winery to visit, make sure that their wines are made from local WI grapes. There are LOTS of wineries in the state that don’t even make wine with Wisconsin fruit. Instead, they make their wines by shipping in grapes (or grape juice) purchased from California.

While there’s technically nothing wrong with using CA fruit, if we want Wisconsin to be recognized as a legitimate US wine area, then we need to use local grapes to make our wines. After all, you wouldn’t travel all the way to Napa to drink wine made in France.

As a rule of thumb: If you visit a local WI winery and see Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvingon, or Pinot Noir on the menu…the wine isn’t made from WI fruit, so ask for their Wisconsin wines instead.

Drink More Wisconsin Wine!

So, next time you have a spare weekend do yourself a favor and go visit a local winery to drink some Wisconsin wines! Many of the wines are also available in your local grocery stores & liquor stores, so you can always ask an employee for a recommendation!

Cheers!

- Brother John, Winemaker at Anton Vincent