Northern Winework

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About the Authors

Tom Plocher has been reading about and working with plants since he was nine years old. He has planted two vineyards in Minnesota and has been breeding grapes for seven years. He has also traveled widely around the northern fringes of the grape-growing world learning all he can about grape culture problems, solutions, and prospects.

Bob Parke did not start making wine at nine years old, but he has been trying to push the limits of standard winemaking for the last ten years, usually by blending together different wines to compensate for the aromatic or flavor shortcomings of unblended ones. Bob's interest in winemaking led him to plant his own vineyard. What he knows about growing things before then came from learning from his wife's gardening experience and observations while gathering wild edible plants and fruit.

Both Tom and Bob are convinced that many varieties bred by Elmer Swenson are rich with untested winemaking potential, so they have devoted much of their research to them. They named Prairie Star and Louise Swenson as a result of their research and expect to name more in the future. Look for updates in the "Special Extras" section of this website.

In some ways our lack of knowledge in each other's specialty has helped us write Northern Winework. Tom learned what kinds of vinification problems in northern grape varieties could and could not be solved by winemaking techniques. Bob learned how sensitive vines are to proper growing and pruning methods and how it ultimately affects wine quality. We both learned that we must explain details of our specialty in terms that could be readily understood by people not immersed in the subject.