Marquette -- a red hybrid grape that creates wine with an edge. Sour cherry on the palette; dry with a sense of sweetness. Fruit grown in North Marysburgh by Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.; wine vinted by Broken Stone Winery.

Marquette is an upstart red hybrid grape developed by University of Minesota's wine grape breeding program. It is highly resistant to fungus and tolerant of our cold winters. This means that not only can it be farmed organically in Ontario, but even in our cooler region you can leave it unburied in the Winter. The implications for winegrowing in Ontario are significant, because the economic hurdles for traditional vinifera are large.

Importantly, Marquette is also gaining notoriety for producing excellent red wines, so we leapt at the opportunity to partner with Fifth Town Cheese in crafting this wine.

VQA Ontario now permits Marquette under the VQA appellation system. Expect expanded plantings of this hybrid and others, for the benefit of the Ontario wine industry.

There are some who believe that all hybrid grapes have a wild, unrefined taste, which they call "foxy". I recommend you try some Fifth Town Red and decide for yourself.

Fifth Town Red has elevated acidity and rich tannins. Although enjoyable now, for the best experience we recommend aging it for a year. The acidity level would make it a good pairing to enhance the flavors of any rich meal.

12.0% alc./vol.