Frontenac Gris - Introduced 2003

Exerpts from the University of Minnesota's Cold Hardy Grapes website.

Frontenac gris, the white wine version of Frontenac, started as a single bud mutation yielding gray fruit and amber-colored juice. Wines present aromas of peach and apricot with hints of enticing citrus and tropical fruit. A brilliant balance of fruit and acidity creates lively, refreshing wines.

Frontenac gris has shown the potential to be produced in a variety of styles. Its bronze skin lends color to the juice, resulting in a wines typically ranging from pale gold to rich amber. Wines are typically intensely fruity, exhibiting dominant peach and tropical fruit flavors, especially pineapple, and hints of honey. The fruity palate and high acidity make Frontenac gris an excellent candidate for semi-sweet to dessert wines. Frontenac gris has also shown well as a dry to off-dry table wine.

Wine styles:

"Faux" Ice Wine: Trials with faux ice wine have shown tremendous potential. This extremely sweet dessert wine can produced two ways: by freezing grapes after harvest and pressing them frozen (which requires a specialized press) or freezing juice after pressing and allowing slow thawing to control °Brix.

Off-dry table wine. Frontenac gris table wines are best finished with some residual sugar, to boost the perception of fruit and balance acidity.