The vineyard

Located in the Saint Croix River Valley, Trout Brook Vineyard is the family estate of the Betkers who have been growing grapes since 1993. Specializing in cold-hardy hybrids of the refined Vitus vinifera and the wild Vitus riparia, Trout Brook Vineyard grows ten distinct varieties on 13 acres.

At Trout Brook Vineyard, the Betker family believes that a healthy vine is the foundation for vigorous fruit and delicious wine. Through integrated pest management and a nutrient feeding program, the family cultivates resilient vines able to fend off pests and disease without depending on pesticides. Grapes are sold to local wineries and distilleries in Minnesota and Wisconsin that have turned the fruits of Trout Brook’s labor into award winning wines and spirits.

The vineyards stretch back decades, now reaching ideal maturity, yet the inspiration to grow grapes for making wine goes back much further. The first vines planted were a Father’s Day gift to Ernest Betker from his four children well over a decade after Ernie began making wine with his dear friend and colleague Don Garofalo.

Be that as it may, Don is quick to point out Ernie’s “love for the land started long ago when he was raised on a farm in Beausejour, Manitoba; to this day I keep thinking of the old saying, “you can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy” . . .  in my mind, that’s when it all started.”

Its heritage

“Uncle” Don’s family were Italian immigrants who settled in Saint Paul at the turn of the last century.

Hailing from Calabria, the mountainous coastal region that makes up the “toe” of the Italian boot, Don’s family treated wine as a food and a way of life.

In this gifted region, the Calabrese served wine alongside most meals and this custom had every household making what they needed according to their own tastes -as has been done since the ancient Greeks brought cuttings eons ago.

Stateside nothing changed and despite Prohibition, thanks to stipulations in the Volstead Act, Americans were permitted to make 200 gallons of wine per household for personal consumption.

Don recalls crushing grapes as a boy with his family and being pulled back from the heady tanks during punch downs lest the carbon dioxide take his breath away. Don practically grew up in the cellar working barrels and helping wines along at every stage.

Reaching maturity

Working life introduced Don to Ernie and it was during this time they spent many autumns crushing grapes and fermenting wine under ambient wild yeasts. This time fostered a deep respect for the nature of winemaking and the fellowship it inspires.

Needless to say, the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Mediterranean makes for a vastly different climate than that of the Saint Croix River Valley. Here cold hardy grape varieties are de rigueur in order to withstand the deep subzero temperatures of midwestern winters. Over the years Trout Brook grew from a few vines to a block of Saint Croix then Frontenac Noir, Louise Swenson, Prairie Star, Sabrevois, Frontenac Gris, and Marquette and La Crescent to Edelweiss with more cuttings going in every year.

Today Ernie’s labor of love is shared with his wife Lynn and their children’s families.

Learn more about the lay of the land and how the terroir of Trout Brook Vineyard gives rise to superior fruit.