Winemaking 101 in the Big Sky – Missoula’s Rattlesnake Creek Vineyard and Winery

Global warming may actually help Connie Poten’s business.

Poten and her husband, Andy Sponseller, own and operate Missoula’s Rattlesnake Creek Vineyard and Winery http://www.rattlesnakecreekvineyard.com/index.html . Without fail, the couple says, up until a few years ago, a freeze would consistently come on Memorial Day and Labor Day, making even the most resistant of grapes, all but impossible to grow.

“And now we don’t get them anymore, and that’s really extended our season another six weeks,” Connie says.

That’s not to say growing grapes and producing quaffable wine is suddenly easy in the Northern Rockies. It took Poten and Sponseller over two years to harvest a sustainable crop of North Country grapes – the varietals common in Northern France that can withstand bouts of sub-zero temperatures. The couple’s small vineyard in Missoula’s Rattlesnake Valley was finally ready by 2000, and commercial winemaking began in 2003.

By Kirk Siegler

Full Story: http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/4311/