The Marquette grape vine (named for 17th Century Jesuit missionary and explorer) has only been available to the public since 2006. It is a hybrid grape with Pinot Noir in its lineage and was created by Peter Hemstad and James Luby at the University of Minnesota, which is one of the foremost cold-hardy grape breeding facilities in the United States. Marquette is prized in our area because it is extremely cold hardy, regularly tolerating temperatures between -20º and -30º Fahrenheit. Marquette is one of the youngest vines on our farm, but we are confident it will become a favorite.