The Original Story of Our Frozen Tundra Wines

It was September of 2009, and it was one of the first vintages from the vineyards at Parallel 44. We were discouraged as the summer had been one of the coolest on record. Cool summers are not what we Wisconsinites want, and they are not what a winemaker dreams of!

But in the wine world, we winemakers learn a great lesson from Mother Nature from time to time. Our intent was to make a red wine from the Frontenac grapes, but we knew even after only three years under our belts that the cool summer was going to lead to high acidity and low tannin in the Frontenac grape clusters. Thus, making an intense bold red was not going to be possible.

We took a cue from a lesson learned by some California Zinfandel growers in the 1970s who also faced an abnormally cool summer. Most of the wineries did not try to make a Zinfandel that year, but a few decided to treat this red as a white in terms of fermenting with only the juice of the grape to give it a light pink color and left some sugar behind during fermentation. This slightly sweet rose’ wine was called White Zinfandel and went on to become one of the most popular wine styles in America for over a decade.

With that inspiration, we decided to handle the Frontenac of the 2009 the same way. The morning after the fermentation started, Steve walked into the winery thinking someone was baking strawberry shortcake because the aromas were unlike anything he had ever smelled in a wine. Excited by the results of the fermentation, we realized we had a winner of a wine on our hands. It had the sweetness of a Jolly Rancher and the acidity of a Sweet Tart.

We were so proud that we had made such a delightful wine from a place that is known more for its bitter cold than just about anything else. So, we called it Frozen Tundra to show our pride in this regional wine.

The wine was sold out within a few months of its release and has gone on to win numerous Double Golds and Best of Division Awards. Due to its popularity, we now produce a Frozen Tundra Red and a Frozen Tundra White and renamed the first Frozen Tundra to Frozen Tundra Original.

Just this past year both the Frozen Tundra Red and Frozen Tundra White won Gold medals at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, which is the largest wine competition in America. We were fortunate enough to be among the top 1% of wineries in the medal count out of 950 wineries across the United States.

We invite you to celebrate the success of the Frozen Tundra Family of wines with the introduction of our new label design! You will see this label at the wineries and also appearing at your favorite retail store near you starting soon!!

All the Best!
– Steve & Maria