Walpole Mountain View Winery

Cantina e Vini

On a cold, snowy day in early winter 2000, we looked out the back window of a house we were considering purchasing, and remember thinking, “If this land was anywhere else in the world, it would be a vineyard.” The rolling hills and far views seemed to be the perfect setting. However, it is New Hampshire, after all – grape growing? How ridiculous! Grapes are grown in much milder climates, right? As it turned out, the idea wasn’t that ridiculous! A few searches on our new internet connection, and low and behold – The Minnesota Grape Growers website popped into view. The University of Minnesota had and still has a very active cold-climate grape hybridizing program, with the help of an elderly fellow by the name of Elmer Swenson who dedicated his life to creating French-American hybrid vines that could handle 30 to 50 degrees below zero winter temperatures. We've made a wide variety of wines ever since with a delicious selection of 28 French-American hybrid and Cold-Climate grape varieties, and we also offer fresh seedless table grapes in season and make raisins with 4 additional varieties. Wine tasting at Walpole Mountain View Winery can be quite a learning experience, whether it's your first ever sipping or ever visiting a winery, or whether you've traveled the world of wines for many years. The varieties that have become available for cold-climate areas have just begun their voyage, and you can be on the cutting edge of the many new wines that are now possible in one of the places that was formerly deemed too cold and harsh for such activity.

Our wines are grounded in their sense of place, just as they are in the best vineyards throughout the world. Each variety here has been chosen because of its special flavor, function, time of ripeness, disease resistance, and winter heartiness. Each vine is tended and nurtured individually. Every growing and wine making decision is made in careful steps, not broad strokes. Since the grape-grower is also the winemaker here, vines are carefully pruned always keeping in mind the production of the most flavorful fruit, not just the "most" fruit. And harvest dates are determined by when each variety is at its peak, not when it's most convenient. Those conscious, difficult decisions, forming our mission and directives, dictates how we bring out the best that our grapes have to offer when being transformed into wine.