Wine

Grapes are the core of this group. The top wine scores go to La Crescent and Marquette (9/10 each), then Frontenac and Itasca (8/10). La Crescent is the white, with citrus, apricot and pineapple aromas, and it's rated through all of zone 3. Marquette is the red, a granddaughter of Pinot Noir, and it does well at our cold Alberton site. Marquette, Frontenac and Itasca are rated to zone 3b. If you're in full zone 3, look at La Crescent, Brianna (7/10), Prairie Star and Sabrevois (6/10 each).

Every grape here is self-fertile, so one variety will fruit on its own. Deer love grapevines though, so plan on a fence. Prairie Star is a good one to blend, since it softens acidic wines. You'll find all our grapes under fruit vines.

For fruit wine, Adam's elderberry, John's elderberry and chokecherry all scored 8/10. The elderberries are partially self-fertile, and Adam's crops far better with John's nearby. Jules and Ian White Nanking cherries scored 7/10, and Nanking cherries need two genotypes, so plant both. Our pollination maps help with pairing. Aronia, Red Lake currant, rhubarb and Trader mulberry round things out at 6/10, and all of them are hardy to zone 3 or colder. To see what else these plants are good for, check Shop by Use.