Grapevine canopy

University of Minnesota grape cultivars

The development of high-quality, cold-hardy, and disease-resistant wine grape cultivars in the 21st century has been a fruitful one. Recent releases include 7 cultivars bred specifically for use in the wine industry: La Crescent (2002), Frontenac Gris (2003), Marquette (2006), Frontenac Blanc (2012), Itasca (2017), and Clarion (2022). Frontenac blanc, a color mutation of Frontenac which was discovered by growers, has also been widely planted in recent years. General information on these cultivars and others developed at UMN can be found here. 

Growing recommendations for these UMN cultivars are available via fact sheets developed by our breeding and Extension teams.

All University of Minnesota Grape Varieties

Below you'll find images of each of our grape cultivars. Click on each image for a PDF fact sheet with details about how to grow the variety.

Image of Frontenac grape with text 'Frontenac' overlaid
Image of Frontenac blanc grape with text 'Frontenac blanc' overlaid
Image of Frontenac gris grape with text 'Frontenac gris' overlaid
Image of La Crescent grape with text 'La Crescent' overlaid
Image of Marquette grape with text 'Marquette' overlaid
Image of Itasca grape with text 'Itasca' overlaid
Image of Clarion grape with text 'Clarion' overlaid
Image of Bluebell grape with text 'Bluebell' overlaid
Image of Edelweiss grape with text 'Edelweiss' overlaid
Image of Swenson Red grape with text 'Swenson Red' overlaid