The serious business of grape growing in Vernon County is now in its eighth summer.

Grape growing was born in Vernon County in 2000, in an effort to find a high return cash crop to replace tobacco, which was in line for a federal buyout program, that started in 2005.

"I thought it would take 10 years before we saw a winery (but it) came much sooner than expected," Tim Rehbein, a Vernon County UW-Extension agent who instituted the program, said.

Vernon Vineyards Winery, owned by Bob Stark and Loren Cade, opened last year between Viroqua and Westby. And Rehbein sees the opening of that winery and several other local and regional wineries as the way of the future. Wineries are buying grapes from local producers and even wineries as far away as Door County have called to ask about the potential of buying grapes from growers here.

More and more grapes are being planted in Vernon County each year.

The majority of the grapes grown in the county are cold climate wine grapes. They are shipped in late summer to various wineries in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some of the grapes stay in the county and are used by Vernon Vineyards Winery.

Nina and Peter Holte of Coon Valley started their vineyard in the summer of 2000. They were in the original grape growing project.

They planted one-half acre of grapes, mostly in Edelweiss, a wine grape and in Bluebells, a table grape.

The Holtes got into grape growing “because we can’t grow anything on these hills.”

Over the years, they have learned much about growing grapes by going to classes, but even more so from growing the grapes and carefully watching the results.

“It’s been a learning experience and it’s ongoing,” said Nina. “I’m always glad when the vines are trained, then it’s a little easier.”

The Holtes sell their grapes to a winery in Minnesota and are looking at the open market for their Bluebells.

Another participant in the original project, Lloyd and Amy Hardy, were looking for a way to replace their tobacco crop.

“It’s more time consuming than tobacco,” said Lloyd. “But the work isn’t as hard or intense.”

“Moneywise, grapes have the potential to bring in as much as tobacco,” said Lloyd.

And he knows what he is talking about, as he’s still growing tobacco and has his one-acre vineyard and the tobacco field side-by-side.

The Hardys also have an value-added product with the grapes; they start grape cuttings in their own greenhouse.

“It was a natural fit because I also grow tobacco plugs,” said Lloyd.

In late March and early April, he prunes the main vines. The pruned waste (cuttings) are then planted in the greenhouse. The young plants are ready to plant the same summer. Other methods of starting grapes take a couple of years before the small plants are ready to set out into the field.

Both the Holtes and the Hardys say one of the biggest challenges is “finding time to do everything.”

“We work in the vineyard and pretty soon we have 10 hours in,” said Hardy.

Pam and Bob Rochester, who live near Stoddard, are new to the grape-growing business.

They attended classes at the UW-Extension, did a business plan in 2005 and planted their first field of grapes in 2006. They put in more vines this spring and now are tending about 1,100 vines.

A part of their plan is a winery in the not to distant future, because the couple is looking at something to keep them active if they can arrange an early retirement.

“I felt like it would be a fun thing to do in retirement,” said Pam. “ And we both have stressful jobs and this is a relaxing type of stress.”

“It’s an adventure,” said Pam. “The networking keeps you going and we met some great people.”

The Rochesters, too, said one of the challenges was time management and growing grapes was a lot “more time consuming” than expected.

The experiment is still unfolding and many of the growers have found growing grapes exciting, rewarding and very interesting.

As for the rewarding part, Rehbein said new wineries have opened or will be opened in Winona, Red Wing and Rochester, Minn. Rehbein said Eagles Landing Winery in Lansing, Iowa, has also expanded its facilities partly to accommodate the increased local production.

Rehbein sees the possibilities for tourist-related opportunities to including wine tours that map out a series of wineries to visit in a region. And Rehbein is working with others in Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa to get to get recognized as the "Upper Mississippi Viticultural Area" to begin regional branding.

Rehbein is continuing to find was to help growers diversify by collaborating with others to plant five new grape varieties in Spooner, to see if they will withstand Wisconsin's harsh winters. And growers are experimenting with producing "iced wine" or super sweet wines that are produced from frozen grapes, Rehbein said. A bottle of regionally-produced iced wine may bring a price of $50 a bottle of higher.

Even though its hard to estimate, Rehbein's best guess is that there are around 50 acres of grapes in the county. Overall, the grape crop will not eventually exceed what tobacco once was for the county — 47,000 acres at its height in the 1920s but declining sharply in the early 2000s.

Rehbein estimates that grapes can bring in about $4,000-$5,000 an acre versus tobacco that would bring about $3,000-$3,500 an acre. But the goal that Rehbein set out with — establishing a crop with a high-return has taken a hold in the county and its roots continue to grow deeper every year.