updated on May 2, 2024
I will start my story with some questions, which I put to myself. Why did I decide to create a website in December of 2012? First of all, because I collected some information in the field of Viticulture during the last 40 years (1972-2012) and year of 2012, became a decade period since I started grape breeding in 2002. Proud to say that my website is already existing for 10 years and it is 20 years now since I started grape breeding. I would like to share this information with anyone who has an interest on growing grapes and other produce. Secondly, in my opinion, the internet allows easier access to this information compared to books, published journal articles, and magazines. My second question to myself was - why I used a word "Chateau" (translated from French as a Castle, Manor house or estate, where high quality wines were produced and often bottled) in the name of my vineyard and website? It is a very popular word used for many centuries in the name of famous vineyards/wineries located in France and around the world where rare and unique wines were produced. Personally for me this word means something specific, something special, something unique , something unusual and not common in the field of gardening, especially in Viticulture - The Science, Art, or Process of Cultivating Grapevines.
My life in Viticulture is divided into two periods: life in Eastern Europe and life in the USA. Before 1996 I lived in an Eastern European Country - Republic of Moldova. In 1972 my father bought a small 0,5 acre vineyard in the suburbs of Orhei in central Moldova. The vineyard was already well established and consisted of very good varieties of European Vinifera grapes, local Moldavian hybrids created by the Institute of Viticulture and Oenology, Academy of Science of Moldova. We also had a variation of different Labrusca grape varieties in our vineyard. By that time I was 11 years old and was involved in the process of taking care of grape vines together with my father. That process included pruning of grape vines, tying vines to the trellises during spring and summer, green pruning during growing season, tilling the soil around vines and between rows, pulling weeds, harvesting grapes, crushing grapes with a simple grape crusher into the barrels. We usually picked around 800 to 1400 pounds of grapes by the end of the season. Some of the grapes we used for making grape juice, some of the grapes we used for making grape preserves and the rest of the grapes we used to make rose wine. Usually we made around 100 –150 gallons of wine per season. One portion of the wine we kept for different holidays, and the second portion we sold to other people. My "second hobby" during my life in Moldova was in Cardiac Surgery. I had different positions there - cardiac surgeon, perfusionist- specialist for performing cardiopulmonary bypass during open-heart surgery, and a scientist. In 1995 I received a Degree in a Medical Science for my work in the field of myocardial protection during open-heart surgery.
During the fall of 1996 our family moved to the state of Minnesota, USA. During the spring of 1998 we bought a house in the city of Shoreview and, of course, because of my persistent interest for growing grapes I transformed my backyard into a little vineyard (0.3 acres) . At the beginning I ordered from different states Vinifera grape vines – Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat and some seedless varieties. Just for the protection, because they were not hardy enough for the Minnesota climate , I buried them every late fall into the trenches and I raised them up on trellises from trenches every spring until the year 2002. Unfortunately in 2002 we had little snow cover and even my buried vines did not survived that winter. Besides poor hardiness they also showed me poor quality due to late ripeness, low resistance to diseases and a high acidity when growing in my shielded backyard. I also had some local grape varieties, but again was not satisfied with their quality – highly acidic and highly diseased when growing in my backyard. Because of that, I decided in the year 2002 to create my own grape varieties with better quality – less diseased, less acids, ripen by the middle of September and, of course, hardy enough for our climate and capable of growing in my unventilated backyard. By that year I became a private grape breeder. To extend my research I bought additional land (total acreage now is about 9 acres) in different parts of Minnesota (at Litchfield and Bradford, MN) in years 2007-2008.
Some events and achievements – since 1998 I published 10 articles in our Minnesota Grape Growers Association (click here MGGA) Newsletter - "Notes from the North". From 2013 to 2017 year I was a member of the Board of Directors for this Association. I also participated in different annual competitions of grapes, wines and other fruits, growing in Minnesota at the MN State Fair, at which I won multiple awards. The year of 2022 was the most highest in awards(11), including eight 1st premiums. In November of 2015 I participated at the International Conference Vitinord 2015 in Nebraska.
I hope the information in this website will present some interest and some benefits to everyone who is trying to be closer to the Mother Nature.
My life in Viticulture is divided into two periods: life in Eastern Europe and life in the USA. Before 1996 I lived in an Eastern European Country - Republic of Moldova. In 1972 my father bought a small 0,5 acre vineyard in the suburbs of Orhei in central Moldova. The vineyard was already well established and consisted of very good varieties of European Vinifera grapes, local Moldavian hybrids created by the Institute of Viticulture and Oenology, Academy of Science of Moldova. We also had a variation of different Labrusca grape varieties in our vineyard. By that time I was 11 years old and was involved in the process of taking care of grape vines together with my father. That process included pruning of grape vines, tying vines to the trellises during spring and summer, green pruning during growing season, tilling the soil around vines and between rows, pulling weeds, harvesting grapes, crushing grapes with a simple grape crusher into the barrels. We usually picked around 800 to 1400 pounds of grapes by the end of the season. Some of the grapes we used for making grape juice, some of the grapes we used for making grape preserves and the rest of the grapes we used to make rose wine. Usually we made around 100 –150 gallons of wine per season. One portion of the wine we kept for different holidays, and the second portion we sold to other people. My "second hobby" during my life in Moldova was in Cardiac Surgery. I had different positions there - cardiac surgeon, perfusionist- specialist for performing cardiopulmonary bypass during open-heart surgery, and a scientist. In 1995 I received a Degree in a Medical Science for my work in the field of myocardial protection during open-heart surgery.
During the fall of 1996 our family moved to the state of Minnesota, USA. During the spring of 1998 we bought a house in the city of Shoreview and, of course, because of my persistent interest for growing grapes I transformed my backyard into a little vineyard (0.3 acres) . At the beginning I ordered from different states Vinifera grape vines – Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat and some seedless varieties. Just for the protection, because they were not hardy enough for the Minnesota climate , I buried them every late fall into the trenches and I raised them up on trellises from trenches every spring until the year 2002. Unfortunately in 2002 we had little snow cover and even my buried vines did not survived that winter. Besides poor hardiness they also showed me poor quality due to late ripeness, low resistance to diseases and a high acidity when growing in my shielded backyard. I also had some local grape varieties, but again was not satisfied with their quality – highly acidic and highly diseased when growing in my backyard. Because of that, I decided in the year 2002 to create my own grape varieties with better quality – less diseased, less acids, ripen by the middle of September and, of course, hardy enough for our climate and capable of growing in my unventilated backyard. By that year I became a private grape breeder. To extend my research I bought additional land (total acreage now is about 9 acres) in different parts of Minnesota (at Litchfield and Bradford, MN) in years 2007-2008.
Some events and achievements – since 1998 I published 10 articles in our Minnesota Grape Growers Association (click here MGGA) Newsletter - "Notes from the North". From 2013 to 2017 year I was a member of the Board of Directors for this Association. I also participated in different annual competitions of grapes, wines and other fruits, growing in Minnesota at the MN State Fair, at which I won multiple awards. The year of 2022 was the most highest in awards(11), including eight 1st premiums. In November of 2015 I participated at the International Conference Vitinord 2015 in Nebraska.
I hope the information in this website will present some interest and some benefits to everyone who is trying to be closer to the Mother Nature.
