Morgan Creek trying to channel 'Zeitgeist'

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

CAMBRIA -- Wine enthusiasts looking for a relaxing evening got an opportunity to channel a local winery's, uh, zeitgeist Friday evening.

The Morgan Creek Vineyard and Winery released its new wine, a semi-sweet German-style white wine named 'Zeitgeist' just as the first crowds for Heritagefest came into New Ulm and as the city's 150th anniversary celebration continues.

The new wine is being released this weekend as a part of the annual German Winefest in place of the riesling and the gewurtztraminer that usually comes out around this time of year. Marti said those wines, which are part of Morgan Creek's 'Heritage' series, will be released later this year.

Zeitgeist's name means "time ghost" or "spirit of the times" in German. Wine maker Ted Marti said.

Like his brother Ted, who runs Schell's Brewery, George Marti is a descendant of August Schell, who was one of the earliest immigrants to New Ulm. Schell came to New Ulm from Durbach, Germany, a small winery town in the Black Forest, in 1858. Marti said he visited Durbach and saw its wineries and the house where August Schell was born. The door on the house still has the Schell name above it as well as the symbol of a deer, which represented forestry. Not coincidentally, Schell's brews a Deer Brand beer and Morgan Creek saw fit to put an image of a deer on Zeitgeist's label.

Now that Morgan Creek is in its sixth year, there are a total of nine wineries in Minnesota and three more are scheduled to open next year, Marti said.

"Someone told me that in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, there are 47 (wineries) opening. The upper Midwest is growing," he said.

At the center of the growth are advancements made in the developments of hearty wine grapes that can withstand Minnesota winters. Marti credits those advances for fueling the Minnesota winery boom and for spurring interest in hearty wine grapes from Quebec and China.

"We had a nice harvest this year," Marti said. "There was a little frost, but we expect a nice crop. It was a ripe harvest last year because we had so much mixed weather."

The release of Zeitgeist coincided with the City of New Ulm's 150th anniversary and some of the anniversary committee's members approached Marti about putting out a special wine for the anniversary. Zeitgeist is going to be the wine served to the German dignitaries that will visit New Ulm later this summer and is also sold as a part of a special package that includes a hand-blown wine goblet and a clock made to look like an 1870 New Ulm map.

"We thought that if we're going to celebrate New Ulm, it should have a German name," Marti said. "We like the fact that its 'the spirit of the times'. That kept having connections for us."

Zeitgeist is not a limited-edition release. Instead, it will take its place besides Morgan Creek's gewurtztraminer and riesling wines in the winery's 'Heritage' series."

In addition to the release of Zeitgeist, Morgan Creek is hosting a German cooking series that will demonstrate, among other things, how to make sauerkraut balls and Black Forest parfaits. Demonstrations on how to match wine with food and hands-on food preparations are also part of the series.

Other upcoming activities will include the Cambria Crush grape stomp in October and the Christmas candlelight tasting.