Black Squirrel Vineyard is a small vineyard established in the summer of 2006 on the south facing slopes of Triple Coulee Farm, just a few miles outside of Elmwood, Wisconsin USA. The first planting of grape vines was in the spring of 2007. The variety planted was Marquette Grapes, a cold climate variety red wine grape developed by the University of Minnesota.
The first work on the vineyard was the creation of a terrace on the hillside. After the sumac and brush was cleared, the heavy equipment came in to finish off the planting area for 386 Marquette grape vines. Some over seeding with grass and red clover came next, followed by the construction of the trellises and deer fencing.
The vineyard is owned by George and Shelly Ibach. After spending a short time in Napa Valley California, George Ibach became very intrigued with the idea of developing a vineyard on his property, Triple Coulee Farm. The land consists of areas great for growing wine grapes with southeast, south and southwest exposures to the sun on a slope overlooking the 300 hundred acre farm. The name of Black Squirrel Vineyard came from sightings of the rare black squirrels that live in the woods and coulees on the farm.
