Why Minnesota's drought is actually benefitting the state's wineries

The dry conditions much of Minnesota saw this summer weren't ideal for most crops, but grapes have flourished.

"Right now, we are bottling about 3,000 bottles," said Ben Banks, a winemaker at Sovereign Estate Winery in Waconia. "We did have a record crop this year. My guess is we are well over 100,000 pounds for our own vineyard," said Banks.

Isaac Savaryn, a grape farmer, said that while drought and dry conditions may not be good for corn and soybeans, they are perfect conditions for Marquette grapes, which Sovereign Estates can use to make red wine.

"It really stresses the vine out. And in grapes we want the vines to be stressed out. We have had almost the driest year in my recent memory for our vineyards," said Savaryn.

The trunk and the vines can grow up to 6 feet above ground, but underground, the root system can expand considerably. 

Savaryn said the harder the roots have to work to find water, the better the grapes turn out.

"They soak in as much water as they can, and when they can't get any water they go even deeper," said Savaryn. "It's really great, it ripens our sugars. It lowers our acidity. It gives us a lot more fruit flavors in our wine."

Sovereign Estate isn't alone. Recent dry years have enabled some wineries to increase their grape harvests by more than 20% from year to year.

"I'm very excited at this time. We are almost through our harvest. So, to have everything out the vineyard and into the winery, fermenting, it smells so nice. I just know that it's going to make a really good wine," said Banks.

Sovereign Estate says they are now bottling about 5,000 cases of wine a year.