(Wines&Vines) - Established in February 2015, the Montana Grape and Wine Association (MGWA) drew some 70 attendees to its first conference in Kalispell on June 11. With only 15 wineries in the state and an estimated 200 acres of planted vineyards, the attendance demonstrated growing enthusiasm for Montana’s potential as a producer of cold-climate wine grapes as well as fruit wines from its abundant orchards.

Association president Dan Getman represents both crops: An established cherry farmer, he recently planted an acre of 500 vines of a newly introduced hybrid grape: Petite Pearl.

Developed by conference keynote speaker Tom Plochard in Minnesota, Petite Pearl and its “sister” variety Crimson Pearl are closely related to Pinot Noir grapes, but they are more cold hardy, Getman said. These varieties have better balanced acids and tannins than many existing cold-climate hybrids.

Getman noted that a number of attendees came from out-of-state, including California, lured by Montana’s lower land prices, clean air and abundant water supplies.

With a short growing season—harvest is typically in September—Montana will never have a wine industry to rival California or Washington, he acknowledged. Few vinifera varieties thrive in the state, and the wine-drinking public is not yet familiar with many of the cold hardy hybrids that do.

“Regional prejudice is rife in the industry,” Getman said. “It is a block. It takes time to develop a reputation. Not that long ago, there was no wine industry in Washington. Our lifetimes are quite short.”

What’s next for Montana? “We need to learn to make interesting, colorful, full-bodied wines out of cold-hardy grapes,” Getman said.

“There is energy and excitement for our new industry. We didn’t know each other; we are geographically isolated, but we have common needs and common goals,” he said. The association hopes to establish equipment and grape exchanges.

“We have oceans of nothing: We have droplets, unique and sacred.”