Harvest Season in the Vineyard: A Toast to Our Friends at The Purple Foot

There's a particular kind of quiet that settles over the vineyard in September. The light turns golden earlier in the evening, the leaves start teasing change and out among the vines, the grapes are finally ready to harvest.

This season, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the people who make our vineyard possible: our friends at The Purple Foot Wine Club.

Who Is The Purple Foot?

The Purple Foot is a Twin Cities-based club of amateur winemakers, dedicated to helping members appreciate wines of all sorts and to make better wine of their own. Since 1971, they've built a community around curiosity, craft, and a genuine love of the glass.

Their work together spans nearly every part of the winemaking world. Members gather for tastings that explore the differences between grapes and growing regions. They hold competitions across categories, from reds and whites to wines made from local and traditional varietals. They teach tasting and evaluation skills that carry members all the way into judging roles — including at the Minnesota State Fair. Longtime members give presentations on techniques they've learned firsthand and the club runs its own classes, from Winemaking 101 to Judging Wines.

There is also a mentorship program, pairing newer winemakers with experienced ones for hands-on coaching. For those who've put in the time to refine their craft, The Purple Foot recognizes it with their Level of Expertise program that tracks a winemaker's growth from novice all the way to their highest honor, Enologist Extraordinaire.

Our Partnership

The Purple Foot Club has tended and cared for the vines here at Belle Âme this season. Their volunteers show up to prune, train, and watch over the grapes that give our vineyard its beauty.

In return, Belle Âme gets to share this place with people who care about it as deeply as we do. Many of their volunteers are new to vineyard work, so it's become as much about learning as it is about labor — a chance to be outdoors, get their hands into the soil, and share a glass together at the end of the day.

It's no small job. A vineyard asks for steady attention, season after season, and it can feel like a lot some days. But the goal has never been to finish — just to make the vineyard a little better every year.

Why Harvest Matters

Here in Wisconsin, grape harvest typically runs from late August into October, with much of the picking happening in September as the fruit hits its peak sugar and acidity. It's a short window, and a lot of it comes down to patience, waiting for exactly the right moment before the first cluster is cut.

It's fitting, then, that harvest is also when this partnership shows itself most clearly. The work The Purple Foot puts in all year — the pruning, the care, the quiet attention — comes to a head in these few weeks. What grows on our vines becomes something someone will eventually raise a glass to.

As the club likes to say: it's always fun to share a glass of wine with friends. But when it's a wine you had a hand in growing, it means just a little more.

Interested in learning more about The Purple Foot Wine Club, their classes, or their mentorship program? https://www.purplefoot.org/