Edelweiss is a very winter-hardy wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 grape variety derived from crossing the Minnesota 78

Minnesota 78

Minnesota 78 is an old selection of grapevine, developed at the University of Minnesota, United States. It was extensively used in breeding by Elmer Swenson, with its Vitis riparia background providing a degree of adaptation to the harsh climate of the upper Midwest.Although recorded as a cross of...

  and Ontario grapes. It was developed by Elmer Swenson

Elmer Swenson

Elmer Swenson was a pioneering grape breeder who introduced a number of new cultivars, effectively revolutionizing grape growing in the Upper Midwest of the United States and other cold and short-seasoned regions....

 in 1980 in cooperation with the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

. The clusters are large and rather loose, weighing a pound or more. Early picking of the grape is essential for making a wine. Should Edelweiss not be harvested early, the completely ripe Vitis labrusca

Vitis labrusca

Vitis labrusca is a species of grapevines belonging to the Vitis genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to the eastern United States and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba and Concord grapes, and many hybrid grape varieties such as Agawam,...

flavoring becomes too strong for the palate of most. Edelweiss was first developed as a table grape. This variety bears the Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 winters, but mulching is encouraged. During this process be wary when tying the shoots together because they break easily. Edelweiss has strong resistance to grape disease and fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

and can tolerate negative thirty-five degree temperatures.