The local food trend in the North Country is starting to fill a new niche: alcoholic beverages. And not only are brewers and winemakers crafting their products there, but they're also taking advantage of the rural region to double the local appeal, with homegrown ingredients. Several of these businesses just opened in Jefferson County. Dave Fralick walks through the vineyards at Cape Winery, in Cape Vincent. It's one of the county's newest wineries. He says he has about five acres of grapes planted now. “And we have five different varieties that we grow here,” he explains. “The Frontenac, the Frontenac gris, the Sabrevois, LaCrescent, and Marquette.” Fralick says north country winemakers are still learning what these cold-hardy grapes can do. That challenge excites him; these ingredients – and flavors – are completely new. “And I think that means a lot to some of the consumers,” he says. “'This is the only place I can get this particular wine, off this land, anywhere in the world.'”
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