For New Ulm's Morgan Creek Vineyards, classical music is the perfect wine pairing

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
— John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

The truth is, beauty was behind the unusual transition that Georg and Paula Marti pulled off more than a quarter-century ago: from making music to making wine.

When the classical pianist and his musically gifted wife founded Morgan Creek Vineyards, it marked a natural, indeed organic, passage from the music world (which they have not remotely left behind).

"If you're a musician, you're looking for the beauty in whatever you're doing," Georg Marti said. "The ultimate goal is to create something that has some beauty to it. And I would say that while we were never big wine drinkers per se, we enjoyed tasting and the whole food thing, the beauty behind all of that."

So they started growing grapes in 1993 and making wine in 1998. With the help of two sons, they have been at it ever since. And just as wine complements food, the couple's interests proved a perfect match.

"Georg with his brewing background [he worked at Schell in New Ulm] had no problem stepping into winemaking," Paula Marti said, "and I was interested in the grape-growing side. My focus was on earth, and his focus was on the ethereal."

And both of them had been and remain focused on music.

Georg was in the sixth grade when a cousin from Texas came to visit and dazzled the family with his virtuosity.

"His name was Hans Langsjoen, and he came in one year and sat down at the piano and played up a storm. And that's what did it for me and my two brothers," he explained.

"So then we all wanted to play piano. After a year or so, my two brothers dropped out, but I kept going through college. I took lessons and played up to 6 hours a day."

En route to undergraduate work at Mankato State and a master's at the University of British Columbia, "it came to me that I didn't start young enough [to be as masterful as most classical professionals]," he added. "So I got into teaching [music] at public schools and found a niche teaching piano at Suzuki Studio" and performing on the side.

Paula's father played in classical ensembles in Milwaukee and other cities, and she also studied in Mankato State's music department. While teaching music after graduation, she and Georg both performed in sundry genres but with a primary focus on jazz (her) and classical (him).

"Music was our whole nexus," she said.

The side work led to a stellar transaction for Georg.

"A local high school had had a 7-foot grand piano for 50-some years and wanted to get a new one," he said. "I had been in a rock band, and trading in my amplifier and my electric keyboard, they could make more money selling that to high-school kids than a very good piano."

At first, he played the piano in a music studio at the Schell brewery, where Georg worked off and on for 20 years. He came by that vocation naturally — his great-great grandfather was brewery founder August Schell — but all the while he was "trying to build a career in music."

Then another wonderful opportunity arose, what he called "a gorgeous site" along a creek called Morgan. The Martis pounced.

"The land hadn't been used for farming for a decade, and it had a south-facing hillside," he said.

That made it well-suited for vineyards.

"Paula had a colleague who had been in Austria, Mark Ludowese, and he mentioned, 'If you're looking for something to do with the land, you should grow grapes.'

"Paula and I both liked gardening, and I thought it would be fun to get into some fermentation again."

Naturally, one of their first acts was setting up a music studio in one of the buildings on the property.

They also immersed themselves in grape culture, learning to their surprise that vines had been planted in Minnesota a century earlier and that there was "something called the Minnesota Grape Growers Association." Georg and his son Adam aligned with the MGGA and studied northern-climate winemaking techniques at Purdue University's Heartland Wine School.

But there were only three Minnesota wineries at the time, and so at first they focused on just growing, planting an acre or less at a time. The learning curve was steeper than the hillsides on their land.

"I used to say on tours that we made every mistake in the book, and we made up some new mistakes," Georg said. "We planted all the way down to the bottom of the hill but found it was too cold there. We tried all these European grapes [which are not hardy enough for Minnesota winters] like Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and a Russian variety called Michurinetz, which made a beautiful wine, but that thing was like a magnet for mildew — just bam!

"The one vine that did grow OK in that batch was pinot gris, but we had to bury it under dirt every fall, and the work was too much, so had to let those go," he said. "As one of our growers said, 'If you're going to be farming, you have to be comfortable with disappointment.'"

The rest of those European vines died of their own — and Old Man Winter's — accord, but the grapes that had proven durable in the Upper Midwest generally performed well.

So the Martis grow and buy cold-hardy grapes such as Marquette, Frontenac, Saint Pepin and Vignoles and "import" the likes of Gewurztraminer from other regions. They sell the wines at the winery (23707 478th Av., New Ulm, 1-507-947-3547, morgancreekvineyards.com), of course, and also to farm-friendly restaurants such as FireLake in the Twin Cities and to stores throughout southern Minnesota. (Check their wine availability.)

Those who visit the winery often are treated to both of the Martis' passions, with "Winedown for the Weekend" Friday shows and other concerts featuring their other son, Ben (who also helps out in the vineyards and cellar).

Just don't come expecting death-metal throwdowns.

"We've been a little sensitive about bringing in big groups," George said. "The sound reverberates throughout the valley, so we keep a more classical and jazz format here."

Of course, that also fits their twin predilections, which are infinitely more compatible than most observers might realize.

"Both productions deal with understanding the inner workings of how things go together and how to make things come together," Georg Marti said. "I really enjoy Bach, and the older I get the more fascinated I am with how beautiful his music is and all the structural things that go into it. And I can see that in the winemaking process, too."

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