# looking for info on Brianna



## Duster (Apr 22, 2013)

I plan on putting a handful of Branna vines in the backyard this spring. I'm thinking of a dbl armed kniffen trellis system with four cordons per vine and spur pruning, but I'm really not sure. Can anyone tell me if I am on the right track or do I need to go back and study more? 
Also is there any secrets I should know about these vines? 
Thanks


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## Winehaus (Apr 23, 2013)

Very tough little clusters. We did a test crushing and pressing and got over 20% more juice while using pectic enzyme compared to not using anything.

As for growing I think they will have enough vigor. We have them on single wire and there is more than enough vigor to support our 8 foot spacing. If your in a warm enough place with a nice long growing season and you fertilize well I think you will be fine with that system.


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## grapeman (Apr 23, 2013)

Give it a shot with the 4AK system. If not enough vigor for it, you can easily convert over to Top Wire Cordon by just chopping off the two lower arms.


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## Duster (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks for the confidence.


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2013)

I brought back cuttings from Iowa last year and planted them. Used the growth tubes. They have already grown new leaves for this year. 

The Brianna is an awesome tasting grape. 4 seeds per grape with thick skins so yes using pectic enzyme is a must (no pun intended). It will produce many clusters of numerous tight grapes. The amount and size will increase thru year 7 producing a higher quantity than normal grapes. 

I have fermented Brianna using Lalvin yeasts and then fermented the skins on their own wild yeast. I pulled the skins after pressing, added pectic enzyme and sugar water making a secondary wine. It tastes exactly like the original juice. 

People who have tasted it say its like nothing else. Phenomenal flavor. 

Make sure you use thick enough wire and posts to support the weight as it becomes more and more bountiful over the years. Keep the excess leaves trimmed to allow sunlight and air to reach the grapes. You will need to trim and maintain vines very early spring. 

Rob on here grows Brianna so he can give you more technical and yield data. We picked Lacrosse which is a sister to the Brianna. It to is awesome. 

Good luck.


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## rob (Apr 25, 2013)

Right, as Steve mentioned they grow very fast sometimes 15 to 20 feet in one year. I prune mine back to 3 buds in the spring, last year was my 5th year with them and we picked over 7000 pounds off 500 plants. For some reason it is really hard to get all the juice when pressing, that is why Steve and I tried fermenting the skins.


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## rob (Apr 25, 2013)

Brianna wine is similar to a Riesling and has started to win several awards. The winery we sell ours to just won a double gold metal at the Nex Gen competion in California. This is a contest that was judged by only young people under 30 years old. These grapes and this wine is just getting started, you will see much more to come from Brianna


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## GreginND (Apr 25, 2013)

Rob and Steve, I'm curious how your "orange" wines with brianna came out. I have never had one fermented with the skins. Can you describe it a little bit more? 

I'm putting in 75 vines next month. Still debating on exact trellis but am leaning toward Rich's mod gcc. It's a vigorous grower around here and my super fertile soil will be a challenge. I think it will do well on high wires.


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2013)

Ron bought a bottle of his grape from the winery and actually our very own tasted better. 

I used Lalvin EC-1118 for the juice and wild yeast for the skins version. I back sweetened to two different gravitys .997 for a semi dry and 1.000 for the sweeter version. Served chilled. I even had a few bottles extra immediately after clearing and I back sweetened without sorbate. It was an amazing sparkling Brianna. 

We pressed the grapes with my dads fruit press. Juice ran off very quickly as each grape is busting with juice. Then we put all the skins in buckets, added a little sugar water with pectic enzyme and let them rest overnight. 

The evening of the next day it was like a swarm of bees in there. The wild yeast had kicked in and was underway. I dumped I believe 4 buckets each into those large tubs people use at picnics. I had three tubs in my kitchen going. 

I added some additional sugar water at @1.080. Probably 1 six gallon bucket for 4 buckets of skins. Now these skins still had a lot of meat in them so there was more juice available. 

Stirred frequently daily. Intense heat under the skins and lots of CO2 coming off. I removed the skins, or what was left of them @1.020-1.030. All the seeds had fallen to the bottom. Combined tubs to maybe two total and coveted with Saran Wrap. 

Initially I had added some yeast nutrient and at @1.000 I added some yeast energizer to help it ferment fully dry (below .990). All in all it took about 6 days to finish fermenting. 

Transferred to carboys, added sulfite and sparkolloid to clear. Allowed them to rest 6 weeks then racked off of sediment. Degassed, added pinch sulfite and aged 6+ months. I have just recently started bottling them. 

Robs Brianna, from exact "juice" batch was more acidic. I aged mine in a back room that gets very cold over winter. A lot of tartaric acid dropped out whereas his didn't as much. 

The color is a beautiful light golden and crystal clear. It tastes hood bone dry, dry, semi dry, sweet etc. whatever your liking. 

The Brianna grape has only been around since the 90's so many people do not know of it. It was developed in Northern Iowa for their climate and disease resistants. Rob could tell you what he uses on the bugs and diseases.


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## GreginND (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks Steve. Great information. I read your original post wrong. I see that you only used the skins for the second wine, not an initial fermentation then make a second wine. I am interested in just fermenting Brianna with the skins as an "orange" wine. Wonder if anyone has tried that?

I did a similar thing with King of the North this year (not my favorite grape). I lightly pressed the grapes and fermented the free run juice and to the skins with a lot of 'meat' left in them I added sugar water and fermented with the skins. The juice batch ended up being more acidic and the second wine has a little bit of harshness. I'll see how it ages out.


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## rob (Apr 25, 2013)

I am thinking if you ferment on the skins the wine will be to harsh. Brianna already has a high acid content. I guess it would be an experiment.


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## GreginND (Apr 25, 2013)

I don't think much of the acid is in the skins so it should have negligible effects on pH and TA. That would be mostly tannins and other things. That can be harsh. In your trials with using the skins in a second wine, did it extract much harshness from the skins?


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## rob (Apr 25, 2013)

Hard to tell if it did only because we added so much water it could have washed it out, what your thinking of doing sounds interesting, what do you hope for using the skins?


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2013)

There was no harshness on either wine version (juice and skins). It's something you can't describe you have to taste. Party at Robs house this weekend. He's got the first round.


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## rob (Apr 25, 2013)

Brianna Grape is Midwest’s New Tropical Fruit
May 3, 2012 by Matt Maniscalco Leave a Comment

When Acquaviva Winery in Maple Park, Illinois petitioned the Tax and Trade Bureau during 2007 to use the name Brianna for their wine labels, they found that only one other winery had petitioned for the name. From virtually anonymity just five years ago, Brianna is now growing in popularity all over the Midwest. Grape growers like this wine grape for its cold hardiness, surviving temperatures below -20F, and tolerating sweltering summer heat of up to 90F. Wine drinkers like it for its tropical aromas, notably pineapple, banana, and mango.
Brianna is a cold climate white grape variety created by the late Elmer Swenson (the Godfather of cold climate grapes) and named by Ed Swanson of Cuthills Vineyards in Pierce, Nebraska. It is an interspecific hybrid (V. labrusca and V. riparia). According to Lisa Smiley’s 2008 profile, Brianna yields medium to large size berries, thick-skinned and greenish-gold.
Brianna can be grown in a variety of soils. Mick McDowell of Miletta Vista Winery in St. Paul, Nebraska, says that while all three of his Nebraska Brianna growers have sandy to sandy loam soils, it is a versatile variety. “It offers tremendous opportunities as a varietal,” McDowell noted. He also states that it can tolerate Nebraska’s weather extremes. His grapes are grown in zone 4, where the temperatures drop to -10F on extreme occasions.
This from iowamGrape Growers
Username


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## grapeman (Apr 25, 2013)

Now you guys are posting in this thread. I was hoping you guys would jump in as I have limited experience with Brianna so far. Thanks


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## UBB (Apr 25, 2013)

I hope to have my first harvest of this variety this fall.. From what I've tasted and read about this grape I've excited about the wine it will make.


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2013)

Rob and I have blended some Brianna and its sister Lacrosse. Hope to be bottling this soon too. They taste very similar. 

I took a bottle of Brianna and added 1 oak chip for a few weeks to see how it would taste. Wife said no. It's better completely unpacked. Not even a hint of oak. 

When we were picking Brianna last fall we literally stood in one place and cut big thick clusters for 10-15 minutes. Our buckets filled quickly. When we pressed we did add some k-meta to help oxidation. It was an entire all day affair picking then pressing. We even used a large destemmed to speed things up.


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## grapeman (Apr 25, 2013)

It will be interesting to compare the Brianna to St. Pepin when I get enough Brianna for making full batches. It is hard to believe it is that much different than the St Pepin- except from what I see it has smaller clusters and doesn't yoeld as high as the St Pepin. I am probably just spoiled by the 25-30 pounds per vine from the St. Pepin. The small sample crop of them I had last year (Brianna) definitely has some pineapple to it, as does the ES 6-16-30 (Adalmiina). Elmer had a whole bunch of great whites he bred that still to this day any other hybrid varieties are hard pressed to surpass.


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2013)

It's a shame he is no longer alive to hear about what a great job he did and how it is growing.


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## Duster (Apr 25, 2013)

Excellent information guys, Thanks.
This is exactly what I wanted to hear.
Winemakingmakingtalk is truly the best source for information hands down!


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