Anyone have their own vineyard?

[smurfe]

Does anyone here have their own vineyard and grow your own grapes, or fruits for wines for that matter? I have been thinking of planting some Muscadine vines as these are the only type I can realistically grow in South Louisiana without basically setting up camp next to the vines and nurturing them every minute. I would like to hear about your experiences if you grow your own crop.

Smurfe

 

[Sacalait]

Really depends on what you classify a vineyard. 29 muscadine vines

 

[smurfe]

Really depends on what you classify a vineyard. 29 muscadine vines

I consider a vineyard growing your own vines and making your own wine from your own fruits in an amount that satisfies your needs. I bet you can get a lot of wine out of 29 vines. I was considering planting 4-5 vines. Enough to make maybe 2-3 five gallon batches a year.

Smurfe

 

[dloftus]

I have started a vineyard

I have started my own vineyard and will be growing mostly fresh fruit muscadines, but the cross pollinators I'm using are good for wine making. That's why I joined this list ... to get info on wine making. I have done beer in the past and a few wine kits, but not from fresh grapes (well they are frozen right now waiting to be processed).

Right now I'm up to about 190 vines and I'll be planting another 120 this year. At that point, I'll be about half way planted. I'm looking for my vineyard to help out with retirement income. I retire in about 4 years and I wanted to get started so I would have something to sell by the time I finally leave this job.

Here are two galleries of photos of the vineyard. If you have any questions, just let me know, but I'm still learning myself.

http://www.pbase.com/dloftus/vineyard
http://www.pbase.com/dloftus/vineyard_year_3

 

[FentonCellars]

Funny, I've made my own wine now (1 batch) and read WineMaker magazine and sometimes I wonder how I put my pants on in the morning. It dawned on me while sitting in bed reading next to the Mrs. that my parents in southern VT have wild concord grapes growing out of control next to the front lawn. Who knows how much it creates per year, but heck, I will be asking for them this next year that is for sure!

So, with my new realization, how much grapes does it take for a 5 gallon batch of wine?

 

[Sacalait]

I think a lot depends on the acid content of the grapes. I know you can't make a pure muscadine wine because of the high acid content. You might want to go to Jack Kellers recipe site for more info.

 

[smurfe]

I was gonna suggest Jack Kellers site as well. From what I read there, it takes 6-12 pounds per gallon depending on the type of wine you want in the end. Dry vs. dessert. Here is a link to check.

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques10.asp

Smurfe

 

[lockwood1956]

I have my own vines planted

I have Rondo, Recichensteiner, and 1 each of...Pinot noir, chardonnay, triomphe, siegerebbe and black hamburgh 64 vines in total (started out with 75) First crop due this year)

see here
http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1021

really exited about the 2007 vintage.

We don't have the rodent/deer/racoon problems that you have over there. We also have less trouble with botrytis, powdery and downy mildew too. However we have more problems with not enough sunshine hours.


OH and I have one Cabernet vine under glass that I took cuttings from last yeasr, and hope to have several offspring to plant next year.

 

[cpfan]

OOOH...siegerebbe...I'm jealous. There's a couple of wineries in the North Okanagan (BC Canada) that do this grape. Nice gewurztraminer like wine. Not sure when (or even if), I'll make it there this year.

Steve

 

[bruno]

I live in northern Michigan and have 2 acres I'm thinking of converting to a vineyard. I'll be retiring in approx 3 years. Still in the exploration states, but my plot is gentle north to south sloping and was previously a corn field, but hasn't been worked in about 10 years. Looking for all the start-up advice I can get.

 

[Kywinedoc]

Greetings from Kentucky,
I thought I would jump right in here. I've got a three year old, one acre vineyard but had been using stake support and this year decided to put up a trellis. Believe me, it would have been easier to do the trellis when the vines were young. Too late now, we just have to make some adjustments. The posts are up and I have most of the equipment. I've been researching the types of tensors and am still a little confused about that.
Smurfe, You might go online to your university department for recommendations on the best varieties to try. I went to our University site and got great info on the best varieties including their disease resistance, how to plant, use of the fruit, etc. I now have 28 varieties that I am experimenting with. Less than one third are mature enough to get grapes this year, so for most of them I won't be much help until next year at least.
I do have a question. Have any of you found a cheap way to keep deer out? I'm about ready to get my bow out of storage and have some fresh meat this winter. We do have to protect these endangered plant species of ours.
Andy H

 

[openwheel]

I just planted 50 Riesling and 50 Shiraz vines in central Kentucky. To bad I will not get anything out of them for 3-4 years. Lucky I have a friend that has mature vines. I will more than likely add 50 - 100 vines next year.

 

[bruno]

For the deer problem, check out deerbusters.com. They sell vinyl type deer fences, the cost seems reasonable. I ordered samples of the fencing on their website and it looks like something I may go with.

 

[B-well4200]

Grapes In Georgia?

Hey, I am in middle GA with terrible humidity. Is it possible to grow grapes in this type of climate? Is there anyone from this region who has had any success?

 

[Racer]

I'm in Il. so I can't help you too much. http://www.georgiawinecountry.com/main.asp See if any of the vineyards are close by and check them out. Most vineyards around me are real easy going about answering questions on starting to grow grapes.

 

[bruno]

I spent this summer prepping my field for planting next May. For the deer fence, I used 12 gauge wire strung at one foot intervals up to 7-8' on the average. The wire was somewhat invisible, so I hung yellow construction tape at intervals so the deer could see it. So far, not a single deer has breached my perimter. The first night after stringing the north-south run, it looks like a deer ran into the wire, and I had to make some adjustments. After that, I added the yellow tape, and now they know it's there and to avoid the area.

 

[kitten]

i never considered what i have a vinyard.....especiall as im just starting this... but i have raspberry, blackberry bushes i plan to make wine from. i have wine grapes grownig and will find out what variety they are this summer, lots of elderberry thaat i will make wine from and a nice size strawberry patch that is screaming to be fermented. my grandmother.. who lives next door, also has apple trees, cherry trees, peach trees, red and black currants, rhubarb, and 2 concord vines that she told me i am welcome to ferment at will.... so i will be busy just trying to keep up with everything

 

[Sacalait]

Sounds more like you have a wineyard rather that a vineyard. I've got muscadines (30), pear trees (4), blackberries (many) and pomegranate (40 immature plants).

 

[kitten]

hey i just like to have all my fruity bases covered lol

 

[myakkagldwngr]

I hope to plant a few vines here at home. I understand that you can't grow many varieties here in Florida. I would at least like to grow enough to have some of my own grapes to use while making other blends.
Any suggestions?