Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[ibglowin]

Or perhaps get a mat like this at the entrance......

 

[grapeman]

I finally got one row of the new trellis system up I developed. Here is a picture of it to show the wire installation on the braces. It is 2 inch angle iron with a 12 inch brace to the post all set at a 60 degree angle. The angle is 30 inches long, so it give a two feet spread of the canopy. It is similar to GDC-Geneva Double Curtain, but one side is higher than the other to prevent shading fom one side to the other of the fruit.

Now that is taken care of, here are some more pictures for you all.

 

[Runningwolf]

Rich this is pretty cool but I have to ask, is this still all part of an experiment. When I ride through thousands of acres of vineyards around here I could not imagine them going through that kind of expense.

 

[grapeman]

Well a lot of the pictures didn't load the first time so I will try another post.

 

[grapeman]

 

[Runningwolf]

Really nice pictures. I did walk though one of the vineyards with the owner (I was getting used bottles there) and your grapes are much larger. AGGG...before Wade or Tom says anything what I meant is your vines are much further ahead. LOL

 

[grapeman]

Dan this is part of the training system trial I am doing at my vineyard with a Northeat SARE Grant.(Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education). The angles I fabricated for a total cost of about $5.00 per brace. This will potentially increase yield by 40-60%. This is a very minor expense compared to the whole picture. I will let the vineyards that grow thousands of acres for juice grow them how they wish. I am working towards increasing yield of wine grapes while maintaining equal or improving the quality.


If this system works out well, I would look at using it on all the varieties it is suited for. If not, there are other systems to investigate.

 

[Runningwolf]

I see what you're saying. For the smaller wineries/vineyards you can get so much more yield in less space. It doesn't take much to realize thereturnyou'll get back for the small investment over the years.

 

[ibglowin]

Those look like a lot of very HAPPY vines!

Great job Rich.

 

[Wade E]

Are you going to patent them?

 

[AlFulchino]

i agree...GREAT JOB!

 

[rrawhide]

Looks wonderful - lotsa grapes a'comin

rrawhide

 

[OilnH2O]

Looking good, Rich - with our late spring we're waaay behind you!

 

[BonnieJoy]

Rich,


That new trellis system looks dandy. Was this the system you're comparing to VSP? What varieties are you training on this new system?

 

[grapeman]

Hi Bonnie
That trellis is a totally new system to me. I compared a 4 arm-kniffen to the VSP and hadn't even dreamed up the new one yet.


It is being installed in my new training system trial. In that I am comparing 4 training systems
1)VSP
2)Top Wire Cordon
3)Scott Henry
4)the new system which is a modified GDC I have tentatively named Schuyler (pronounced sky-ler)for the town name.
There are 3 rows of each.


There are 4 varieties I am comparing them on
1) Petite Amie medium vigor white
2)St Pepin medium to high vigor white
3)Minnesota 1200 medium vigor red
4)Marquette medium to high vigor red




There are 9 of each variety in each of the 12 rows for a total of 108 vines each and an overall total of 432 vines.


The object of this year is to finish getting the trellis in soon and get the vines trained to each system and hardened off before fall. Then after pruning next spring, hopefully I can take a limited crop and some preliminary comparisons. I will continue data collection and comparisons for a couple years. This is an ambitious undertaking and hopefully I can stick with it. It is one of the largest trials of this type in the country involving cold hardy grapes and to this point is mainly privately (under)funded.

 

[fivebk]

Rich, Do you think that with my Geneva Double curtain system with a 4 ft spread will have problems with shading?

BOB

 

[grapeman]

Probably not Bob. I am limited by the 9 foot spacing I have with a tractor with six foot wheel spacing-outside to outside. I needed to develop a split canopy in a tight space.

 

[fivebk]

Thanks for the info

BOB

 

[grapeman]

Here we go again..................... Last year was a summer from heck- not that it was hot, but because it was wet and cool all summer. Now that summer is here, the rains continue, with rain again for the next six-7 days. The highs are supposed to drop into the 60's and 70's. It seems like almost an exact repeat of last year, but at least we are starting out farther along than last year at this point.


I had considered taking most of this week off from the normal jobs and concentrating on my own vineyard to catch up, but what is the point if it rains every day.


On the bright side, I can always work in the winery and there is plenty to do.

 

[ibglowin]

Send some our way. No rain (measurable) since back in early March. Although the weather prognosticators are predicting the start of monsoonal activity next week. Just about right on time to wash out your 4th of July picnic or camping trip.

You have no excuse for not posting pics of the new winery BTW if you have nothing to do in the vineyard!