Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[grapeman]

Here is a cluster from a three year old Frontenac on the left on VSP. On the right or below if it wraps if a year old Frontenac cluster on 4 Arm Kniffen -it is about twice as big on average.

Notice the looseness of the cluster. These had much better air movement around the berries and they got much higher brix and less acid as well as being totally disease free and clean of any rots.

 

[AlFulchino]

rich you have three pictures...are we comparing picture 3 versus 1 and 2?

the results sound impressive

 

[AlFulchino]

also what is the average weight of clusters w both methods?

 

[grapeman]

2 and 3 are the same cluster just one showing up a bit closer. I haven't tabulated those statistics yet. It seems I am still a bit busy. I need to pick and weigh the third variety tomorrow. I have been picking and processing steady for a week now. Then I need to start pressing reds, again. The real figures will need to wait a few weeks, but they will come. I spent all day today crushing and pressing. Dang, I think I will need a bladder press soon. It takes so long pressing tons with the screww press that sometimes I get de-pressed, but realize it needs doing so I press on.

 

[AlFulchino]

i hear ya...we spoke of the same thing here today..when you routinely press tons the ratchet press has its tiresome moments...and you really cannot go past 2/3's full even on a 45# press or else it just leaves too much juice in there.

we have one more pressing of reds to do next week and we are done...all is harvested

i will be waiting on your info vis-a0vis the two trellis systems...i am curious about something.....you have a difference in the age of the vines....i am wondering what your cluster count was on each style and IF THAT had an effect on the cluster a size of your younger frontenac vine and the brix and acid level...thoughts on that?

 

[grapeman]

Al, the trial vines were the same age. I just didn't have a picture of the VSP Frontenac handy at the time so I showed you the three year old. I can tell you there is a significant size difference between the 4 arm and the VSP. I compared them as closely as possible, being in the same block and same row. I know many feel the VSP should give better grapes, but I found at least in this case, the 4 arm gave a much higher yield of higher quality grapes. Let me tell you it is challenging making a single batch of wine using grapes with so much variation in them.


So far all I can tell you about the LaCrosse part of the trial is that the 4 arm yielded just double the TWC- makes sense. The juice is very similar in brix and acid. I will take twice the yield of equal quality any day.


Hopefully I can get all the Leon Millot in tomorrow. As an observation of them I can tell you the yield is obviously higher and the berries twice as big with 4 arm, resultin in a much larger cluster and I am assuming higher yield.


This has been a fun project and the results striking and somewhat surprising. Just don't read too much into a single year trial with limited replication. I will say that I believe the trial justifies continuation and expansion.

 

[AlFulchino]

thanks for the clarification......its all great information......good luck as you finish up this yr

 

[OilnH2O]

Just my 2 cents -- everything looks great. It is fun to follow the progress. And, I very much appreciate your taking time out of the pressing/crushing to post these pic's.

Thank you!

Dave

 

[Catrys]

I just finished reading this thread from beginning to end (not all in one sitting, of course

). I am so impressed by your vineyard, Appleman. And, to think you do it all while having a separate day job and the work at Willsboro. Amazing!

 

[grapeman]

Thank you for reading Catrys. I hope you learned a thing or two along the way. If nothing else maybe you learned the most important winemaking task- Patience. In this case patience a nd persistance to get through all of it! Lately I have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes with making wine from this years crop.

 

[xanxer82]

I may have to give you a call when I'm setting up my own vineyard.
Great thread, it's fulll of useful information.

 

[kvelkov]

I've been reading this thread for a few months. I think I've gone through the whole thing twice at this point. It
's amazing the amount of useful information one can find in it. I think it already needs an index page and maybe a table of contents!

 

[grapeman]

Thanks for the comments guys. I realize it has grown quite large and may be hard to find things in. I had the idea a year or so ago to shrink a copy down and delete all the replies making it smaller and easier to navigate. I got too much negative feedback about me trying to make it all about me, which was never the intent, so I deleted the post.

 

[Catrys]

I definitely did learn a thing or two...or possibly 200... while reading this thread. My family has been tossing around the idea of planting some vines, and this really helps me understand the kind of dedication and patience required with a vineyard.

 

[grapeman]

It has been a while since I posted here so I figured I would update the post a bit.


Since I last posted here, I have gotten preliminary approval from the Town to proceed with a small Farm Winery here. I am remodeling my old barns to accomodate the winery and it is a lot of work because the barns were for a dairy. My current mini-winery is in the old Milkroom of the barn because it was semifinished off and had running water.


My wine for this year is in there while I work on the future winery. It continues to age and clear and has gotten too cold to finish up mlf so that will finish in the spring. Things are cold stabilizing right now and the whites are getting quite sparkling for the most part.


Yesterday and today I framed in a room for bottle storage prior to sale. It will hold about 1500-2000 cases of finished wine. The room next to that will begin as a multipurpose room and may end up as a tasting room. The room behind that will be the winery for the next few years and then be for bulk aging in barrels or flextanks.


One of these days I will get a few pictures, but this time of year progress is slow because I need to wait for warmer days here and there to work.

 

[AlFulchino]

how do you plan to heat?

 

[Runningwolf]

Appleman, just one disappointing fact. I wish I was near by to (voluntarily) help you along and learn as you grow. The whole process from farm to winery is very interesting. Maybe your all purpose room could be a meeting room for a local wine club. The price...helping out on bottling day!

 

[Wade E]

I didnt know you could stop MLF and then finish again later,well figure that can happen like any other fermentation but is it easier to restart MLF then a normal fermentation? Does that mean you are going to keep the S02 levels down or not add any at all till then?

 

[grapeman]

Wade the cold weather renders the mlf inactive and it just resumes when the temps come back up in the spring. I don't bring the S02 levels up until it has finished, but the cold weather keeps the nasties at bay also. Al I am just using the little heater to keep the wine just above freezing. In the future I will put in some type of a more permanent heat.

 

[grapeman]

Winter is still going strong here, well actually it just began about a motnth ago. I get antsy this time of year being cooped up in the office most of the day. What do you guys do to outwait winter?