Greetings from AZ at 6,200 feet

[Crown_King_Robb]

Just found the forum and Im hoping to learn a lot and then share what I learn from my upcoming experiences. My name is Robb.

Back in November 2012, I planted 51 vines, 10 each of 5 varieties and then a mystery guest that was in the shipment.

My fledgling wine garden is located in fabulous Crown King, Arizona.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_King,_Arizona

We're at an elevation of 6200 ft. surrounded by Ponderosa Pine, Manzanita and Scrub Oak. We get a lot of bright sunshine here and the average total precipitation is at 28.47 inches (pretty high for AZ) I am collecting rain water off my roof into 2500 gallons of storage tanks dedicated to irrigation during the dry months before Monsoon.

I have a lot to learn ahead. I dont know of anyone else in our little town trying to grow wine but I have been following what I can from the Verde Valley growers who are at a slightly lower elevation, but similar in climate/weather.

Glad to be here and thank you !
Robb

 

[Julie]

Hi,

Welcome to WineMakingTalk.

 

[BobR]

Hi Robb and welcome! Sounds beautiful out there. You'll have to post some photos. Good luck on your grape growing. What types did you plant?

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

Thanks all !

Ill start an ongoing blog/thread after I come back from the weekend with new pictures. Things are turning green.

This all started in the Fall when I ordered some apple trees and blueberry bushes, and for the heck of it I ordered some Black Spanish and Blanc du Bois grapes too.

After they arrived and I had done more reading, and things started working out in the area I planted, I went ahead and ordered Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris.

My hope is that each variety will be about enough for 1 of the 5-6 gallon carboy-worth of grapes each, so I can use the easy-to-manage wine making kits, and make some variety.

Im not setting my aspirations too high, too soon though. Strictly hobby. Ill work with what I got and see what happens. Im in it to learn and enjoy.

 

[Runningwolf]

welcome aboard, we look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

I took some pictures this weekend. You can see I am dealing with some challenging terrain. I need to get the trellis posts in very soon too. I made my rows and plantings as straight as I could, but the hill is half boulders and rock outcroppings so I in many places I had to adjust accordingly.

2 years ago this hill side was a jungle of 6 foot high brush that you could not walk through and was a dangerous fire hazard. The slope faces East-South East and thats just what I have to work with.

Ill start a more proper blog thread in another section but just thought I would throw these here for now.

Thanks again for the welcome !
Robb

 

[snowgirl812001]

Welcome fellow AZ member!!

 

[ibglowin]

Looks like you are on your way! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[GEM]

Welcome aboard,

As one who just started a vineyard a year or so ago, I can tell you that the whole thing is exellerating, to say the least, and a lot of work. Watching them grow is almost mistical. They seem to grow and reach out every day. I notice that you are on a very steep slope. I have the same thing for about 200 of my vines, which are zinfandel. I planted them and am doing Head Pruned due to the steepness. I can work a head pruned easier than having a trellis system, VSP or whatever. Just a thought. Cheers, Gary in San Diego

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

GEM,

Thank you for bringing the Head Pruned method to my attention. I hadn't considered it but after reading up on the method some more, I can see where it would make sense on the hillside. Im going to give that some deep thought. Thank you !

 

[GEM]

You bet, I am sure that I would have a lot of trouble getting spraying, pruning, etc. done on my slope if I had a regular trellis system. Everything needs to be done by hand. You might want to talk to some of the folks in the Jorome area who are on slopes to see what the recommend. Keep us informed. Gary

 

[Gr8zins]

Hey Robb,

Welcome to the group. Mighty ambitious project I must say! I have been to the Sonoita and Wilhelm wineries while on vacation out in AZ (leave it to me to sniff out a winery). Surprisingly good wines out there so you must be pumped! All the best to you on this endeavor. -Mark

 

[jamesngalveston]

are you close to blue arizona

 

[snowgirl812001]

are you close to blue arizona

Was this meant for me?

 

[jamesngalveston]

nah... i know where vail is...a buddy had a pistachio farm close to there.

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

Wow. I had to look up Blue, AZ cause as much as I have been thru the state I didnt remember where Blue was.

CK is about 250 miles West, as the raven flies from Blue.

Blue, AZ is over on the border with NM, in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.

Crown King is between Phoenix and Prescott , more towards the center of the state, and is in the Prescott National Forest. CK is a two hour drive North of Phoenix, but the last 27 miles is all rough dirt roads up the mountain along the old railroad bed they used in the mining days for hauling ore.

The elevation is about the same as Blue , but CK gets about 6 inches more annual precipitation.


After doing a little looking around on the WMT site, I am going to try to make some Apfelwein, Grapefruit wine and some Prickly Pear wine this Summer and get some fermenting practice in before I have grapes to work with in a few years. We have plenty of apple trees in CK , a huge Ruby red tree in my PHX backyard, and mountainsides of cactus on the way up, to collect from. I remember drinking Apfelwein in Frankfurt am Main a few times and I liked it quite a bit. We have frequent neighborhood get-togethers where I will have lots of opinions and inputs on my results too. Most of us are well-traveled and enjoy our drinks

Im getting kind of excited about all the opportunity to experiment and adventure, the more I look into things.

 

[snowgirl812001]

nah... i know where vail is...a buddy had a pistachio farm close to there.

haha, sorry, i read that wrong. using my phone isn't the best idea sometimes

 

[Crown_King_Robb]

We had our first sprinkle of rain in several months on Saturday. Just enough to make you question if it was rain or if someone was spitting on you though. Just a couple weeks away from the monsoon rains now.

Started a batch of Ed Wort's Apfelwein this weekend. I followed the recipe for this batch. My very first attempt. Like 6th grade science class all over again. haha.

Im still working on the cellar space, so I had to put this batch in the basement. its cool and stable down there and the tile floor is usually cold to the touch.

After the picture I put newspaper around the bottle to block what little sunlight gets through the windows down there.

Getting to be fun !

 

[GEM]

Robb,

I hope things go well with your vineyard planting as well as your winemaking. We lived in Tempe for a number of years and had a place up in Pine, which is north of Payson. It was great to get out of the heat of Phoenix, for sure. Visit some of the winerys and vineyards in the Jerome area. They have some very good wine and I am sure you can pick up some great tips for your own endeavors. Cheers from San Diego, Gary