Hi winemakers

[Pat57]

Hi folks, I am going to be putting in about 35-40 vines this spring to start my own backyard vineyard. I live in Upper Michigan in zone 4 (almost zone 5) and want to produce several full bodied red wines. I like wines that are not too dry, but definitely not sweet either. My choices for grape varieties are limited because of the climate here. The grapes I have tenatively decided on are:

Marquette
Petite Pearl
Leon Millot
Foch
Frontenac
Baltica
Golubok
Zweigelt
Landot Noir
Sangiovese

Anyone have any other suggestions or info would be appreciated.
thanks a lot, Pat

 

[GreginND]

I think you'll definitely be good with the Marquett, Petite Pearl (my two favorites for reds) and Frontenac. I doubt you could grow sangiovese there but I really don't know much about it. Depending on how cold you get in zone 4 the others may be ok. I know Grapeman grows Leon Millot in NY where he is zone 5 bordering zone 4. If you really are capable of -30°F then some of the other varieties may be spotty.

 

[Pat57]

Greg, sorry about the Sangiovese, I meant Sabrevois. Yeah, I think its a bit cold here for Sangiovese. We are probably capable of -30F here, but I've lived here all my life and I don't really remember much colder than -25F, maybe -26F. Further inland I've seen -40F but even then only very rarely.

We generally get quite a bit of snow here, so I may roll the dice with a few varieties that are for warmer climates and try either laying them down for winter or building some kind of shelter for them. I would love to be able to grow Merlot here, one of my favorite reds.

Pat

 

[GreginND]

Ah, yes. Sabervois would grow for you. But I personally think it makes mediocre wine. If it were I, I would focus my efforts on fewer varieties that have the best qualities. For me that would be Marquette and Petite Pearl. I might grow frontenac because it will grow well and can make an ok red and decent rose. If you can grow Leon Millet I think that's a nice grape too.

Where are you located? I know there are some wineries in the Eastern half of the UP along the northern Lake Michigan shore and a couple on the Lake Superior shore. If any of them are growing grapes they may have some good advice for you.But I've never been to them. Incidentally I grew up in SW Michigan near Kalamazoo. My father is from Calumet. Pretty country up in the Keewenau.

 

[Pat57]

I'm in Rapid River, in south cental Upper Michigan. I think you may be right about only concentrating on 3-4 varieties of grapes, but I'll probably go ahead and try 5-6 just for fun. Vines are cheap.

There is a tiny winery in Bark River, about 30 miles from here that has Marquette vines growing, but I don't know if they've actually produced a crop yet. I plan on visiting them this summer to see what they have growing. There is another small winery in Manistique, but I don't think they grow grapes. And there is another winery, maybe 2, on the Garden Peninsula, about 20 miles southeast of here that grow grapes also I believe, kind of amazing really when you think about the low population density around here.

Pat

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Pat57]

Welcome aboard!!!

thanks, great forum

 

[BobR]

Welcome Pat57! I probably have been through your area a couple of times, but just didn't pay attention to the town. Too much beauty up there, especially following the Lake Michigan shoreline. We have spent the last years going on vacation to Mackinac Island. We leave our car in St. Ignace while on the island. A few times on our trip home, we followed US 2 across the UP and then down US41 to Green Bay. Beautiful up there, but I don't see how you handle the cold and snow.