I am new to wine making, not very new to grape growing.

[Musissa]

Hello,

We live in Utah, not far from Salt Lake City. Our summers are mostly dry and hot. Humidity is low which is good for grape vines growing. We have 1 Frontenac, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc, 2 Isabella and 1 Eastern Concord. All are producing nicely this season, so we plan to harvest our grapes and make our own wine (blend everything together) for the first time. We bought 5 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon juice from Double A last fall. My husband made wine, and we like it a lot. But our goal is to grow enough of good grapes and make many gallons of great wine for our own consumption. I am hoping to learn a lot here and share my knowledge with my husband.

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[ChuckD]

Welcome. There are many winemakers here with home vineyards. Making wine from your own grapes is very fulfilling.

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT! You've come to the right place!

FYI when you attach an image, look for "Insert ..." in the upper left corner of the image. Click on that, and below it will be "Full Image". Click that, and your image will be inline in your post.

As a group, we post a LOT of pictures!

 

[Musissa]

Welcome to WMT! You've come to the right place!

FYI when you attach an image, look for "Insert ..." in the upper left corner of the image. Click on that, and below it will be "Full Image". Click that, and your image will be inline in your post.

As a group, we post a LOT of pictures!

Thank you so much!

 

[Musissa]

Welcome. There are many winemakers here with home vineyards. Making wine from your own grapes is very fulfilling.

Right. I am a grower, and my husband is a wine maker. Thank you!

 

[David Violante]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[Rice_Guy]

welcome to WMT

You should have an easier time growing than us in high humidity country.

 

[Jovimaple]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[Musissa]

Welcome to WMT! You've come to the right place!

FYI when you attach an image, look for "Insert ..." in the upper left corner of the image. Click on that, and below it will be "Full Image". Click that, and your image will be inline in your post.

As a group, we post a LOT of pictures!

I edited, thanks a lot

 

[Hazelemere]

Hello,

We live in Utah, not far from Salt Lake City. Our summers are mostly dry and hot. Humidity is low which is good for grape vines growing. We have 1 Frontenac, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc, 2 Isabella and 1 Eastern Concord. All are producing nicely this season, so we plan to harvest our grapes and make our own wine (blend everything together) for the first time. We bought 5 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon juice from Double A last fall. My husband made wine, and we like it a lot. But our goal is to grow enough of good grapes and make many gallons of great wine for our own consumption. I am hoping to learn a lot here and share my knowledge with my husband.View attachment 115204

I'd keep Cab franc and Cab Sauvignon separate from Concord and Isabella.

 

[Musissa]

I'd keep Cab franc and Cab Sauvignon separate from Concord and Isabella.

Thank you! I will let my husband know. We were afraid there won't be enough of Cabs and Frontenac for making wine without adding the rest of the crop. One of our 2 Cab Sauvignon is a 1st year vine, no grapes on it of course. Main producers this year are 1 Concord and 2 Isabella. We will decide after harvesting everything and seeing how much of each kind we actually have (my husband is a very stubborn man and doesn't like to change his plans).

 

[Hazelemere]

Thank you! I will let my husband know. We were afraid there won't be enough of Cabs and Frontenac for making wine without adding the rest of the crop. One of our 2 Cab Sauvignon is a 1st year vine, no grapes on it of course. Main producers this year are 1 Concord and 2 Isabella. We will decide after harvesting everything and seeing how much of each kind we actually have (my husband is a very stubborn man and doesn't like to change his plans).

you can add a kit wine to your Cab-Frontenac

Lots of people here can help you do that once you weigh your Cabs-Frontenac and Isabella-Concord i.e. 2 wines

I don't make kit wines but have over 40 years ago but lots of people here do and will help you make decent wines out of all of your homegrown grapes. Adding labruscas to viniferas IMHO will destroy the viniferas. Labruscas that I have made taste good when they are made as fruit wine roses e.g. 8 lbs labruscas + 1 Imperial gallon water + 3 lb cane sugar.. You can even oak the Labruscas to make a tasty rose. Isabella-Concord is Labrusca.

 

[Musissa]

you can add a kit wine to your Cab-Frontenac

Lots of people here can help you do that once you weigh your Cabs-Frontenac and Isabella-Concord i.e. 2 wines

I don't make kit wines but have over 40 years ago but lots of people here do and will help you make decent wines out of all of your homegrown grapes. Adding labruscas to viniferas IMHO will destroy the viniferas. Labruscas that I have made taste good when they are made as fruit wine roses e.g. 8 lbs labruscas + 1 Imperial gallon water + 3 lb cane sugar.. You can even oak the Labruscas to make a tasty rose. Isabella-Concord is Labrusca.

Thank you so much for this message! I have to learn a lot of new things and get educated.

 

[mgmarty]

Well, another Utah wine maker! They’re a couple of us on here. Im just east of you in Riverton. I grow several varieties, a small vineyard of 72 vines. I make about 8 cases a year.
Like others have said, I would not blend in that concord.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Hello,

We live in Utah, not far from Salt Lake City. Our summers are mostly dry and hot. Humidity is low which is good for grape vines growing. We have 1 Frontenac, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc, 2 Isabella and 1 Eastern Concord. All are producing nicely this season, so we plan to harvest our grapes and make our own wine (blend everything together) for the first time. We bought 5 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon juice from Double A last fall. My husband made wine, and we like it a lot. But our goal is to grow enough of good grapes and make many gallons of great wine for our own consumption. I am hoping to learn a lot here and share my knowledge with my husband.View attachment 115204

Welcome to WMT.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Thank you so much for this message! I have to learn a lot of new things and get educated.

Read a lot of the threads on this site. Many good ones

 

[Musissa]

Well, another Utah wine maker! They’re a couple of us on here. Im just east of you in Riverton. I grow several varieties, a small vineyard of 72 vines. I make about 8 cases a year.
Like others have said, I would not blend in that concord.

Thank you for your advice!

We are on the border between Herriman and Riverton, not far from Foothills Elementary. On Nextdoor.com our neighborhood is called Riverman . We have a small backyard and a working line 1y.o. active intact German Shepherd who uses our lawn for run and play. So, all grapes (they are extremely poisonous for dogs) should be planted away from his playground and being watched constantly. We have a bigger front yard, but my husband refuses to put even a small barrier around it, and I am not going to grow any fruits or grapes there and attract children. We are going to add up to 12 vines next spring. So, I see your vineyard of 72 vines as a HUGE one!

We lived for 18.5 years in wine loving California (SF Bay Area), rented townhouse with almost no backyard and moved to Utah only 3 years ago. We have to grow our own grapes and make our own wine since it is not possible to order good wines online. There is a new, bigger store in Sandy, where we were looking for good Utah wines, but the inventory is very limited. Last fall we bought several expensive bottles of Utah wines made in Park City but didn't try them ourselves. They were a gift to our dog's breeder on the day we picked our puppy. The breeder lives with her husband and dogs as well as other animals on a ranch in California not far from Sacramento. They are simple hard-working people, and she loved our present a lot!!!

 

[Obbnw]

Thank you for your advice!

We are on the border between Herriman and Riverton, not far from Foothills Elementary. On Nextdoor.com our neighborhood is called Riverman . We have a small backyard and a working line 1y.o. active intact German Shepherd who uses our lawn for run and play. So, all grapes (they are extremely poisonous for dogs) should be planted away from his playground and being watched constantly. We have a bigger front yard, but my husband refuses to put even a small barrier around it, and I am not going to grow any fruits or grapes there and attract children. We are going to add up to 12 vines next spring. So, I see your vineyard of 72 vines as a HUGE one!

We lived for 18.5 years in wine loving California (SF Bay Area), rented townhouse with almost no backyard and moved to Utah only 3 years ago. We have to grow our own grapes and make our own wine since it is not possible to order good wines online. There is a new, bigger store in Sandy, where we were looking for good Utah wines, but the inventory is very limited. Last fall we bought several expensive bottles of Utah wines made in Park City but didn't try them ourselves. They were a gift to our dog's breeder on the day we picked our puppy. The breeder lives with her husband and dogs as well as other animals on a ranch in California not far from Sacramento. They are simple hard-working people, and she loved our present a lot!!!

I'm near the U.

I've got 10 malbecs, 9 tempranillos, 5 tannat and 4 baco noir.

They all produce well and will all make good wine. That said the malbecs are thriving, the baco noir are also doing well and ripen early, the tempranillos do ok but seem to be succeptable to powdery mildew damage. The tannats are growing well but have a long growing season and need a warm September and October to fully ripen.

Overall if I were to recommend just 1 variety it would be the malbec. I planted it because of the similarities of our elevation / climate to Argentina.

One thing I like about the different varieties is that they ripen at different times so I'm not overwhelmed. Plus I can finish one ferment in a bucket, move it to a carboy and reuse the bucket for the next ferment. The negative part of that is I'm picking grapes practically every weekend from labor day to Halloween.


FYI My soil is lakebed clays.

 

[Musissa]

I'm near the U.

I've got 10 malbecs, 9 tempranillos, 5 tannat and 4 baco noir.

They all produce well and will all make good wine. That said the malbecs are thriving, the baco noir are also doing well and ripen early, the tempranillos do ok but seem to be succeptable to powdery mildew damage. The tannats are growing well but have a long growing season and need a warm September and October to fully ripen.

Overall if I were to recommend just 1 variety it would be the malbec. I planted it because of the similarities of our elevation / climate to Argentina.

One thing I like about the different varieties is that they ripen at different times so I'm not overwhelmed. Plus I can finish one ferment in a bucket, move it to a carboy and reuse the bucket for the next ferment. The negative part of that is I'm picking grapes practically every weekend from labor day to Halloween.


FYI My soil is lakebed clays.

Thank you so much for very interesting and useful information! I need to learn a lot.