Maine vineyard

[bilbo-in-maine]

Richard - re: veraison, still no color on anything here. I include update photos of the vineyard a month after the last photos I posted.

To show just how green my berries still are:

Three overall views of the vineyard rows:

Views of each variety by row - note that the rows get progressively shorter due to site constraints:

Frontenac at the near end, Landot Noir at the far end:

Marechal Foch at the near end, St. Pepin at the far end:

A row of St. Croix:

Last row is Frontenac Gris:

View of the first row from the Landot Noir end, garage in the background:

Shifting to the left a little, with the house in the background and the granite quarry below the vineyard:

We have an arbor for four varieties of table grapes on the far side of the house. The Japanese beetles are decimating them, along with all the roses, but I don't want to spray with Sevin because our bee hives are also quite near the same area. Up in the vineyard I've sprayed twice to control the beetles and have noticed some minor "collateral damage", mainly some bumble bees, which I hate to lose, and some spiders on the vines. We probably lost a few honey bees too because they found the white clover that is so thick in the vineyard aisles, and each time I spray I can see drift of the spray settle down on the grass. It is a hard trade-off, but I know just how much damage the beetles will do. My feeling is that in year two the vines still need to put on as much leaf area as possible to continue root development and store carbs for winter. But hey, maybe with global warming accelerating, winter won't be as harsh as we're used to!

Some vines have been dropping leaves that have withered and died. They are all located close to the trunks on the new cordons that I trained earlier this summer. Anyone else seeing leaf drop also?
Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[Waldo]

Looking good Bilbo....There are some of the pictures that I see only the x though.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Waldo - yeah, i know. Something is going on that's making it difficult to upload pics. I'm still wrestling with it.

To anyone who is curious, I apologize for being unable to finish uploading the photos this evening. The forum server seems to be misbehaving and is being extremely slow. I will continue in the morning.
Edited by: bilbo-in-maine

 

[geocorn]

Try only loading 4 pictures at a time. The server seems to handle it better.

 

[grapeman]

You have a really nice vinyeard going Bill. The vines look like they will be giving a vry nice crop next year if mother nature and the wildlife cooperate. How close is your node spacing on the vine cordons?


Now go sit down in those chairs and relax for a few minutes!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

I couldn't successfully edit my post above to add the final three photos - blocked from the server for some reason. Here they are, just for the record, although out of context with the narrative above, they are just pictures.

Richard - The node spacings vary. I had to go out and specifically look to answer your question. In general, spacings range from 3 to 5 inches and just a few may be around 6 inches. Cordon arms will be 3.5 feet after final pruning next spring. It will be interesting and fun to see what develops in the way of optimum shoot numbers per arm that each variety will support.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Very nice Bilbo....Thanks for sharing...Will be looking forward to seeing them next year.

 

[grapeman]

The node spacing sounds pretty good Bill. It is easier to remove excess shoots next year than have the nodes too far apart and not have enough shoots in case of a hard winter. That's why I asked the question. It would be interesting to note the spacing of each variety on average and keep a record how cold it gets and how may viable buds are left each year along with how many bunches per shott, etc.


Keep up the great work and thanks for the pictures when you get a chance.

 

[pizzaerick]

I know less about grapes than I do wine, so take it with a grain of salt...

Bilbo, your vines are still really young, I wouldn't expect much or anything this year.

Around here, in just the last 2 weeks, the Front, and St C have gone from green to deep red, and the sweetness is coming through. It was just that fast!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Interesting - I've been seeing some slight PM on the Frontenac varieties. They are advertised as having some resistance to the disease, and are virtually immune to downy. They are the only variety I have showing signs. Since I won't be taking a crop this year (I left just a few clusters for fun) I will break out the sulfur. I hope I can report later that it is successful. Anyone else have a similar situation?
Bill

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

I have topped the vines twice during the summer to control upward growth. Right now there is new growth from the latest cuts. On both Frontenac and Frontenac Gris the new growth includes small flower clusters! There are none on the other three varieties even though several of them have more vigorous vegetative growth. Frontenac seem to be extremely vigorous.

 

[grapeman]

I have run into the new clusters forming also. They are only developing on the vines trained VSP. There were cluster I trimmed tody everywhere from blossoms to pea size fruit. I have also noticed most of the vines are really showing signs of hardening off. It's a good thing with the fall weather arriving!

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

So you think VSP training has something to do with flowering this late? Were you finding clusters on other varieties than Frontenac? I would like to know more about that. If nothing else, a VSP trained vineyard is certainly a lovely sight. Regarding hardening off, I have leaf death occuring at the low wire (base of the vertical shoots), but new growth happening at the tops of the shoots. Cordons are turning brown, as are the lower portions of the shoots. I'm kind of looking forward to leaf drop and dormancy so I can clean things up and put down some soil amendment and rotted manure for next season.

 

[grapeman]

I think it is because the VSP on these young vines kind of forces new growth after the initial shoot growth early on. Not sure why they fruit , but I have seen it on three varieties-Leon Millot, Chardonel and a few on the Frontenac. I didn't hedge my VSP this year because I feel it would force too may high laterals that would develop late and deplete some of the root reserves. My vines look a little raggedy without being trimmed- with some shoots going up to the top and back down to the ground. Some shoots follow the top wire and are 15 feet long. If I was fruiting these heavy, I think it would keep that kind of growth in check.


Did you notice that I was able to get 120 pounds of Marquette grapes? They are very juicy and have a very pronounced pepper and cherry scent. Acidity is moderate although I haven't tested it yet. I have 50 of them coming next spring and it will give me a head start on practicing with this one.I think the grape I am probably most impressed with at this point for our location is Noiret. I had to collect a 1000 grape sample of the fruit from the replication panels. They have very nice clusters- semi-compact and large. The berries are medium sized and the fruit is excellent even though we are leaving them hanging a while longer. They have a ton of flavors that all lean towards vinifera. Plenty of tannins but not ovrpowering and just the right touch of acidity. There is probably about 15 pounds per vine in year three(the Marquette averaged 10). I'll keep you informed as to how well it handles the winters in colder years- so far no problems.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

In reading a little about Noiret, it mentions a possible need to graft to resistant rootstock. Are the test vines grafted or on their own roots? The wine potential does sound very good. I will be curious to hear more about its cold-hardiness. Not as good as Foch apparently, and Foch is probably my least hardy variety. I will also want to hear your tales of fermenting your Marquette.

 

[grapeman]

So far the Noiret at this site seems to be handling itself well on it's own roots. If it was a concern, it is available on multiple types of rootstock. Cold hardiness is my main concern since it is fruitful the following year only down to about 15-17 below zero F.

 

[NorthernWinos]

-15* to -17* is a walk in the park compared to what it can get up here on de-tundra....we can easily get -40* some years...so growing grapes is almost a dream.


The ones I have are the hardiest ones I can find.....I do grow 5 tender vines on wire cattle panels, lay them down and cover with straw, the straw mostly collects the snow [if there is any] for insulation.


Last year we didn't get much snow. the Edelweiss and Swenson Red had produced bounties last year...this year they were slow recovering and didn't produce much...but really put on a lot of vegetative growth...so the roots must be okay...


Already anxious for next year.

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Well, folks, here is the 2007 harvest from the Maine vineyard!

Early in the summer I left a few bunches on the Frontenac vines just for fun. I decided to pick today, the last of our unseasonably warm weather I'm afraid.

The numbers:
weight of fruit picked (drum roll).75 lb
Brix23.2
pH3.26

It took me about ten minutes to destem by hand, and another two minutes to crush with a fork. If things are this easy with a full harvest, I can't wait!

Here's the fruit:

After destemming:

Finally, the crush:

Now the must is cold soaking down in the crawl space, aka my wine cellar, at around 55 degrees. I added a tiny amount of k-meta and equally tiny amount of pectic enzyme. On Monday I will warm it up and add a little of the Montagnac Vieux Chateau d'Oc that is about ready to be stabilized. I figure there are still lots of yeasts ready to do another round with something sweet. I'll repost a little later.

 

[grapeman]

Good job! It must have been a piece of cake using that equipment with these, but I want to be there next year when you crush them all with a fork!

What size carboy you using for this batch. I figure you will get about a cup of juice when you press. Your numbers are fairly good for you. What recipe are you using?

 

[Waldo]

Be careful bilbo that you do not exceed the maximum allowable amount of wine you can make.