I live in the Chicago suburbs and would like to grow two types of grapes (one for red wine another for white) and I wanted to grow cold-hardy, disease resistant varieties that made good wine and good table grapes. After pouring over various websites, I think I've arrived at picking Saint Croix and Beaumont on 5BB rootstock. I wondered if any of the experienced people here saw any issues that might come up with those choices or had suggestions for grapes they thought were superior for those criteria (multiple uses, cold-hardiness, disease resistance)?
I'd also considered Swenson Red instead of Beaumont, if only because Beaumont seems to have little available data on it, whereas Swenson Red is in commercial vineyards and research fields in cold regions like Minnesota and Iowa already.
I'd also considered Swenson Red instead of Beaumont, if only because Beaumont seems to have little available data on it, whereas Swenson Red is in commercial vineyards and research fields in cold regions like Minnesota and Iowa already.