What grapes are you growing??

[ohiowino]

My dad has 7 old concord vines that have a ton of grapes this year in Ohio. Not sure what can be done with concord other than a sweet wine. I have 2 new vines that just had a few clusters this year...I forget variety, makes a rose type wine I think.

 

[CK55]

My dad has 7 old concord vines that have a ton of grapes this year in Ohio. Not sure what can be done with concord other than a sweet wine. I have 2 new vines that just had a few clusters this year...I forget variety, makes a rose type wine I think.

You can make wine from Concord, it doesn't necessarily have to be sweet but it will be intensely grapey in flavor. If I recall you can find something couple of videos on the topic on YouTube.

You should plant more grapes if you can, just do some research into what will grow where you live.

My area is unique in that it has a mix of elevations sea level and some mountain tops and hills. So with that Riesling will grow at lower elevations and on hilltop which see some fog you can grow Pinot and Chardonnay. As well as any Rhone varietals. But my climate is identical to Rhone. I have planted Merlot pretty much to blend with my cab, or make a single varietal wine I enjoy warm climate Merlot more than cool climate. It tends to have greater fruit flavors.

 

[shrewsbury]

Vermilion, OH
less than a mile from lake erie
zone 6A

180 vidal blanc - 120 are in third season, 60 are in second season
90 delaware - planted this spring

long term goal is icewine

 

[CK55]

Vermilion, OH
less than a mile from lake erie
zone 6A

180 vidal blanc - 120 are in third season, 60 are in second season
90 delaware - planted this spring

long term goal is icewine

Sounds good . I've been thinking of adding Grenache to my vineyard.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

America, Buffalo, and Concord. Next year I add Sheridan. Most are America with others to help with fertilization.

The goal is an American Port.

PS. And one Neptune just for the table.

 

[garymc]

I grow, in order of quantity, Delicious, Tara, Ison, Triumph, Eudora, Majesty, Darlene, Supreme, Unknown, and Big Red. For those of you scratching your heads and thinking WTH? Yes, Heck. These are muscadines, native to the southeastern U. S. The source of America's first commercial wine. They haven't been bred and selected for thousands of years for winemaking, so they don't compare well to vinifera grapes for winemaking, especially if the standard used to compare is vinifera wine. They have 40 chromosomes as opposed to the 38 in all the other grapes. Yes, that make viniferas the retarded cousin. I grow them because they are immune or resistant to most grape diseases, fungus, and insects. I have never sprayed insect spray or fungicide on them. I have a couple of producing vines that are not on trellises. Just growing there on the ground. Right next to the dirt, bugs, humidity, etc. They are also not bothered by squirrels or birds. Opossums, skunks, and raccoons are the only serious predators I'm likely to encounter. Muscadine vines produce from 40 pounds to 200 pounds of grapes per vine and prefer a spacing of 20 feet. I didn't start growing them for the purpose of winemaking, but saw that as a means of preserving the fruit for year round consumption. They are one of the superfoods (I also grow 2 other superfood berries I make wine with, elderberries and aronia.) I have somewhere in the range of 60 vines.

 

[CK55]

I grow, in order of quantity, Delicious, Tara, Ison, Triumph, Eudora, Majesty, Darlene, Supreme, Unknown, and Big Red. For those of you scratching your heads and thinking WTH? Yes, Heck. These are muscadines, native to the southeastern U. S. The source of America's first commercial wine. They haven't been bred and selected for thousands of years for winemaking, so they don't compare well to vinifera grapes for winemaking, especially if the standard used to compare is vinifera wine. They have 40 chromosomes as opposed to the 38 in all the other grapes. Yes, that make viniferas the retarded cousin. I grow them because they are immune or resistant to most grape diseases, fungus, and insects. I have never sprayed insect spray or fungicide on them. I have a couple of producing vines that are not on trellises. Just growing there on the ground. Right next to the dirt, bugs, humidity, etc. They are also not bothered by squirrels or birds. Opossums, skunks, and raccoons are the only serious predators I'm likely to encounter. Muscadine vines produce from 40 pounds to 200 pounds of grapes per vine and prefer a spacing of 20 feet. I didn't start growing them for the purpose of winemaking, but saw that as a means of preserving the fruit for year round consumption. They are one of the superfoods (I also grow 2 other superfood berries I make wine with, elderberries and aronia.) I have somewhere in the range of 60 vines.

Cool, Im not sure what i will get from my grapes, but i can tell you that my 40 year old Criolla Vines are managing to produce a pretty high yield considering they were dry grown with next to no water for the past 15 years and nobody managed to trim them down or even take care of them.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

I grow, in order of quantity, Delicious, Tara, Ison, Triumph, Eudora, Majesty, Darlene, Supreme, Unknown, and Big Red. For those of you scratching your heads and thinking WTH? Yes, Heck. These are muscadines, native to the southeastern U. S. The source of America's first commercial wine. They haven't been bred and selected for thousands of years for winemaking, so they don't compare well to vinifera grapes for winemaking, especially if the standard used to compare is vinifera wine. They have 40 chromosomes as opposed to the 38 in all the other grapes. Yes, that make viniferas the retarded cousin. I grow them because they are immune or resistant to most grape diseases, fungus, and insects. I have never sprayed insect spray or fungicide on them. I have a couple of producing vines that are not on trellises. Just growing there on the ground. Right next to the dirt, bugs, humidity, etc. They are also not bothered by squirrels or birds. Opossums, skunks, and raccoons are the only serious predators I'm likely to encounter. Muscadine vines produce from 40 pounds to 200 pounds of grapes per vine and prefer a spacing of 20 feet. I didn't start growing them for the purpose of winemaking, but saw that as a means of preserving the fruit for year round consumption. They are one of the superfoods (I also grow 2 other superfood berries I make wine with, elderberries and aronia.) I have somewhere in the range of 60 vines.

I have been thinking of adding a muscadine to my collection. I'm just too far North for most varieties, but you've rekindled my interest. It looks like Nesbitt will survive here. What do you think?

We make trips to North Carolina and scuppernong/muscadine grapes are big there. And they make wine!

 

[garymc]

Dennis, I don't know what zone you're in, but if you're too far north, you may lose some vine due to: excessively cold winter temperatures or early extreme cold in the fall. I have had this happen a couple of times from the excessive cold over the winter. Muscadines have a heat accumulation requirement before they come out of dormancy, so you see people in Georgia losing vine in the spring due to late frost. I have never had that happen in Missouri. My most cold hardy vines are Delicious, Triumph, Tara, and Eudora. In February, 2015, we had minus 12 degrees during an extended cold spell and I lost parts of some vines. A couple were killed almost to the ground. But they all came back. Your other problem related to the zone is whether you have a long enough growing season to enable the vine to wait til it's warm enough to leaf out and then still have enough heat in the fall to ripen. You need to find early ripening varieties for that. Some sources claim muscadines are viable in zone 6. I have a few vines in St. Louis County that were substantially damaged this past winter. We had an extended period where the temperature never got above freezing. The roots of all of the St. Louis County vines have survived. None of my Southeast Missouri vines were damaged this winter. I don't have a Nesbitt, so I can't comment on it's cold hardiness.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Thanks for your response. I will continue to research this before I decide to pop to cork. The vines I have are winter hardy and have withstood the cold readily. I did have a Himrod that failed to emerge from dormancy this year and it should have been ok in our zone (6A). But as I tell my wife, we live in frost hollow as it seems to frost here before the higher elevations around us. I would feel better if one was rated to Zone 4 or 5, but the one I mentioned (Nesbitt) is rated for Zone 6 and warmer. It may not be hardy enough for here.

 

[CK55]

Thanks for your response. I will continue to research this before I decide to pop to cork. The vines I have are winter hardy and have withstood the cold readily. I did have a Himrod that failed to emerge from dormancy this year and it should have been ok in our zone (6A). But as I tell my wife, we live in frost hollow as it seems to frost here before the higher elevations around us. I would feel better if one was rated to Zone 4 or 5, but the one I mentioned (Nesbitt) is rated for Zone 6 and warmer. It may not be hardy enough for here.

In California my zone is 9B. I don't start getting frost untill well in December.

 

[CK55]

I have a space of 9 months each year where stuff will grow, with hot summers, frost starts around 15th of December and ends by the first of March. So it's a pretty good grape growing region.

Unfortunately it did cause some damage to my Barbera vines.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

I have a space of 9 months each year where stuff will grow, with hot summers, frost starts around 15th of December and ends by the first of March. So it's a pretty good grape growing region.

Unfortunately it did cause some damage to my Barbera vines.

We can get frost sometime in October with the last being as late as the end of May. Last year we had a hard freeze on May 15th that killed all the new growth on the vines. But they are hardy and came back, just a little later than they should. So I pick hardy vines that have reach maturity earlier.

 

[CK55]

We can get frost sometime in October with the last being as late as the end of May. Last year we had a hard freeze on May 15th that killed all the new growth on the vines. But they are hardy and came back, just a little later than they should. So I pick hardy vines that have reach maturity earlier.

ah, well that is early enough that later ripening vines would be at risk, because of where i live i can grow almost every type of grape, so i guess i count myself lucky lol.

I am like absolutely bouncing off the walls practically waiting for some of my vines to reach maturity so they can make enough grapes to make wine, as of now only the 40 year old Criolla vines actually make any grapes, i posted the pictures of them earlier but heres the link again.

https://imgur.com/a/O3Lkw1G

 

[CK55]

UPDATE:
So I have suspicion that at least one of the vines that I thought was Criolla Mediana might in fact be Alicante Bouschet because the leaves on it are starting to turn a deep dark purple, the vine has several small clusters of grapes on it, and I am looking forward to waiting untill they develop and pinching one of the grapes to see if the juice is blood red. That will be all the indication I need, which would also be great news, I would have one 40 year old Alicante Bouchet vine at least on its own rootstock.

We do know that Criolla Mediana and Alicante Bouschet were grown where the cuttings came from so it would not suprise me if they got mixed up by accident.

 

[Johny99]

Oh my, I planted what I like to drink

Reds.
Cab Sauv
Cab franc
Sangiovese
Tempranillo
Merlot
Syrah
Petit Sirah
Petit Verdot
Malbec, ok I got these by pruning at a commercial vineyard

Whites
Sauvignon Blanc
Riesling
Viognier
Chardonnay
Gwertraminer
Pino Blanc

Total of ~450 vines

Yup, I’m nuts. In hindsight, stick to two or three ....... on the other hand I just did a tasting of five reds for a friend’s sister’s wedding, as in what to suggest to her, all 2015. Variety is fun but more work!

That said, if you really have an Alicante Bouschet, please, please send me a cutting!

 

[CK55]

Oh my, I planted what I like to drink

Reds.
Cab Sauv
Cab franc
Sangiovese
Tempranillo
Merlot
Syrah
Petit Sirah
Petit Verdot
Malbec, ok I got these by pruning at a commercial vineyard

Whites
Sauvignon Blanc
Riesling
Viognier
Chardonnay
Gwertraminer
Pino Blanc

Total of ~450 vines

Yup, I’m nuts. In hindsight, stick to two or three ....... on the other hand I just did a tasting of five reds for a friend’s sister’s wedding, as in what to suggest to her, all 2015. Variety is fun but more work!

That said, if you really have an Alicante Bouschet, please, please send me a cutting!

I will do that lol. I have some Alicante Bouschet that I got that are grafts in the ground right now, and because i know that alicante bouschet around july- september turns purple thats why im very suspicious because they really stand out compared to other vines.

I do intend to plant Tempranillo, and I would love to get some Malbec.

 

[Johny99]

No idea where you are, but I’ll happily post you some Malbec for Alicante. My Malbec is only 4 years old, but coming on nice. Seems to love our hot summers.

I’m having a love/ hate with Tempranillo. It is growing like crazy, but I’ve some what I suspect is leaf roll virus, and tons of mildew. I’ve ripped out the dozen or so vines that looked diseased, we’ll see. Makes decent wine, just not sure it is a fit for my little spot on the planet.

If you are serious about a swap, let’s keep in touch.

 

[CK55]

No idea where you are, but I’ll happily post you some Malbec for Alicante. My Malbec is only 4 years old, but coming on nice. Seems to love our hot summers.

I’m having a love/ hate with Tempranillo. It is growing like crazy, but I’ve some what I suspect is leaf roll virus, and tons of mildew. I’ve ripped out the dozen or so vines that looked diseased, we’ll see. Makes decent wine, just not sure it is a fit for my little spot on the planet.

If you are serious about a swap, let’s keep in touch.

Well Tempranillo likes hot weather and sand, im in California on the central coast south of The Paso Robles area so I dont have to worry about mildew. I think it would do well here, typically though where im at is ideal for Rhone Varietals. As its nearly identical in climate to Rhone.

I would trade some Alicante once ive verified for sure that it is Alicante for some Malbec. Which is used in Bordeaux blends which is partially why i want it, I have Cabernet Franc and Merlot, so I intend to blend the Malbec with those varietals.

 

[CK55]

Update have added more Carmenere and Picpoul Blanc and Picardan to my vineyard as well as replaced 3 alicante bouschet that didnt make it for some reason.

The dead alicante vines were 101-14 Rootstock,

Barbera 101-14
Alicante 101-14 and 3 1103P
Merlot 1103P
Cabernet Franc 1103P
Carmenere Riparia Gloire
Picpoul blanc and Picardan S04

Just a little bit of information about my rootstocks that some vines are on.

Also yes that mystery vine was determined to be alicante bouschet.