Which white grape would you recommend?

[ChuckD]

I have been planning on putting in 14 Brianna next year. I already have three in the ground. (First year). However, yesterday I was visiting a local vineyard… They grow Brianna but don’t offer a wine.

I was talking to the owner about the grapes and he said they were a bit of trouble. Very low Brix and you could not let them hang on the vine or the wine was, in his words, “not good”. He said you had to add sugar to get a decent wine from them.

Now I’m rethinking my choice. If you are a northern grower and have a favorite white grape I would love to hear your thoughts. I have been looking at Itasca, Frontenac blanc and LaCrosse but I’m open to all suggestions. I’m in zone 5a and have heavy soil.

 

[wood1954]

My itasca is three years old and tastes very good. It seems to be more disease resistant than Marquette. If the grape flavor comes thru fermentation it’s going to be a very good wine. The clusters aren’t real big like Marquette and berries are small with no hens and chicks like my Marquette had this year. Overall I think it’s a very good choice, I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it turns out

 

[BigH]

I was talking to the owner about the grapes and he said they were a bit of trouble. Very low Brix and you could not let them hang on the vine or the wine was, in his words, “not good”. He said you had to add sugar to get a decent wine from them.

Brianna is commonly harvested with sugars at 16-18 brix, and the pH above 3.2. It is rumored to develop "foxy" flavors if allowed to ripen beyond that. Edelweiss is also harvested early for the same reason. Chaptalization is pretty much required for both. I harvest both in the middle of August in West central Iowa. Brianna is fairly vigorous, but less than La Crescent and Frontenac Blanc. It is well behaved in the vineyard. The clusters will get a good amount of sun if you comb shoots down. This produces an evenly ripe crop. It can over crop, so some thinning may be necessary. My Brianna doesn't seem to harden off all that well in the fall, which is odd since it has a good month between harvest and first frost to get the job done. This doesn't seem to impact yield much.

I think Brianna makes a nice wine, but I also like diversifying. The other varieties you listed all have a definciency. La Crosse peters out at 19-20 brix, is prone to splitting if you get a late season rain, and has an upward growth tendency. La Crescent starts to shell really bad close to harvest time, is prone to downy mildew, and tends to produce a lot of laterals that want to shade the fruit . Frontenac Blanc is extremely vigorous and mine tend to suffer from a skin rot of some kind as they approach ideal harvest parameters. I haven't planted any Itasca. All of these would be harvested 1 week to a month after Brianna.

Consider planting a second variety to complement the Brianna, both from a wine stand point and harvest planning. Spreading out your harvest makes it easier to cope with. I would recommend against Edelweiss simply because it will be ready at about the same time as Brianna. You might prefer that, but I don't

H

 

[ChuckD]

My itasca is three years old and tastes very good. It seems to be more disease resistant than Marquette. If the grape flavor comes thru fermentation it’s going to be a very good wine. The clusters aren’t real big like Marquette and berries are small with no hens and chicks like my Marquette had this year. Overall I think it’s a very good choice, I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it turns out

What were the numbers like?

 

[Cynewulf]

I’m not a northern grower but I grow Itasca and will second what @wood1954 said. The Itasca has been the easiest of my vines to grow and is more disease resistant than my Marquette. I give cuttings to friends and neighbors who are interested in having a grape vine in their garden because it’s the easiest to take care of. My wife loves the wine I’ve made from it and I’ve pulled some other varieties out that weren’t doing as well so I could make room for more.

For chemistry, recognizing that I’m in a different region than you, last year I was too impatient and harvested about a week too early (July 25 in Virginia) at 19 Brix and 3.12 pH. Still made a delicious wine. This year I harvested earlier than I wanted (August 5) because of raccoons and got 20 Brix and 3.22 pH, which are about my target numbers for white but I’d like to get to where the grapes are golden when I pick them rather than mostly green. Overall, great balance between sugar and acid in my experience.

 

[wood1954]

I’m not a northern grower but I grow Itasca and will second what @wood1954 said. The Itasca has been the easiest of my vines to grow and is more disease resistant than my Marquette. I give cuttings to friends and neighbors who are interested in having a grape vine in their garden because it’s the easiest to take care of. My wife loves the wine I’ve made from it and I’ve pulled some other varieties out that weren’t doing as well so I could make room for more.

For chemistry, recognizing that I’m in a different region than you, last year I was too impatient and harvested about a week too early (July 25 in Virginia) at 19 Brix and 3.12 pH. Still made a delicious wine. This year I harvested earlier than I wanted (August 5) because of raccoons and got 20 Brix and 3.22 pH, which are about my target numbers for white but I’d like to get to where the grapes are golden when I pick them rather than mostly green. Overall, great balance between sugar and acid in my experience.

My itasca are a real pretty gold color now. I’m waiting for the acid to drop a littl. Do you make a dry white or do you sweeten it? I’m thinking of trying to back sweeten it to help bring out the fruit flavor

 

[Cynewulf]

My itasca are a real pretty gold color now. I’m waiting for the acid to drop a littl. Do you make a dry white or do you sweeten it? I’m thinking of trying to back sweeten it to help bring out the fruit flavor

Nice. In its second year I let just two or three clusters grow and they were a beautiful golden when they ripened - impatience and circumstances have prevented it the last two years but I’ll try again next year. I make it dry. The way I make it I don’t think back sweetening would be very good. Last year 85% was direct pressed and I let 15% macerate on the skins for a week then blended the two together. There are apple, pineapple, and honey notes in the finished wine but is very different than it was when it first started fermenting and had all these tropical fruit flavors. This year I did the same thing but only macerated 10%. We’ll see how it turns out. I’m tempted to direct press everything next year to see what happens differently but my wife really likes it this way.

 

[ibglowin]

This would hands down be my choice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Crescent_(grape)
https://doubleavineyards.com/la-crescent

 

[wood1954]

This would hands down be my choice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Crescent_(grape)
https://doubleavineyards.com/la-crescent

ive made wine once from la crescent it was good, but the clusters were really fragile when ripe. Thats the only downside to La crescent. My itasca is a little more robust, however i think i missed the flavor window, this week the Itasca seems to be a little less flavorful. Next year I'll pick by flavor not by ph or Brix.

 

[ChuckD]

So many choices! I think I’ll get four more Brianna to fill out the row, 12 Itasca for a short row, and a few LaCrescent so I can try them out. Throw in a dozen Frontenac and I’ll have 85 vines. I have room for 50 more but I think I’ll wait a few years until I have some experience with vineyard management.

 

[Cynewulf]

So many choices! I think I’ll get four more Brianna to fill out the row, 12 Itasca for a short row, and a few LaCrescent so I can try them out. Throw in a dozen Frontenac and I’ll have 85 vines. I have room for 50 more but I think I’ll wait a few years until I have some experience with vineyard management.

Sounds like you can’t go wrong with any of those choices. I look forward to hearing how it goes.

 

[Rocky]

@ChuckD I don't know if it has been suggested here, but Vidal Blanc was a very nice wine that we enjoyed in New York. The vineyard near us had many acres of it and it was their staple white wine.

You can see some information here: Vidal blanc - Wikipedia

 

[ChuckD]

@ChuckD I don't know if it has been suggested here, but Vidal Blanc was a very nice wine that we enjoyed in New York. The vineyard near us had many acres of it and it was their staple white wine.

You can see some information here: Vidal blanc - Wikipedia

Interesting. Ice wine sounds interesting but the more my palate develops the less I like sweet wines.