Wine and Table Grapes some of this page is still under construction 2008 - another year of drought. We will be installing drip irrigation soon. Mortality is now up over 50%. I am glad I planted 3 times as closely as is recommended! This will allow for some transplanting to occur and get the vines spaced properly for maximum production. Many of our wine grapes have been set back significantly. First from drought, then a long and very cold winter and this year another year of drought. I will be transplanting some of the survivors and rooting numerous cutting from them for future plants. They have to be very hardy or would not have survived. The majority of our attention these days is spent on our herd of cattle. Now that their genetics and diet and under control, we will have more time to devote to gardening and viticulture. 2007- severe drought hit this part of central lower Michigan hard this year. Our grapes survived but were set back significantly. 2006 - Our first adventure with growing wine and table grapes in Michigan My first real experience with grape production and the grape industry was in California several years back while working with a couple vineyards in northern California for my job with NRCS. I worked closely with Sutter Home on an experimental program where we planted cover crops between the rows of vines with beneficial plantings that would attract certain insects. These insect migrated across the rows that were mowed in every other row. By mowing alternate rows, we encouraged the insects to migrate over the grape vines devouring all the bad bugs on the way. This eliminated the need for synthetic chemical treatments for insects in a strictly organic program. I was very impressed in how this worked. About this time, I began to take an interest in having my own vineyard someday. I have been researching varieties best suited to the area of Michigan we now live in. Michigan is an excellent grape producing region and some fine wines are produced in this state. The climate is well suited for fruit trees and vineyards due to the moderating effect of the Great Lakes. In 2006, we started several varieties suited to this climate in our garden. These varieties included both wine and table grapes as well as varieties suited for each. These vines currently share an area that we have devoted also for blueberry production. Plans are to grow both grapes and blueberries organically although I have been told it is nearly impossible to do so in this part of Michigan. We shall see! Varieties planted in 2006 included: Frontenac Frontenac’s overall viticultural performance and excellent wine quality are directly responsible for its success in Minnesota, where more of its vines are growing than any other variety. This recently released red wine grape from the University of Minnesota is a cross of French-America hybrid Landot 4511 and native American Vitis ripara. The vine’s chief advantage is its extremely vigorous and productive nature. The vine is extremely cold hardy, at least to -30 F (approx. -34 C) and has adapted well to the inhospitable winters of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Frontenac is also very resistant to disease, with good resistance to Powdery Mildew and Botrytis bunch rot, and almost complete immunity to Downy Mildew. High sugar levels, along with high acidity, are typical at harvest. Malolactic fermentation is vital to lessen the wine’s acidity. Wines have been described as being deeply colored, with a pleasing cherry aroma, and plum and berry often evident.
St. Croix A hardy grape developed in Minnesota. St. Croix produces a sweet bluish-red grape that is great for fresh eating and wine. It has productive vines yielding medium to large berries and clusters that ripen in early to mid-September. It can survive temperatures of -30 degrees or lower with little to no winter injury. The fruit matures in a short growing season, so it's a perfect variety for northern gardens. St. Croix has vigorous growth and good resistance to powdery mildew and black rot. Self pollinating.
King of the North Very productive and cold-hardy, King of the North is extremely vigorous and should be planted at wider spacings. Fairly high-acid, so use as a table grape is limited, although the juice is delicious. Vines are resistant to common grape diseases and insects. Fruit is medium size, juicy, tart and borne in tight clusters. Ripens early September. A very hardy labrusca riparia hybrid originally found in an old neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin. This is probably our best grape and has survived drought, cold and insect attack. We'll definetly be planting more of this variety.
Edelweiss Created by Elmer Swenson, this white grape is derived from an Ontario x MN 78 cross. Edelwiess is disease resistant and very winter-hardy, reportedly to -30 F (approx. -34 C). Along with other Swensen varieties, it is an important varietal in the northern United States. The vine produces large, loose clusters , with pale gold berries. The grapes of the vine are often used to make sweet white wines or occasionally left on the vine long enough to produce icewines. Edelweiss is very disease resistant.
Fredonia
Cynthiana (aka "Norton")
Cynthiana is the oldest native North American varietal in commercial cultivation today. The cultivar belongs to the aestivalis species of vine, which by American wine standards is ancient. As early as 1770 renowned Philadelphian botanist John Bartram made note in his horticultural journals of a native vine type that was popular amongst mid-Atlantic colonist who domesticated it for its usefulness in winemaking – the cited vine type is now reasonably believed to be Vitis aestivalis, and is quite likely the antecedent to the variety we know today as Norton. The cultivar itself has origins that are shrouded in as much mystery as is as is Zinfandel, although receiving considerably less attention from ampelographic sleuths than is the popular west coast grape. As a named variety, Norton is attributed to Richmond, Virginia physician and ardent gardener, Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton, and first became commercially available by 1830. It is uncertain whether Dr. Norton’s gift to the wine world was the result of a selected seedling, or if it was a natural or purposely made hybrid. Whatever its exact origin, the variety quickly became the staple grape of a booming Virginia wine industry. The successes of Norton wine made Virginia wine internationally famous in the second half of the 19th century. German settlers in Missouri also adopted the agreeable variety and established a prosperous industry there. In 1873 a Missouri wine made from the Norton grape was awarded ”Best Red of All Nations” at an International competition in Vienna. In fact, so highly regarded was Norton that in the early stages of Europe’s recovery from phylloxera, Norton was earmarked as the varietal savior of their ravaged vineyards. However, the vine’s intolerance of the highly calcareous lime based soils typical of French wine growing regions saw its quick fall from popularity. Nearly two centuries after the cultivar made its debut in Virginia, Norton continues to maintain a presence in that state’s vineyards, albeit its prominence has given way to more recent vinifera arrivals. The center of Norton production today has shifted westward into Missouri and Arkansas, where it is the signature of the wine industry in those states, and generally the top wine on most wineries’ lists. One of the vine's greatest attributes is its resistance to fungal diseases. This makes it especially attractive in these humid southern states, where it is locally referred to as the ‘Cabernet of the Ozarks’. This variety typically produces rich deeply pigmented wines with spicy, raspberry-scented aromas, hints of coffee and bittersweet chocolate, good aging potential, and little ‘native’ character.
Steuben
Swenson Red
Reliance
Mars
Marquis
Varieties planted for 2007 that were delivered in May and included 4 more varieties. They are:
Marechal Foch (aka. Foch, Kuhlmann 188-2) Marechal Foch is a vigorous, early-ripening variety, with good winter hardiness. It is well suited to cold-climate regions in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula and Nova Scotia. It is also popular in New York’s Finger Lakes, the north Atlantic States, and in viticultural areas of the northern Midwest. Still commercially important, this French-American hybrid developed by Eugene Kuhlmann is reportedly the result of a North American riparia-rupestris and a vinifera (Goldriesling) pairing. This is identical to the parentage of the Leon Millot grape. However, some believe the North American parent is really Oberlin Noir, a Gamay-riparia cross once commercially cultivated in Burgundy. Whatever the true genealogy of the cultivar, Marechal Foch is often considered to possess Burgundian characteristics, having a vibrant, deep purple color, with a light-medium structure and dark berry fruit characteristics. Some tasters find the similarities to Burgundy Pinot Noir become more pronounced with age. Perhaps an argument for why the grape clings to a few acres in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Chambourcin Little is known about the exact parentage of Chambourcin. It was a hybrid developed by Joannes Seibel in the Loire Valley of France, based on a number of undetermined Native American species and Seibel hybrids. Released in the early 1960s, plantings increased steadily in the cool coastal Nantes region of the western Loire Valley in France. Although no longer a recommended varietal under French wine law, it is still widely grown in the Nantes, a region dominated by pale white wines. Today there are over 9,000 acres planted in the Loire, made into both rosés; and red table wine. It is not surprising that this high-yielding, cold hardy cultivar has made its way across the pond to the cooler-climate areas of North America. It has been planted in America since the 1970s, where it is found mostly in the northeast and midwest, as well as in Canada. Chambourcin also maintains a presence in Australia, notably in the humid conditions of the Hunter Valley. It is extremely vigorous and disease-resistant. Chambourcin wines offer expressive herbaceous aromas, combined with excellent structure, a result of their thick skins, high tannins and good acidity. This grape is catching on in the New World, suggesting a promising future.
Glenora
Cabernet Sauvignon
|
|---|
