Hello from the Welsh Borders

'lo

We're just inside Wales, about 6 miles as the crow flies from England, down at the bottom.

I am just setting up a hobby vineyard (75 vines) and came here to get a few specific bits of advice. I've worked most of it out so far by either research or asking people but there's one or two things I will be asking, I'm sure...

There are 4 or 5 quite successful vineyards near here, but most are several hundred feet lower than us, though we're on a nice sheltered South-facing valley side in a sunny spot so i hope that by sensible choice of vines and some luck we should be OK.

This used to be a big apple and pear growing area, and the ground is very fertile. So part of my strategy is about managing vigour. So far I've got the posts and the vines in. Next jobs are weed-suppressant membrane and wires.

Welcome Pobol_y_Cwm. Good luck with your vine yard.
Wales is very beautiful. My daughter lives a few miles north of Caerphilly.

Welcome to the forum!

Seems like more and more folks having vineyards are showing up here on Wine Making Talk.

yes, this place shows up when you search for vineyard advice...

@BernardSmith

Caerphilly has a great castle. A little further West from here, but not far.

There are a lot of castles around here. It was a war zone in the middle ages, being border country. The first is our nearest, 5 or 6 miles, the second is 15 miles or so, but it has vineyard nearby...

It's traditionally a huge apple growing area, with cider and perry being the local tipple, along of course with beer. Vineyards are springing up all over now.

When Americans think "history" they can stretch back a couple of hundred years or so, when the Brits think history they can go back before the Romans invaded a couple of millennia ago (I can say that because I come from Scotland).

Welcome to WMT!

BernardSmith said:

When Americans think "history" they can stretch back a couple of hundred years or so, when the Brits think history they can go back before the Romans invaded a couple of millennia ago (I can say that because I come from Scotland).

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I gather you mean "history of people of European descent in America"!

ibglowin said:

Croeso i fwrdd!

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diolch yn fawr

For info: as far as I can tell we're at about the same latitude as Ottowa, but of course people grow grapes a lot further North than us. Even in Sweden. Our problem is that we're on the Western side of the uK, so we have a grey and fairly damp maritime climate. Never too cold (not much snow, a handful of subzero days each year) but summers can look and feel about the same as early November.

The problems are lack of sun and mildew/bunch rot.

There's a vineyard 600 feet below us that is making top quality sparkling wine from the classic champagne grapes, but their still wine is bit sharp and low alcohol for my tastes. Growing any of the classic vitis vinifera varietals here is really out of the question. Got to be hybrids.

Our advantage is that autumns are very mild and can be sunny, so it's possible to harvest in October or even early November in some years. Frost before December is unusual.

So, it's an experiment. I'd not want to do it for a living here. This terroir is better suited to apples and pears and plums, which absolutely thrive. Cider and perry are the traditional drinks. But I read today thta there are 17 commercial vineyards in Wales with an increase to 50 in the next decade forecast. So some people are prepared to take the risk.

BernardSmith said:

When Americans think "history" they can stretch back a couple of hundred years or so, when the Brits think history they can go back before the Romans invaded a couple of millennia ago (I can say that because I come from Scotland).

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We used to live close to Wayland's Smithy which is about 6,000 years old.

Welcome to the forum! Enjoy the vineyard, no reason it shouldn't work.

sour_grapes said:

I gather you mean "history of people of European descent in America"!

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I get where you're coming from...but, when you wander around Europe and there are roads and buildings 4-5 hundred years old and even older common, still in use....the "history" just kinda of seeps outta the ground and swallows you up whole! You can feel the vibrations of the centuries.

Contrast with American when a 200 year old building is about as old as it gets....we are a much newer country with much less RECORDED history. I think you may thinking about places like Mesa Verde, the oldest apartment complex in American..cool place, and about as close as we can come matching European "history"....but, even there, we don't have a good recorded history of what happened there.

Mismost said:

I get where you're coming from...but, when you wander around Europe and there are roads and buildings 4-5 hundred years old and even older common, still in use....the "history" just kinda of seeps outta the ground and swallows you up whole! You can feel the vibrations of the centuries.

Contrast with American when a 200 year old building is about as old as it gets....we are a much newer country with much less RECORDED history. I think you may thinking about places like Mesa Verde, the oldest apartment complex in American..cool place, and about as close as we can come matching European "history"....but, even there, we don't have a good recorded history of what happened there.

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All true. (I am fortunate enough to be relatively well traveled.)

However, I thought it was worth pointing out that there were, in fact, developed cultures in the Americas far before 350 years ago; as you point out, this can easily get overlooked.