Greetings from Central Texas

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum as of today. I've been making beer for a few years now. I've also made kit wines in the past. But, I'm ready to dive in and start learning more about wine making rather than following the directions from the kits. My main motivation is that I've decided to take a sliver of my lot and dedicate it to growing grapes. I'm planning initially for three rows, 60' long planted with Tempranillo. I'll be digging into the forum looking for clues on obtaining the right plants, planting and care. I figure I'll have about three years to learn the wine making process before the first real harvest.

jabre

Welcome to WineMakingTalk

Welcome to WMT, jabre! Hop aboard!

Welcome to the forum. Arne.

Welcome aboard! Before you spend 3 years trying to grow Vinifera in Texas only to find out that Pierce's Disease will eventually kill all your vines in short order you may wish to study up and plant some varieties that are PD resistant. Unfortunately the PD resistant vines don't make the best wines.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2010/10/pd-grapes.pdf

ibglowin - I appreciate the link. I spent several enjoyable weekends touring the Texas Hill Country vineyards checking out what they're growing and sampling which varieties are creating the best wines for the conditions/climate/soils. These tours have made me a big fan of some of the Tempranillos coming out of the area. I'm willing to risk the longevity (PD) of the vineyard for better (hopefully best possible) product. Right now it's just a hobby with a very limited vineyard.

So you are willing to spend 3 years nurturing and training 60 vines only to helplessly watch them slowly wither and die just as they begin to produce? Let us know how that works out for you! LOL

If you want to grow Tempranillo in TX you better move to either the Panhandle or way out in West Texas.

Bueno suerte!

jabre said:

I'm willing to risk the longevity (PD) of the vineyard for better (hopefully best possible) product.

Click to expand...

"LOL"

ibglowin, perhaps you are not familiar with the Texas Hill Country? The last major PD outbreak was in 1996. There are numerous vineyards successfully growing Tempranillo there. As I mentioned, I've been there and seen the vines. I've tasted some of the excellent wines. These are established vineyards that have put their money behind the vines. They understand the risk.

Perhaps you should take a trip there and explain to them just how hopeless this is.

I've also read up on PD and understand the risk.

@jabre

I was born in San Antonio so I kinda know a little about the the Texas hill country.

We have family in Horseshoe Bay and have toured some nice vineyards and sampled some very nice wines from the area.