Cold Hardy Wine/Table Grapes

I'm buying a home near Lake Erie. Specifically the Hamburg to Angola NY area. My girlfriend wants to grow just a few vines in the yard that she can pick for fruit and maybe learn to make a bottle or two a year with.

I'm guessing we'd need a hardy grape due to the cold winters. I know concord is abundant here. I see concord is rated a 4 so I'm guessing 3 or 4 is good for this area. I'm sure we can learn, but something lower maintenance, ie resistant to diseases etc is probably something that we'd want.

What would you recommend? She probably wants a red and a white. I've seen there are some grapes that aren't classified as either. I've seen blue etc. So anything else you'd recommend?

Go make some kit wines. Go from there. Your starting a great hobby that is a little more complicated then you can imagine.

That town has a USDA Hardiness rating of 6a but may be closer to a 5b which gives you a broader selection of vines to grow. Really none of the grapes are truly no spray at this point with the possible exception of Arandel from Cornell. They are seeded and smaller than you would like for table grapes however. Concords are fairly resistant to a number of things, even Japanese beetles and have been used for table grapes for a couple centuries now. Since they grow all around you, why not give them a try. If you want a better flavor I would recommend Reliance, Canadice, Himrod, Marquis or Mars for a few. They are all seedless and taste great but not super for wine.

save yourself some grief and labor, just buy the grapes from any vineyard around your location. I think you will find more than concord if you visit some of the wineries.
starting with kit wines is good advice.

grapeman said:

That town has a USDA Hardiness rating of 6a but may be closer to a 5b which gives you a broader selection of vines to grow. Really none of the grapes are truly no spray at this point with the possible exception of Arandel from Cornell. They are seeded and smaller than you would like for table grapes however. Concords are fairly resistant to a number of things, even Japanese beetles and have been used for table grapes for a couple centuries now. Since they grow all around you, why not give them a try. If you want a better flavor I would recommend Reliance, Canadice, Himrod, Marquis or Mars for a few. They are all seedless and taste great but not super for wine.

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I like the idea of Concord. Is there a white with similar attributes you'd recommend?

salcoco said:

save yourself some grief and labor, just buy the grapes from any vineyard around your location. I think you will find more than concord if you visit some of the wineries.
starting with kit wines is good advice.

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She's less concerned about making wine. She really wants to give it a go at growing a few vines.