Purple Grapes

[Ernest T Bass]

I am thawing out my grapes I got from a friend in South Dakota this fall. I have 6 gallons. They are small, about the size of a small marble and are a deep purple. They are on the clusters and it looks like about 10 or 12 to the cluster and have a sweet, but tart taste. Most of them have only 1 seed to the grape, found a few that had two seeds. They taste pretty good half frozen, hope I have enough left after all the tasting to make some wine. Anyone have any idea what kind of grapes I have?

Semper Fi

 

[LJPelletier]

They sound like wine making grapes to me! heheh

 

[Ernest T Bass]

Thanks for the reply, I kinda though so also. I have never had wine making grapes before so I "wadden" sure.

Thanks

Semper Fi

 

[Giovannino]

This might be a good place if people here don't meet the challenge.

http://www.sdstate.edu/ps/research/viticulture/index.cfm

 

[Wade E]

Without seeing them no one here could answer your question!!!

 

[grapeman]

Really no way of telling what they are, especially like Wade said with no picture. It could be anything from wild riparia grapes to Valiant or some other cold hardy small fruited grape with a small amount of berries.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I had tried several times to get back in touch with my friend in S D, finally got him last nite. He said that he got them from a vineyard in Sioux Falls and that they were Pinot Nior, could this be?

Thanks

Semper Fi

 

[Rocky]

Bud, I did a little surfing and found two vineyards in the Sioux Falls area. One (Tucker's Walk Vineyard) has this to say about red grapes that they grow:

"Until recently, red grapes have been a challenge in our cold climate. We grow mostly Marquette, a promising release that was patented in 2006 by the University of Minnesota. It has Pinot Noir in its heritage, tends to be lower in acid than many cold hardy varieties, and we think this is a very special grape for us. We may be the first winery to sell South Dakota Marquette commercially. We are also growing some St. Croix and a few Frontenac and Sabrevois plants in the original "hobby" vineyard."

So, it seems that they could be either Pinot Noir or and off shoot of that variety. Certainly worth a try at making the wine. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.