Any recommendations for wine grapes for zone 6?

[BrittneyT2]

I live in zone 6b and would like to grow some grapes for homemade wine. Any suggestions? Im in southwest Indiana and our summers are usually hot & humid. I'll be growing Thompson seedless for making raisins, and probably some seedless concords for fresh eating. I will probably make some wine from the concords, but would like to grow another variety that won't be as sweet. I prefer drinking cab & merlot but don't think I can grow those here. Can I make a dry red in my zone? Or will I have to settle for sweet and get used to it if I want homemade? I'm new to this and would appreciate any advise. Thank you!

 

[spaniel]

I'm a bit north of you (west of Indy) and the reds that grow well for me are Marachel Foch and Oberlin Noir. I am planting Marquette this year. Perhaps you can get away with some better reds down there....but those I know down there that try French varieties (ie Pinot Noir, Cab, Merlot) still have a lot of issues keeping them going through the colder winters. There is a particular winery I will not name, put a lot of money into growing more popular varieties down there which were marginal for the zone. I was told that after 10 years they had not harvested a single grape for their investment.

IMHO it's not so much if you can do sweet vs dry red, just what variety you can do. I dry mine out, I just can't grow the popular dry red varieties. There are some hybrid reds which make decent dry red table wines.

Talk to some of the wineries around you and see what they are growing successfully. I tried to plant one marginal variety, we got 3 cold days one winter (-20F) and they were killed down to the root and switched out. It's not the summer that does them in but the winters. I don't think I'd be comfortable putting money into the varieties you name unless I had land sloping into the Ohio River.

 

[grapeman]

Some varieties that will make a fairly complex red are Marquette, Corot Noir and Noiret. All will do well in your zone. Check them out and see how the descriptions sound. I am a little too cold here in zone 4/5 for the Corot Noir and Noiret, but have had wine from some I grew and they are both very nice.