Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[peaches9324]

ah that's what was throwing me off! good to know thanks

 

[grapeman]

I have been bad this year about posting picture updates as I have been so busy.

Today we began harvest for 2014 and began with some of the St. Pepin grapes - a cold hardy white variety bred by Elmer Swenson. We pulled a ton off today for a good start and will continue tomorrow with more from that same vineyard- Vineyard #2. The experts at Cornell don't understand why I grow the variety as it is Pistillate or all-female. It is said that is has small weak clusters. I have never had the problem and if you don't believe it look at the following pictures as evidence of what we grow here.

 

[mgmarty]

Just beautiful! Love this time of year, (although it's a lot of work). Keep the pics coming.


Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc in Utah

 

[ibglowin]

Looking good Rich. I know it makes a fantastic wine as well thanks to you!

 

[fivebk]

Nothing better this time of year than a pickup full of grapes.......Well then again maybe there is......."2 trucks full!!! Everything looks great Rich!!! I wish I was there helping harvest.

BOB

 

[GreginND]

The St. Pepin looks great, Rich. Can you comment on your harvest yields? After last winter's cold, are you getting less fruit or did they produce well? What varieties were hit the hardest?

Very few grapes to be had this year in ND. As far as I know, most of the marquette in the state was damaged. We have frontenac, valiant and king of the north. That's about it. La Crescent also took a big hit.

 

[grapeman]

All the truly cold hardy varieties fared very well here with bumper crops on most. We are going to bring in the first Marquette of the year on Friday with a brix of 25 on 3 year old vines. I look for about 8 pounds per vine on those. The older vines should be in the 25 pound range. Frontenac looks the best it ever has here with huge clusters ripening up nicely. LaCrescent is an average crop. The St Pepin all looks really nice as do most other varieties.

 

[NoobVinter]

Grapeman, these pics are beautiful man. Where are you from?

Rock.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[peaches9324]

rich on the 5th pic down the vine on the upper left hand corner has leafs on it which are yellow on the outside of the leaf I have one vine that has the same coloring I thought it had a vitamin deficiency was going to take a simple soil test tomorrow hardly no fruit production on it at all this year. But looking at yours I don't think that was the problem, your production is beautiful! The winter weather we had maybe?
thanks

 

[GreginND]

rich on the 5th pic down the vine on the upper left hand corner has leafs on it which are yellow on the outside of the leaf I have one vine that has the same coloring I thought it had a vitamin deficiency was going to take a simple soil test tomorrow hardly no fruit production on it at all this year. But looking at yours I don't think that was the problem, your production is beautiful! The winter weather we had maybe?
thanks

It looks like chlorosis to me. This is a nutrient deficiency typically an iron deficiency. Most likely cause is a high ph soil.


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[grapeman]

It is a deficiency- not sure which one without a petiole sample. The soil is very low pH, not high and extremely sandy. We foliar feed micronutrients, but really do need to get the pH up. It hasn't affected yields much yet.

 

[grapeman]

As I sit out in the winery sipping on some Lacrosse from 2014 to see how it is doing, I am struck at the bright pomme fruit (apple and pear) coming out of the unsweetened wine. Extraordianaire! A bit more clearing and a possible filtering and this will be a great wine in a few months for the summer. Stay tuned for bottling.

As I walked through the winery I decided it was time to grab a wine thief and gather a sample of the oaked 2013 Marquette from the barrel. The red color is not quite as bright red as most Marquette I make, but I used a different yeast on that wine to attain a bit more body. Swirling the wine around in the glass revealed never ending legs. Can't wait to smell and taste............

The nose is a bit different than most of my Marquette......much more complex with subdued fruit. A bit of oak comes through, just enough to peak my interest..

Time for a taste. Drawing in a nice bit of wine, I swoosh it around my mouth to coat my tongue. Excellent body. More than any of my previous Marquette. Breathe in the vapors as I swallow and WOW.!!! An explosion of tastes! Nice round flavors bursting with chocolate and vanilla accentuating a subdued black cherry and black currant.

This has the makings of my best ever wine! Stay tuned for further samplings and release announcements!

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

That could almost be an excerpt from 50 shades, never ending legs, excellent body

 

[grapeman]

The weather was a bit better again today. It was mixed sun and clouds but the temperature got to the mid to upper 40's. I pruned again today for a while until I got soaked through. The snow settled some more and I hope it keeps going down bit by bit. Since I prune most of the vines myself, I figured I better get started. I got a couple more rows done - down to about 95 more to go!

These were Frontenac I worked on here. They are really hardy so I figured I was safe starting with them.

 

[ibglowin]

Keep plugging Rich!

Forgot to ask you what type of Oak are you hitting the Marquette with?

 

[grapeman]

Medium toast French oak for the Marquette.
A few rows a day gets the job done.........eventually. I may need to do like Mr Al and hold pruning classes with hands on experience.

 

[ibglowin]

Yes, I do believe you need to hold an all day "hands on" training class of sorts.

Good choice on the oak as well!

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Question for you Grapeman, I see on some of your earlier (page 5) you used landscape fabric along your rows. Would you advise using this near Minneapolis? I think I read somewhere it could preheat the rows where they would bud early and then get a frost but I like how nice and tidy your vineyards look. I'll, hopefully, try to copy the way you run your trellis system this spring.

Thanks!

 

[grapeman]

I have used plastic mulch on young vines to keep weed competition down in the early years. It is then removed later and I use other control measures. I have not had the problem you speak of about early budding and then freezing. Not sure if you could get it there or not. How many vines are you putting in? If you aren't planting too many you can control the weeds as they come up fairly easily either by hand pulling or a hoe.

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Not too many, just six rows of five vines/row. 2 rows Marquette, 1 Marechal Foch, 1 Prairie Star, 1 Frontenac Blanc, and 1 Petite Ami. I think I am going to install a TWC system with 8' spacing on the vines and 8' between rows on a west facing slope. I might switch to the Modified GDC as you have with the Marquette after I see how much vigor they have the first couple of years. These are 1-x vines from Double A, just want to see how they do in my area. These will be planted in the area I used to raise pheasant, so there should be plenty of nutrients in the soil and vigor may be an issue. Looking forward to finding out.

Thanks!