Cultivar Advice for Central Ontario

[Delaney]

Hi there,

I'm writing a comprehensive business proposal for a commercial winery on Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, Canada as part of a University project. I would like advise as to what root stocks would be advisable for this region, and what cultivars would be advisable for grafting.

Climatic Information regarding this region is available here: http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/climate_normals/station_metadata_e.html?StnId=4209

It is a relatively temperature climate on the island, however I'm assuming that cold tolerance will be an important factor in selecting rootstocks, as well as for the cultivars being grafted, to some extent.

I'm hoping to cultivate 3-4 cultivars. I'm looking for cold resistance, pest resistance, as well as compatability (for blending). Ideally I would like to produce both red and whites.


Thanks for the help!

Delaney Bray-Stone.

 

[blumentopferde]

This climate chart seems useless to me. What is the annual mean temperature and mean precipitation? When do the first and last frost occur? What are the winter extreme temperatures?

Anyways 45°N is a pretty high latitude for grape growing. If winters are very cold you might have a look at the winter hardy varieties of the University of Minnesota. There should also be some russian varieties that are very winter hardy.
If the winters aren't too extreme you might also have a look at new german varieties.

 

[Delaney]

I hope this makes it easier to digest that information....

thanks for the advice.

 

[Delaney]

As you can see the average year has less than 20 days which are below 20 celcius. The average year very rarely sees temperatures go above 30 degrees celcius. Clearly the climate here is relatively temperate, probably due to lake warming effect??

If it makes it easier I will calculate the mean temperature and mean rainfall for the entire year, I thought it would be better to break it down into months though...

 

[blumentopferde]

This climate still seems quite extreme to me. You have in AVERAGE about 20 days BELOW -20°C. Notice: These are not the extreme values, these are average values! As far as I know you shouldn't have temperatures below -20°C if you want to plant viniferas. So I think you should have a look at frost hardy hybrids and american, maybe also asian varieties.

Apart from that the growing season seems to be quite short (first frosts at the end of September), so you should go for early ripening varieties.

But I am still a novice in wine production, so maybe you should ask some of the more experienced members here. You should also provide your data in imperial units, as most folks here are from the US and are not used to the metric system...

 

[Delaney]

Thanks for the advice,

I have decide to focus primarily on fruit wine production to the extreme climate of this region with respect to viniculture. I do however still desire some viniculture production. Please refer to the following thread if you have further advice to offer:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum...-hardy-variety-blend-black-raspberries-35010/

Thanks Kindly,

Delaney.