help with grape variety please

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moona

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Hello All,

Please can someone help me and give me more info on the grapes I have growing in my garden?

I live in France (Normandy) and the grape vine was in our garden when we moved, so we have no idea whether its a table grape or wine grape.

Till now, we have not eaten them as we've not had the time to take care of the vine and have ended up throwing them away due to being eaten by pests and their overall taste is not particularly pleasant.

I am attaching a few photos.

I hope someone can help. I would really appreciate it.

Thanking you in advance

Moona

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Hi Moona and welcome to Winemaking talk. It can be next to impossible to figure out a grape variety just from a few pictures. Your best bet is to talk with neighbors who may know the history of your house and garden. Other possibilities are to talk with other people growing grapes in your area to see if they may have an idea. As a general rule of thumb, if they have seeds they are usually a wine grape of sorts. No seeds, a table grape. In the last picture it looks like you have the beginnings of verasion (ripening) starting where the grapes change from green to red. You say they don't taste all that good. Perhaps they were under ripe? When were these pictures taken? Have you let the grapes hang until Fall to see if they ripen more and taste better? The clusters look beautiful!
 
Hi Mike, thank you for the welcome and response. It has got me thinking and given me more enthusiasm

I will speak to my neighbours, that's a good idea thanks.

You could well be right about the taste being related to under ripe grapes, in all honesty I am not really sure what to look for in a ripe grape, i guess i just picked a few when they were a dark blue/red colour but most likely they were not ripe. They probably were also not good due to the fact they weren't getting enough sun as we hadn't pruned the vine and it overgrew covering the clusters.

These photos were taken last week, and since then there are more turning dark but in general still green and pretty firm to touch. I did try one a few days ago and it was still quite bitter (sorry i'm not sure if that's the right way to describe an unripe grape). I will leave them for as long as possible.

Do I need to treat the vine with anything, or some sort of feed as we have never done either. It just gets rainwater. oh and i do see a lot of snails around and on the vine...

Thank you again and good evening
 
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The vines and grapes look to be in pretty good shape considering you have not sprayed them for and fungus and or bugs. If you want them to thrive you should look into pruning them back in the late Winter early Spring time frame. Grapes grow on new wood only which is why you prune each year. I would see if there is a local agriculture agent close by who may know more about grape growing in your area and what is needed. Otherwise visit any other local vineyards and see if anyone might be able to answer a few questions for you. If the grapes are just now turning then it sounds like you are a ways out from them becoming fully ripe. You will know by taste and if the birds start to eat them all! Keep us posted as to how they are doing. I hope they may make you some good wine some day!
 
thank you once again with your helpful insight.

i will keep you posted and will certainly research for more help in my area.
 
Hi,

I have a question regarding picking. There are clusters which have a few ripe grapes whereas the rest of that cluster is not ripe. Should I pick the ripe grapes off? there are some grapes on the cluster which are drying out.

I attach a photo. Any advice is welcome please.

Thank you

Moona

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I've just had a quick look on the net and it could be down to over-cropping which seems the obvious reason considering the large number of clusters on the vine. I'm sure there are other factors too (a potassium deficiency, moisture stress, or 2,4-D damage. ) seen as the only feed the vine has is rain water.

what is 2,4-D damage please?

thanks again
 
I am not an expert but I have read some of the following. That part of the purpose of pruning and proper vine maintenance is to get the bunches to ripen uniformly. It looks to me that you have a red grape variety, but due to neglect it is ripening very unevenly. Read about leaf pruning.
 
2,4D is an active ingredient used in many "weed and feed" products that kill weeds but not grass. Vines are very sensitive too it. If you or your neighbors are using it on your lawns or gardens, it can cause leaves to roll up and fruit to dry up. From the pictures you posted at the beginning of this thread, it looks like you could use some nitrogen to help green your leaves which will help to support good ripening.
 
Thank you both for the input. My grapes have officially started drying out even though they didn't get ripe. It's actually the first year they have turned out like that. Thanks a lot for all the advice, it's going to help me to take better care of the vine for next year.
 

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