How to get started growing grapes for wine

[TxBrew]

Is there a For Dummies guide to growing grapes for wine?

Big questions is what type of grape do you decide to plant, just based on the success of other local vineyards?

Then once decided, where do you start then? Local nursery that sells rootstock of that variety? Get rootstocks from the Internet? Or start from seeds.

 

[rob]

Go to Double A Vineyards (in New York) web site and then call them....They are one of the largest and most helpful. You will want root stalk, one to two year old plants, not seed

 

[marquis]

For me its better buying the grapes than grow it by yourself.

It would be a lot of wait.

 

[grapeman]

I think I see a subject for a post for upcoming newsletters here,

There is too much information for a quick answer here, but like said you begin with vines and not seeds. A lot of what you grow is specific to your area of the country. A lot more to follow.

 

[AlFulchino]

everyone here is going to give you the run of the mill answers...and i say that with a credit to them for they will be all educated and well informed answers....

but the real place to start is w your heart, because each decision you make along the way is like a brick in the wall....i do not care if you are going to plant ten or 1000...

have a vision of what you wish to accomplish and then back engineer to it all

what variety???? sure look at others....sure taste a lot of wines....sure consider varieties not grown in your area....sure read a lot and come here and ask questions....all well and good...but in the end it will come all packaged in your 750 ml bottle for home use or for sale...know what you like because you will have a passion to share it later..so start w your heart...the rest is easy..trust me on that

 

[TxBrew]

Great insight Al!

I very much look forward to your first hand knowledge grapeman esp. on how you decided which variety you were going to grow.

I assume, perhaps wrongly, that you must get a chemical composition of your soil to then decide which varieties would be best suited?

 

[SLOweather]

Along with all the other great advice.... Read, read, read!

Like you, I'm just starting out. We just returned from 10 days vacation snow camping in Utah. During that time I read "From Vines To Wines" by Jeff Cox, and "Vineyard Simple" by Tom Powers.

I highly recommend both of those as starter books.

Also, I've learned a lot on-line in various Google searches.

 

[TxBrew]

Have you already planted?

 

[Wade E]

What did you ro tx, quit your job? LOL. I hope you have a lot of free time on your hands! What will start off as some plants will turn into a lot of work. Sorry, I know nothing about growing grapes but luckily we have few guys on here that do so I guess we'll be seeing you on here more often!

 

[hobbyiswine]

TxBrew I happened to see they are selling grape vines here at my (our) local HEB grocery! They have 1g and 5g vines of cab Sav, Zinfandel, and concord. The tags says they came from a company called Tree Town. I looked them up on the web but didn't see any info about the vines. I was hoping to see some info about rootstocks but guess I would need to call the company. I don't have a place to plant them right now but drool over them each time I go to the store. A couple of the vines even have leaves breaking out. The vines are not trained and a bit wild looking but they have some long stems, some even more than 5ft and about 1inch at the base. Man I want them all!

 

[TxBrew]

Interesting. I'll have to check out our local HEB and see if they carry them too.

 

[TXLeathertop]

TXBrew, a great resource here in Texas is the TX A&M Extension Service. You can contact your local county extension agent and they will also help to hook you up with one of their viticulture advisors. Another great resource is the TV Munson Viticulture and Enology Center at Grayson County College. Good Luck!!

 

[donaltman3]

I have alot of grapes and have been growing grapes for many years... I started making grape wine with my grandfather here in south Georgia when I was in highschool many many years ago. We garden and grow alot of things.. its just what we do around here. Although I never got to drink any of my grandfathers wines, as he passed before I was of legal age I did keep his recipes and I thankfully paid close attention to how he made them.

If I can give you any advice it would be to find someone that has a grape in your area. If you find a good grape vines that are doing well, that you know makes good wine you can make cuttings and grow your plants from them.

There are so many types of plants that are labled to do well in specific areas that will live at it bestbut never be really productive. The plant people are in the buisness of selling plants... you get told all kinds of things. By finding someone already in your area that has grapes you are getting something adapted to your climate and soil type.. You can make a friend (chances are if they have grapes they make wine too.) You can usually get some grapes from them and make some wine while your plants are still maturing.

I root alot of vines for people. The easiest way is to let them grow to ouch the ground cover with dirt and that runner will form its own roots.. so if you see an overgrown grape vine mother nature has probably already done the work for you.. just cut off the runner and plant it...

Maybe I've helped ya.. I dunno... saving a few bucks and getting something that will work in your area that is proven seems like the smartest way to me.

If you don't know anyone call your local school many have horticulture programs that can help you determine the optimal plant for your area.. they will know alot better than the people selling the plants... I can promise you that.