Just bought a home with a small backyard vineyard. I'm looking for advice on varieties.

[Ivywoods]

I just bought a home that has an old neglected vineyard. I have no idea what kind of grapes are left growing, but they will need sever pruning and many need to be replaced. I will be planting new vines this spring and I am wondering what varieties I should plan to plant. I am in hardiness zone 6B in southeast Kansas. I want to have several different varieties so I can have wine, juice table grapes, etc. There will be a total of 20-25 plants.

 

[Paul Gardner]

I have found Niagara makes a wonderful sweet wine. They are also very prolific. I have two 4 year old vines and I harvested 27lbs from them this fall.

 

[Ivywoods]

Niagara is one that I do plan to plant. I'm hoping to plant a variety of grapes so I can make small batches of multiple kinds of wine. There are a couple small vineyards in my area and I hope to be able to visit with their owners, but so far I have been unable to find those people.

 

[tom6922]

Just a word of warning that the more varieties you plant, the more work. Different varieties can mean different trellis systems, disease pressures and spray programs, pruning methods, harvest times, winemaking methods, etc. It can quickly get complicated and very time consuming. If that is your passion, great, but I have found a good balance with just a few varieties rather than many. Also I lean toward earlier maturing varietals because the later ones are subject to more pest and disease pressure, as well as extending the workload another month.

 

[Ivywoods]

Thanks Tom. That's all good issues to consider. It sounds like I should read more details about some of the varieties I am considering. I know I will want more than one plant of the varieties I plant. I was thinking maybe 4 or 5 varieties for a total of about 20 plants, and then as I need to replace go with the ones work out the best for me. I have already decided whatever I plant will use the top wire system so they pruning will all be about the same. Of the plants that are left there are only a few left that will be able to be pruned properly and allow a proper cordon and sprue type system. The rest are too far gone and will have to be totally removed or at least the current cordons removed.

 

[salcoco]

being in Kansas you are limited to hybrid varietals. Serval Blanc and Vidal are good white varieties. I lean toward Chambourcin and St Vincent for reds. Although Norton is a hardy variety. of note hybrids are short on tannin so good wine making practices are required.

 

[Ivywoods]

Thank you salcoco. The St Vincent sounds really interesting a perhaps a little earlier at maturing than the Chambourcin. I'm going to give that a little more consideration!

 

[tom6922]

You have lots of varietal choices, I have narrowed mine down to Marquette (red) and Traminette (white) here in Michigan. Great disease resistance and winter hardiness. You could prune and re-train your existing vines more quickly than starting with new vines, but the downside is that you don't know what you have, so that takes some of the fun out of it.

 

[tom6922]

also, if you are aiming for 20 vines total, I would suggest maybe 10 vines of a white and 10 vines of a red. 4 or 5 of each will only get you a couple gallons of each wine. Talk to a lot of people in your area and see what they recommend. You want to avoid ripping out vines in 5 years and starting all over, it is way too much work.
Enjoy the hobby and best of luck, whatever you decide.

 

[cmason1957]

Thank you salcoco. The St Vincent sounds really interesting a perhaps a little earlier at maturing than the Chambourcin. I'm going to give that a little more consideration!

St. Vincent is one of my favorite hybrid reds. It makes a great blender with Chambourcin or a wonderful rose all by itself.

 

[Newine]

I would agree to not get too many varities. I have 7 different hybrids, 25 vines of of each for a total of 175 and feel like that is too many for reasons stated by others. For whites I also agree Seyval Blanc is a solid choice, I made still wines with it that were liked by all who tried it and am know making it as a sparkling that is super. Other whites I have are Chardonnel (Seyval & Chardonay Cross) and a newer hybrid- Itasca. You might look at those for whites. Noiret and Petite Pearl are a couple of reds to investigate. Good luck!

 

[Ivywoods]

Tom6922-The only ones I am ripping out completely are the ones that are dead. There are several that have old cordons that have been let go for a long time and all the new growth is 8 feet or so from the trunk, with no new sprues close. All the new growth is waaaaayyyy.... out there. I believe it would be best to cut those cordons off and start with a new cane coming from the trunk or as close to the trunk as possible. It will be interesting to see what comes out of these established vines. There are some newer vines that I believe I can train in a fairly good trunk/cordon form. I'm also going to order a winemaking kit. I don't have one yet, and I want to start with a kit or some fruit wines to get comfortable with the process before I get a grape crop. Whether the vineyard would produce any grapes this year remains to be seen, but that would give me a lot of time to experiment with different batches of kit wine.