Marqette's in NW Indiana

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Lizerdking

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They are zone 3a ? I'm in Zone 5a/b depending on how close you believe the lines on the map.

I'm looking to start some vines (an acre or so) in the spring and I'm looking for a decent red. Will I have any success with this variety?

Anything Else I should be looking at?
 
I'm in zone 5 too(Joliet Il.) and have 10 marquette vines going into their 3rd and 4th year ( I've been replanting some vines). They should work out well for you. Some of the pro's and con's Ive seen so far are.

Con's
It is early to break bud so can get damaged by frost in the spring.
Although they say it is really resistant to black rot it is only somewhat resistant.

Pro's
It is lower in TA then some other varieties that are also suitable for our area.
It does make a pretty good wine(from sample's I've tasted from others vines).

With a good spray program and paying some attention to delaying budbreak in the spring I'm really liking Marquette so far. Hopefully others will add their experience here too for you.
 
I am interested in anyones tips in delaying bud break. Not just on Marquette (which I am growing as well) but on any grape vine. I have 3 cold hardy hybrid varietals growing that got bit hard in late April. It would be nice to figure out a way to keep it shut down a few extra weeks next Spring.
 
I also have Marquette's and I live in Nebraska they are going three and four years old I took a handful of grapes off of them this year and they tasted great then I went on vacation and the birds decided they liked them better I do believe that you will have excellent luck with them or just about any vine that you get out of Minnesota or the New York area between these two areas you will have a lot of vine to chose from
 
I have had growing experience with Marquette for 7 years now and making wine with it for 5 years. It is good and hardy for your zone and can ripen fairly early, depending on day length and gdd's. It is one of the first to break bud in the spring and blooms relatively early. You need good air movement in the vineyard to keep the frost away and the foliage dry of dew. It can yield very well, just don't push it too fast too soon. With that said, my training system trial showed it's capability this year. With 6.66 x9 foot spacing, I had Top Wire Cordon Produce 10.5 pounds per vine average. Vertical Shoot Positioned produced 9.5 pounds per vine, Scott Henry did better with 11.9 pounds per vine. My newly developed Modified Geneva Double Curtain System produced 25.4 pounds per vine. These were average weight in one repetition. The other two reps were decimated by the wildlife this year. I lost probably 5 pounds average to splitting and botrytis as a result of Hurricane Irene on the Mod GDC suystem. The most amazing thing was these are 3 year old vines!!!!

As far as the wine.....
It makes a decent to exceptional red wine which can range from a bit light to a nice deeply pigmented ruby color with some tannins and a beautiful black cherry flavor and smell along with varying earthy characters and sometimes a bit of vanilla and cassis. One of the best wines I have ever made came from 6 year old Marquette and sold out in days.

Give it a shot.
 
Holy cow Batman, I mean Grapeman! :br

It works out to a bit over 9 tons per acre for three year old vines. It did not stunt them one bit with all that crop. Shoot length was about 4-5 feet- just the right length. I am almost scared to think of those vines at 5 years old!
 
I am interested in anyones tips in delaying bud break. It would be nice to figure out a way to keep it shut down a few extra weeks next Spring.

I try to delay prune( also known as long or double prune) each spring. If you wait till late in the dormancy season or prune so you leave 6-10 buds per shoot( any time during the off season) you are trying to let apical dominance make buds you don't want to keep break bud first. If you get an early season warming trend hit you those buds break first and slow the lower ones from also breaking bud. If the weather then turns colder again and freezing does occur you haven't lost the primary buds that you really are counting on using to get a good crop from. After your last frost date or when you think its ok to you can then prune last years shoots back down to 2 buds for the start of the growing season.

Just keep in mind long or delayed pruning only works if the weather slowly comes up in temp. A few years ago we had a big warming trend come thru and we had 70º temps for over a week around easter. After that the temps dropped back into the 20's. Since the temps were so high for so long all buds broke down the whole shoot right down to the basal bud. Fortunately the vines I had growing at that time gave a good crop off of secondary buds.

Putting down a heavy layer of mulch down around the base of the vines can help keep the ground colder longer. Just don't pile the mulch right up to the trunk of the vines or rodents will probably like eating the base of your vines for you.
 
Thanks much for the tips. So once again a little procrastination is not only the winemakers friend but also the grape grower it would seem!
 

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