Marquette in CT

[adimauro]

I am ready to order marquette vines from arberfoyle nurseries. I live in central CT, about a mile from the river. Most sites are saying I am in zone 6A, however after the 4' stockpile of snow last winter, I want to play it same, so I have chosen a dozen marquette vines and a dozen traminette. I figure this would be enough to make 5 to 6 gallons of red and white. Anyone have any advice for these varietals in this zone.

 

[Wade E]

I know nothing about growing grapes so sorry I cant help you there but just saying high from another Ct'er!!!

 

[grapeman]

The Marquette will do great there for you. I am not sure about the Traminette. I took mine out after four years of growing and freezing every winter. It is likely to be a bit warmer there than here, but I am leery of them now.

 

[adimauro]

Grapeman - I have been researching top wire cordon for the Marquette but I am confused about the pruning style. Would I cane prune along the top cordon and leave a couple back-up canes until the threat of frost passes, or would i spur prun to like 5 bud canes.

 

[adimauro]

Grapeman - as for whites, is there another varity you would recommend, several vineyard in CT grow Cayuga and Seyval, however I find that they don't offer a whole lot of character. Pretty basic whites with some citrus flavors. The traminette intrigued me because of the spice and floural characters of gewertz.

 

[grapeman]

You can either cane prune or spur prune it. You won't need to worry about a lot of winter damage of canes that hardened off properly before a big freeze. You have a while to decide which to use.

I don't mean to discourage you from the Traminette and you could likely grow it fine.
Have you tried any LaCrescent wine? It is highly aromatic and has a nice balancing acid. It can be finished from dry to semi-sweet. A fairly new variety you can get from Double A Vineyards- Petite Amie has a nice florally, spicy character to it. It is especially nice this year. St Pepin does great here and is my go to grape. Yields are great and it has nice citrus with some nice mouthfeel and a great finish. The clusters in the avatar are St Pepin. It is said it needs a pollinator such as LaCrosse, but it pollinates fine for me even in pretty good sized blocks. Good luck.

 

[saddlebronze]

Welcome adimauro! I am in CT also and about to plant marquette, Chardonel, Traminette, Norton and some others. We should compare notes as we go along. I agree with Grapeman, CT is pretty mild compared to where he is, you should be fine. Did you test your soil at UCONN? for eight bucks, its worth it.

 

[AlFulchino]

Adimauro...expect enough vigor on your marquette to skip the vsp and top wire UNLESS your site is VERY low quality.....so w four canes ( 2 on each side) or same w cordons....2 cane systems are a disservice to that variety

go for foliage first yr...start training in 2nds....some fruit in yr 3 shoudl be no problem

look for occasional crown gall..learn the signs

develop a spray program...now....yep......now

airflow, air flow, airflow....sun...sun...sun

if you dont do the above w almost all grapes then you are a 'dreamer' versus a 'grape grower' and i say that as someone who has done both

anything worth doing is worth doing right

the last thing to share is this....think now on the time you need to set aside weekly...you will be rewarded for it and enjoy the whole experience that much more

 

[joea132]

Hello from a fellow CT dweller. I would speak with local vineyards. I know for a fact that North Winds Vineyard in Watertown grows traminette and they produce a great wine. I would go to the CT wine Trail website and look at the vineyards and their offerings. I've found that almost every vintner is not only willing to talk shop but enjoys it.

 

[saddlebronze]

I guess I will have to hit the CT wine trail as well. No better expertise than the ones growing it in the same state!

 

[adimauro]

Saddlebronze.... Thanks for the intro ... I actually get my soil tested at the local DOA experiment station in Windsor it's free and when you label your samples with what you plan on growing they give you soil amendment recommendations... You should check it out they have a great vineyard on site.

 

[adimauro]

AlFulchino... Are you speaking of a 4 arm kniffen, I have seen YouTube clips of backyard vineyards that had noiret and corot noir trained to 4 arm kniffen and his harvest looked very bountiful.... Also any advice on organic sprays like neem oil.

 

[AlFulchino]

u can use organic version of jms stylet oil but i hear its the sane as regular...but labeled organic and cost more...manzate/dithane is essentially things like mag and zinc.....you will be HARD PRESSED to do this quote ORGANIC unquote....move to a dry climate if you want that...seriously

you HAVE to keep the vines disease free....while i have never had to spray one single ounce of insecticide..i do need fungicide,...go to cornell's website and look for the ipm integrated pest management section...when you see something like that you will realize what you are biting off here...

as for four arms...kniffen, scott henry etc etc take your pick and see what works for you

 

[adimauro]

AlFulchino... Thanks for the feedback... Cornell seems to be the east coast answer to Davis I will be spending more time on their site... And just to clarify... My wife is the all natural organic freak.... I love butter and bacon and whatever sprays will protect my vines the best...

 

[grapeman]

Many many people who want to grow grapes begin with expectations of growing organic, only to relent and use sprays or quit altogether in the east. I believe in going sustainable and minimizing sprays to lessen the impact on the environment and my wallet.

Marquette can be grown on almost any training system, it just does BETTER on some than others. I have it on 4 different training systems currently- two single fruiting zone types and two double fruiting zones. One has stood out from the others so far. At the end of this coming season I will have a better idea if this is dependable year after year.