Grapes in Wisconsin and Grafting

You might want to check out Frontenac

Here is one web link:

Here is a nursery that sells them:

I have no experience with the grape but I have heard that it is an excellent variety for cold climates. I know there are commercial growers who are growing it in Michigan. I have ordered vines from the above nursery and have been satisfied with them.

There is a good book for Northern winegrowers, I have it but can't recall the title. I'll post when I get home. It's Northern Winemaking or something like that.

Joe

I live in Wisconsin myself. I have some Frontenac Gris but unfortunately I only planted them this year so I don't have a lot of output on them but they were created by a fellow Wisconsinite. A good book is "Northern Winework: Growing Grapes And Making Wine In Cold Climates"

Walter

That's the book! I like it too.

Joe

Walter Venables wrote:

Dont worry about the snow, if you can bury the vines in Snow this will protect them from extreme cold. What you need to worry about is temperatures below 0 degrees F. These temps cause winter bud damage as well as wood damage to trunks. Can you get hold of historical temperature data from a recoding station near where you live?

Do a google search. Put in: grapevine cold winter hadiness as a search sting. This will bring up lots of information. American species are generally the most cold hardy (Concord, Niagara), then Hybrid varieties, such as Cayuga, Seval blanc, traminnette. The lest cold hardy are the European Vitis vinifera varieties (Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet etc). In some places they bury the vines in soil, such as in Mongolia, and the Ukraine, so they can survive the winter. It all depends on what you want to grow and how much effort you want to put in.

James.

. Put in: grapevine cold winter hadiness as a search

I've made those hybrids and all of them make great wine. As to the vinifera; Dr Frank was from the Ukraine and they grew them there regularly. When he came to New York he did the same thing. People thought he was crazy. He 'mounded up' like you mentioned. Granted, that is a lot of work but for a home-winemaker it might not be as bad. He is dead but his sons still run the winery, Frank winery in the Finger Lakes.

Joe

Another good place to look for info is

Walter

Joel -

In addition to Frontenac, you might consider planting the new red variety just released this year by the Univ. of MN, called "Marquette". It is supposed to be as cold-hardy as Frontenac, but with lower acidity and a more complex flavor profile. I've made Frontenac wines the past 4 years (I pick the grapes at Great River Vineyards, in Lake City MN). The high acid level is always a challenge to deal with. The color is very dark, but Frontenac has relatively low levels of tannin, and a distinctive, "one-note" flavor profile. A lot of folks here have come to the conclusion that it works best either as a Port-style wine, or as a very dark rose. I haven't tried the Marquette yet (it will be a few years before there is enough of it around) but the U of M folks that released it were quite excited about it. You should be able to find out a bit more about Marquette on the U of M enology website:

There are a number of nurseries growing Marquette, so you should be able to find some to plant this spring.

Doug